GE Delays Results For a Week -- WSJ
October 13 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Thomas Gryta
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (October 13, 2018).
General Electric Co. delayed the release of it quarterly results
by a week, saying its recently appointed chief executive needs more
time to complete his review of the embattled conglomerate.
GE said Friday it would report third-quarter results Oct. 30,
rather than Oct. 25.
The change gives Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Culp more
time "to complete initial business reviews and site visits," the
company said in a notice to investors.
Mr. Culp is in his second week on the job after the industrial
conglomerate abruptly fired John Flannery. In announcing the CEO
appointment Oct. 1, the company disclosed more troubles in its
hobbled power business and again cut its cash-flow projections.
General Electric stock has climbed almost 13% since Mr. Culp
took the helm but is still down 45% in the past 12 months.
In the Oct. 30 report, Mr. Culp "will share his initial
observations, with more detail expected in early 2019," the company
said Friday. In years past, GE presented its annual financial
outlook to analysts and investors in December, although last year
Mr. Flannery held a large presentation on his strategy in
November.
Several analysts also expect new financial projections to come
with the third-quarter report, along with some strategic shifts or
possibly even another dividend reduction. GE cut its dividend by
half last year after the severity of its financial troubles was
made clear.
Analysts were surprised by Friday's delay, saying there possibly
could be an unknown issue or a pending asset sale. The company is
telling investors that the delay is related to Mr. Culp's travel
schedule as he is reviewing GE businesses.
Mr. Culp, a former chief of Danaher Corp. and the first outsider
to run GE, joined the conglomerate's board of directors in April
and was named lead director two months later.
UBS analyst Steven Winoker said the delay didn't raise alarms,
viewing it as the new CEO giving himself enough time before
addressing investors. Mr. Winoker said a GE turnaround is likely to
take years but sees the third-quarter report as the next notable
event for GE shareholders.
Melius Research analyst Scott Davis said the delay adds to the
noise around the company and allows for investor speculation about
the reasoning. He said Mr. Culp is used to giving details to
investors when reporting results and future projections, but that
numbers will only be part of the story for investors.
"It will be 95% what Larry says and 5% what they actually
report," he said.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 13, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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