NEW YORK (AFP) - US conglomerate General Electric reported third-quarter profits of 4.05 billion dollars, matching Wall Street's expectations as revenues grew 15 percent.
The profit, excluding one-time charges and gains, amounted to 38 cents per share, in line with Wall Street analysts' forecasts.
Revenue rose 15 percent to 38.3 billion dollars in the July-September quarter, beating analysts' projections.
The company, which has a variety of operations ranging from aircraft engines to insurance to film and broadcasting, had trimmed its forecast earnings recently after estimating for hurricane-related insurance losses at its reinsurance unit.
That loss totaled 300 million dollars in the third quarter, GE said.
Eight of 11 GE business units recorded double-digit sales growth, including consumer finance and NBC Universal, the entertainment arm that broadcast the Olympic Summer Games in Athens.
"We continued our excellent operating performance in the third quarter and built momentum for future growth," said GE chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt.
"Excluding the impact of our insurance portfolio repositioning and earnings from our principal pension plans, earnings grew 13 percent and earnings per share grew six percent. The economy we see continues to be very strong, with our total orders for the quarter up 27 percent."