[ad_1] General Electric slashed its quarterly dividend Tuesday to a penny a share starting in 2019, the second dividend cut in a year. GE reported third-quarter earnings of 14 cents a share, 6 cents below Wall Street forecasts, as well as lower than expected revenue of $29.57 billion. The embattled industrial conglomerate expects to retain about $3.9 billion of cash a year as a result of the dividend cut. This was GE's first earnings report under chairman and CEO Larry Culp. He said in a statement the results were "far from our full potential" and called for a heightened "sense of urgency and increased "accountability across the organization to deliver better results." "My priorities in my first 100 days are positioning our businesses to win, starting with Power, and accelerating deleveraging. We are moving with speed to improve our financial position, starting with the actions announced today. I look forward to updating you further on our progress in early 2019," Culp said. GE took a $22 billion noncash charge to its ailing power business. GE's business of selling turbines to gas and coal-fired power plants had already been suffering in recent years as utilities ramped up construction of solar and wind farms. The company said it will divide the power business into two units, which will essentially eliminate power's headquarters structure. GE's power division will be reorganized as a gas products and services business and a business of power's remaining assets of steam, grid solutions, nuclear and power conversion. [ad_2] Source link
