G.E. Results Show Next Chief’s Challenges at Revamped Company<br />And in the first quarter, the company reported a negative cash flow of $1.6 billion<br />from industrial operations, $1 billion below management’s earlier forecast.<br />Less than a month later, Mr. Flannery was named the new chief at G. E.<br />After 16 years as chief executive, Mr. Immelt was expected to step down, but the timing surprised analysts<br />He said he was “not worried about the company being dead in the water until then.”<br />G. E.’s quarterly results were certainly not those of a company dead in the water, but they pointed to the challenge ahead for Mr. Flannery.<br />said earnings for the year would probably be at the low end of the company’s previous projection of operating earnings of $1.60 to $1.70 a share.<br />The company reported a 12 percent falloff in revenue, to $29.56 billion, somewhat higher than the Wall Street average forecast of $29.02 billion.<br />reported operating earnings per share of 28 cents, a 45 percent decline from the year-earlier quarter,<br />but slightly above the average estimate of analysts of 25 cents a share, as complied by Thomson Reuters.<br />The target for next year is significant because in 2015, when G. E.<br />announced plans for shedding most of GE Capital, it also laid out its three-year plan for the company.<br />Still, it will need a strong second half to achieve its forecast of cash flow of $12 billion to $14 billion for the year.
