GEs Plan Progresses, Interest Rates Take Toll on Obligations -- Market Talk
Dow Jones
GE CEO Larry Culp says 2019 is progressing as planned as a reset year with a number of deals setting up to bring in $38B in cash sources. He says the long-struggling power division is seeing signs of stronger-than-expected demand this year and that may continue into early 2020, but he warns that GE won't be running the business with that assumption in mind. "We want to be optimistic, we want to be positive, but we want to be grounded," he says. Interest rate drops have increased GE's pension obligation by around $7B when factoring in returns so far this year but no contribution is required. The rate changes will also increase GE's insurance reserves by less than $1.5B on a GAAP basis, which won't require a cash contribution