GE Healthcare reports shaky Q2

While GE’s second quarter 2012 operating earnings of $4 billion were up 7 percent from the second quarter of 2011, the operating earnings for its GE Healthcare unit dropped 2 percent to $694 million in the same comparable period.

GE reported that its revenues for GE Healthcare were $4.5 billion—which is flat over the 2011 second quarter. The company also reported that the healthcare unit saw only $2 million in organic revenue growth, which measures revenue excluding the effects of acquisitions, business dispositions and currency exchange rates.  

During his quarterly earnings presentation, Jeff Immelt, GE’s CEO, said that the European market was “tough” on the healthcare and aviation units, particular for service revenue.

The 2012 second quarter equipment orders for GE Healthcare were $2.7 billion, a 4 percent increase over the previous year’s second quarter, and its service orders were $2 billion—which is down 2 percent.

The operating profit margins for the healthcare unit were 15.4 percent, which is down slightly at 0.4 points.

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