General Electric earnings tumble 通用电气第二季度收入下滑

General Electric's earnings¹ fell 47% to $2.9bn (£1.7bn) in the second quarter of 2009 from the same period last year, as the slowdown took its toll².

通用电气2009年第二季度收入29亿美元，同比下降47%，主要是由于经济减缓导致。

GE boss Jeff Immelt says the firm is delivering "solid" results

Revenues（财政收入，税收） fell 17% to $39.1bn from the same quarter last year.

The company has been hit by falling revenues and profits at Capital Finance, its finance arm.

The conglomerate³（集成物，砾岩）, seen as a barometer⁴（气压计，晴雨表） of US economic health, has interests ranging from the media to finance to heavy industry.

A 13% growth in profit at its energy infrastructure⁵（基础设施） division was offset⁶ by an 80% drop at Capital Finance and a 41% fall at NBC Universal, the statement said.

"In a global economic environment that continues to remain challenging, GE delivered solid second-quarter business results," said Jeff Immelt, GE chairman and chief executive.

"We are executing through the recession by aggressively controlling costs and driving working capital improvements while continuing to invest for future growth."