WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. industrial giant General Electric (GE) plans to reduce its quarterly dividend to one cent per share, GE's third quarter financial results showed on Tuesday.
The company announced on Tuesday that it plans to reduce its quarterly dividend from 0.12 to 0.01 U.S. dollar per share in December 2018, in order to strengthen its balance sheet, said GE.
The industrial conglomerate reported a loss of 2.63 dollars per share in its results for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, while its adjusted earnings dropped to 0.14 dollar per share, which was 33 percent lower from the same period in 2017.
The cut in dividend will help GE to retain approximately 3.9 billion dollars of cash per year compared to the prior payout level, said the company.
"It's clear to me that GE is a fundamentally strong company with a talented team and great technology," said H. Lawrence Culp Jr., GE's newly appointed Chairman and CEO.
"However, our results are far from our full potential," he said.
The company also recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of 22 billion dollars before tax, which is related to its subsidiary company GE Power.
"We will heighten our sense of urgency and increase accountability across the organization to deliver better results," said Culp, "we are on the right path to create a more focused portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet."
As the new helmsman who was appointed on October 1, 2018, Culp said the priorities in his first 100 days are positioning GE businesses to win, reorganizing GE Power, and accelerating deleveraging.
GE announced that it plans to reorganize GE Power to improve the business' operating and financial status by creating two units, which includes a unified Gas business combining GE's gas product and services groups, and a unit constituting the portfolio of GE Power's other assets. The parent company also intends to consolidate GE Power's headquarters structure for better performance.
"We are moving with speed to improve our financial position, starting with the actions announced today," Culp added.
