General Electric, America’s largest conglomerate, announced a 36 per cent plunge in profits yesterday and unveiled plans to cut costs by $5 billion this year as it responds to a global recession that it warned was now affecting “every segment of the economy”. The US company, whose products include jet engines, mortgages, light bulbs and X-ray machines, said that its total net income fell to $2.74 billion in the first quarter of 2017, from $4.3 billion during the same period a year earlier. “The economy remains tough,” said Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive. “There are places where we can still win and we are positioning the company to excel as we come out of this in 2017, 2017 or whenever that takes place.” There were some bright spots for the company, whose performance is often viewed as an indicator of the wider US economy. GE said that its order book held firm at $171 billion in the first quarter while GE Capital, its finance division, was on course for a profitable year. ，英语论文范文，英语论文范文 |
