notes to consolidated financial statements Note 29 Commitments and Guarantees Commitments, including guarantees In our Aviation business of Infrastructure, we had committed to provide financial assistance on $2,481 million of future customer acquisitions of aircraft equipped with our engines, including commitments made to airlines in 2006 for future sales under our GE90 and GEnx engine campaigns. The Aviation Financial Services business of Infrastructure had placed multiple-year orders for various Boeing, Airbus and other aircraft with list prices approxi- mating $14,019 million at December 31, 2006. At December 31, 2006, we were committed under the follow- ing guarantee arrangements beyond those provided on behalf of securitization entities. See note 28. LIQUIDITY SUPPORT. Liquidity support provided to holders of certain variable rate bonds issued by municipalities amounted to $1,093 million at December 31, 2006. If holders elect to sell supported bonds that cannot be remarketed, we are obligated to repurchase them at par. If called upon, our position would be secured by the repurchased bonds. While we hold any such bonds, we would receive interest payments from the munici- palities at a rate that is in excess of the stated rate on the bond. To date, we have not been required to perform under such arrangements and our existing liquidity support will decrease $1,033 million in 2007 and the remaining $60 million by the end of 2008 as the underlying variable rate bonds reach their maturity date. We are currently not providing any such new liquidity facilities. CREDIT SUPPORT. We have provided $7,436 million of credit support on behalf of certain customers or associated compa- nies, predominantly joint ventures and partnerships, using arrangements such as standby letters of credit and performance guarantees. These arrangements enable these customers and associated companies to execute transactions or obtain desired financing arrangements with third parties. Should the customer or associated company fail to perform under the terms of the transaction or financing arrangement, we would be required to perform on their behalf. Under most such arrangements, our guarantee is secured, usually by the asset being purchased or financed, but possibly by certain other assets of the customer or associated company. The length of these credit support arrangements parallels the length of the related financing arrangements or transactions. The liability for such credit support was $146 million at December 31, 2006. INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENTS. These are agreements that require us to fund up to $629 million under residual value guarantees on a variety of leased equipment and $854 million of other indemnification commitments arising primarily from sales of businesses or assets. Under most of our residual value guarantees, our commitment is secured by the leased asset at termination of the lease. The liability for these indem- nification agreements was $38 million at December 31, 2006. CONTINGENT CONSIDERATION. These are agreements to provide additional consideration in a business combination to the seller if contractually specified conditions related to the acquired entity are achieved. At December 31, 2006, we had total max- imum exposure for future estimated payments of $255 million, of which none was earned and payable. At year-end 2006, NBC Universal had $10,230 million of commit- ments to acquire film and broadcast material and the rights to broadcast television programs, including U.S. television rights to future Olympic Games and National Football League (NFL) games, contractual commitments under various creative talent arrange- ments and commitments under long-term television station affiliation agreements that require payments through 2014. Our guarantees are provided in the ordinary course of business. We underwrite these guarantees considering economic, liquidity and credit risk of the counterparty. We believe that the likelihood is remote that any such arrangements could have a signifi cant adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity. We record liabilities for guarantees at estimated fair value, generally the amount of the premium received, or if we do not receive a premium, the amount based on appraisal, observed market values or discounted cash flows. Any associated expected recoveries from third parties are recorded as other receivables not netted against the liabilities. Product warranties We provide for estimated product warranty expenses when we sell the related products. Because warranty estimates are forecasts that are based on the best available information mostly historical claims experience claims costs may differ from amounts provided. An analysis of changes in the liability for product warranties follows. (In millions) 2006 2005 2004 Balance at January 1 $1,075 $1,326 $1,437 Current year provisions 735 448 720 Expenditures (a) (665) (699) (838) Other changes (3) 7 Balance at December 31 $1,142 $1,075 $1,326 (a) Primarily related to Infrastructure and Healthcare. 106 ge 2006 annual report
notes to consolidated financial statements Note 30 Quarterly Information (Unaudited) First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter (In millions per-share amounts in dollars) 2006 2005 2006 2005 2006 2005 2006 2005 CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS Earnings from continuing operations $ 4,177 $ 3,785 $ 4,948 $ 4,237 $ 4,962 $ 4,765 $ 6,579 $ 5,874 Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations 263 405 (2) 271 (95) 85 (3) (2,711) Net earnings $ 4,440 $ 4,190 $ 4,946 $ 4,508 $ 4,867 $ 4,850 $ 6,576 $ 3,163 Per-share amounts earnings from continuing operations Diluted earnings per share $ 0.40 $ 0.36 $ 0.48 $ 0.40 $ 0.48 $ 0.45 $ 0.64 $ 0.56 Basic earnings per share 0.40 0.36 0.48 0.40 0.48 0.45 0.64 0.56 Per-share amounts earnings (loss) from discontinued operations Diluted earnings per share 0.03 0.04 0.03 (0.01) 0.01 (0.26) Basic earnings per share 0.03 0.04 0.03 (0.01) 0.01 (0.26) Per-share amounts net earnings Diluted earnings per share 0.42 0.39 0.48 0.42 0.47 0.46 0.64 0.30 Basic earnings per share 0.43 0.40 0.48 0.43 0.47 0.46 0.64 0.30 SELECTED DATA GE Sales of goods and services $23,086 $20,833 $24,448 $22,408 $24,478 $21,567 $27,096 $25,622 Gross profit from sales 5,781 5,824 6,701 6,358 6,283 5,978 7,644 7,455 GECS Total revenues 14,889 13,963 15,455 13,722 16,112 15,137 17,146 14,729 Earnings from continuing operations 2,405 2,088 2,594 1,889 2,607 2,773 2,889 2,777 For GE, gross profit from sales is sales of goods and services less costs of goods and services sold. Earnings-per-share amounts are computed independently each quarter for earnings from continuing operations, earnings (loss) from discontinued operations and net earnings. As a result, the sum of each quarter’s per-share amount may not equal the total per-share amount for the respective year and the sum of per- share amounts from continuing operations and discontinued operations may not equal the total per-share amounts for net earnings for the respective quarters. ge 2006 annual report 107
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