GE Announces Detailed 2021 Outlook
Summary
GE also expects to improve operational performance in Power and Renewable Energy, with continued strength in Healthcare and better Capital earnings compared to 2020. For the first quarter of 2021, in connection with signing the transaction agreement, GE will record an approximate $3 billion non-cash charge and report GECAS as a discontinued operation. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about our expected financial performance, including cash flows, revenues, organic growth, margins, earnings, and earnings per share; macroeconomic and market conditions; planned and potential business or asset dispositions; our de-leveraging plans, including leverage ratios and targets, the timing and nature of actions to reduce indebtedness and our credit ratings and outlooks; GE’s and GE Capital’s funding and liquidity; our businesses’ cost structures and plans to reduce costs; restructuring, goodwill impairment or other financial charges; or tax rates. For us, particular uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements include: • the continuing severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic, of businesses and governments responses to the pandemic and of individual factors such as aviation passenger confidence on our operations and personnel, and on commercial activity and demand across our and our customers businesses, and on global supply chains; • the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and related impacts will continue to adversely impact our business operations, financial performance, results of operations, financial position, the prices of our securities and the achievement of our strategic objectives; • our success in executing and completing asset dispositions or other transactions, including our plan to combine our GECAS business with AerCap and our plan to exit our equity ownership position in Baker Hughes, the timing of closing for such transactions, the ability to secure regulatory approvals and satisfy other closing conditions (as applicable), and the expected proceeds and benefits to GE; • changes in macroeconomic and market conditions and market volatility (including developments and volatility arising from the COVID-19 pandemic), including interest rates, the value of securities and other financial assets (including our equity ownership position in Baker Hughes), oil, natural gas and other commodity prices and exchange rates, and the impact of such changes and volatility on our financial position and businesses; • our de-leveraging and capital allocation plans, including with respect to actions to reduce our indebtedness, the timing and amount of GE dividends, organic investments, and other priorities; • further downgrades of our current short- and long-term credit ratings or ratings outlooks, or changes in rating application or methodology, and the related impact on our liquidity, funding profile, costs and competitive position; • GEs liquidity and the amount and timing of our GE Industrial cash flows and earnings, which may be impacted by customer, supplier, competitive, contractual and other dynamics and conditions; • GE Capitals capital and liquidity needs, including in connection with GE Capitals run-off insurance operations and discontinued operations, the amount and timing of required capital contributions to the insurance operations and any strategic actions that we may pursue; the impact of conditions in the financial and credit markets on GE Capitals ability to sell financial assets; the availability and cost of funding; and GE Capitals exposure to particular counterparties and markets, including through GECAS to the aviation sector and adverse impacts related to COVID-19; • global economic trends, competition and geopolitical risks, including changes in the rates of investment or economic growth in key markets we serve, or an escalation of sanctions, tariffs or other trade tensions between the U.S. and China or other countries, and related impacts on our businesses global supply chains and strategies; • market developments or customer actions that may affect levels of demand and the financial performance of the major industries and customers we serve, such as secular, cyclical and competitive pressures in our Power business, pricing and other pressures in the renewable energy market, levels of demand for air travel and other dynamics related to the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions in key geographic markets and other shifts in the competitive landscape for our products and services; • operational execution by our businesses, including the operations and execution of our Power and Renewable Energy businesses, and the performance of our Aviation business; • changes in law, regulation or policy that may affect our businesses, such as trade policy and tariffs, regulation related to climate change, and the effects of tax law changes; • our decisions about investments in new products, services and platforms, and our ability to launch new products in a cost-effective manner; • our ability to increase margins through implementation of operational changes, restructuring and other cost reduction measures; • the impact of regulation and regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including the impact of Alstom and other investigative and legal proceedings; • the impact of actual or potential failures of our products or third-party products with which our products are integrated, and related reputational effects; • the impact of potential information technology, cybersecurity or data security breaches; and • the other factors that are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as such descriptions may be updated or amended in any future reports we file with the SEC. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today the company’s dedicated team, leading technology, and global reach and capabilities help the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely.