General Electric Company GE Annual Report 2007 Fairfi eld, Connecticut 06828 www.ge.com Invest and Deliver Every Day General Electric 2007 2007 Annual Report Delivering for You CONSOLIDATED REVENUES 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 (In $ billions) 173 152 137 124 105 Compounded annual growth rate of 13% aph EARNINGS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS BEFORE ACCOUNTING CHANGES 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 (In $ billions) 22.5 19.4 17.4 15.6 Compounded 13.3 annual growth rate of 14% CONTENTS TOP TEN 2007 GROWTH FACTS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY 1 Letter to Investors 12 Invest and Deliver … Every Day • Third straight year of organic revenue growth of 2 to 3 times GDP growth 36 Governance • Earnings per share (EPS) of $2.20, an increase of 18% 38 Citizenship • Global revenue growth of 22%, more than half of revenues outside the U.S. 39 Financial Section 114 Corporate Management • Orders growth of 18% 116 Corporate Information • Equipment backlog of $49 billion, an increase of 54%; service backlog Visit our interactive online annual report Thanks to the customers, partners and GE employees who appear in this annual report for contributing of $109 billion, an increase of 17% at www.ge.com/annual07 their time and support. • Financial services assets growth of 16% This document was printed on paper that contains • Free cash fl ow of $19 billion; industrial cash from operating activities from 10% to 100% post-consumer material. The majority of the power utilized was renewable growth of 15% energy, produced with GE’s wind and biogas technologies, and powered by GE steam engines nd • Dividend increase of 11%, 32 straight annual increase and turbine engines. The paper was supplied by participants of the Sustainable Initiative Programs. • $25.4 billion returned to investors through the dividend and stock buyback GE employed a printer that produces all of its • One of fi ve “Triple-A”-rated U.S. industrial companies own electricity and is a verifi ed totally enclosed facility that produces virtually no volatile organic Design: VSA Partners, Inc. Portrait Photography: Jens Umbach John Midgley of Directors: Board Anderson Lithogr Printing: Cenveo compound emissions. Note: Financial results from continuing operations unless otherwise noted To Our Investors, Bubbles burst and excess ends in an ugly fashion. The easy credit cycles that defi ned the recent past have given way to a tidal wave of fi nancial crises. As I am writing, banks have written off almost $150 billion, entire classes of securities have disappeared, and rating agencies have been criticized. This transition — from easy credit to no liquidity — seemed to occur in the blink of an eye. Housing was particularly challenged. After fueling consumer Revenues grew 14% to $173 billion. Earnings from continuing wealth for many years, U.S. housing prices declined for the fi rst operations grew 16% to $22.5 billion. We generated record indus- time in 40 years. Subprime lending standards and complex trial cash fl ow, and returned $25.4 billion to investors through investment products with risks that were not clearly understood the dividend and stock buyback. created a “hangover” for consumers and fi nancial institutions. We performed well against the operating metrics that we The environment we face today is a challenging one. How will use to measure our progress. Organic revenue growth was 9%, the U.S. consumer respond to falling housing prices? Should surpassing our goal of growing at 2 to 3 times GDP growth. we worry about infl ation or recession or both? Can the global Earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations grew 18%, markets expand while the U.S. contracts? What impact will well above our double-digit goal. Our operating profi t margin the U.S. election have? Will banks resume lending money again grew 70 basis points, below our 100-basis-point goal, but we at normal levels — when, and at what price? made good progress. Returns reached 18.9%, and we are on You could try to pick the perfect investment for this environ- track for 20% in 2008. Industrial cash from operations grew 15%, ment, but it would be a challenge. Maybe it is in technology, or well above our target, and our free cash fl ow was $19 billion. emerging markets, or commodities, or Treasury bills. Can we continue to perform well in 2008? It will be challenging, Or, you could pick GE. A company leading in the essential as we expect U.S. consumer spending to slow and credit to themes of this global era. A high-performance company fi lled tighten and be more expensive. However, GE is well-suited for with strong businesses. A company dedicated to developing this environment and any other. This is because we invest and leaders. A company built to perform in good times and bad. deliver. We do this every day, every quarter, and every year. One reason for my confi dence is our performance. Even in these diffi cult markets, 2007 was another record-setting year. letter to investors Invest and Deliver cross $20 billion by 2009. Every GE business is participating. We In 2008, we should hit all of our fi nancial goals and outperform have created more than 60 ecomagination products that produce the S&P 500. Our revenues should grow by at least 10% to cleaner energy and water or improve effi ciency. In the near future, $195 billion, with organic revenue growth at 2 to 3 times GDP GE will launch technologies ranging from advanced coal gasifi ca- growth. Our earnings per share should grow by at least 10%. Our tion to thin-fi lm solar panels to a hybrid locomotive. We will return on average total capital (ROTC) should near our target invest $6 billion to fi nance renewable energy projects around of 20%. We expect to return $18 billion to our investors through the world. We have multiple projects underway with our global rail, the dividend and stock buyback. airline, and utility customers who will be impacted by changes in We have the discipline and the processes to win in this tough energy cost and regulations. Our goal is to support our customers’ environment. We are in the fi fth year of a successful organic aspirations for cost reduction, compliance, and reputation. growth initiative that is delivering results. More than half of our Customer partnerships are at the center of ecomagination. revenues are outside the U.S., and our global revenue growth A good example is Waste Management, whose Think Green® was 22% in 2007. We have $150 billion of Infrastructure products business strategy aligns with a number of GE businesses. Our and services in backlog. We have strict risk discipline, and as a companies share a commitment to sustainable, organic growth result, have no exposure to losses from Collateralized Debt built upon industry expertise and strong technology. Our Obligations (CDOs) and Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs). collaboration will grow to include GE Jenbacher gas engines that We have retained a “Triple-A”-rated balance sheet and generate burn landfi ll gas, land use for wind- and solar-power generation, substantial cash fl ow, so we can invest while others pull back. hybrid commercial vehicles, and emerging waste-conversion GE is different because we invest in the future and deliver technologies that produce electricity or synthetic fuels. today. We are uniquely positioned to win in the essential themes Ecomagination has become a global brand, symbolic of inno- of this era. We help to create the future and, by doing so, vation at GE. We are viewed as a technical partner by customers drive our own growth. We are a leadership company. We have around the world. We have engaged with governments to built strong businesses that win in their markets. Together, drive public policies that create a framework to address global our businesses deliver consistent earnings growth through the warming and energy security. Due to our early success, we cycles. We are a high-performance company. We can harness have raised our ecomagination revenue target from a $20 billion ideas from across the Company to drive superior organic growth, goal to $25 billion by 2010. margins, and returns. We are a company that develops leaders. Similarly, we have been building leadership in emerging Our team is experienced, and still they learn every day. Our markets for the last decade. It was our belief that the combination bench is deep. of population growth, raw material infl ation, and improved In the rest of this letter, I will share with you the value governance could lead to rapid expansion in these markets. Today, embedded in the totality of GE. In a tough 2008, this value will the growth rate of emerging economies is four times that of the be unlocked for you. U.S. Their governments are investing in massive infrastructure projects that will drive local consumption. GE is well-positioned Winning in the essential themes to meet this demand. Our growth rate has averaged 20%, and Last year I described our investments in six strategic themes we should have $40 billion of emerging market revenue in 2008. that could propel our growth for decades. These included You have heard me talk in the past about our unique “company- infrastructure technology, emerging markets, environmental to-country” approach to emerging markets. This allows us to solutions, demographics, digital connections, and creating use the breadth of a multi-business company to increase sales. value from origination. Our thesis was that each of these themes Perhaps the preeminent “company-to-country” relationship is was essential in the development of the world, and that GE the Beijing Olympic Games.