ABJ - October 21 - General Electric (GE) has announced third quarter 2011 operating earnings of $3.4 billion, or 31 cents a share, up 11 per cent, from the third quarter of 2010.

During the quarter, GE gave notice of redemption for the preferred stock held by Berkshire Hathaway, and subsequently redeemed the shares on October 17, for $3.3 billion. As expected, the redemption resulted in a eight cents a share one-time impact. Including the impact of the preferred redemption, Continuing EPS was 22 cents, down 21 per cent. Net EPS was 22 cents, up 22 per cent.

“We are pleased to deliver our sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit operating earnings growth in a volatile macro environment,” GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. “We improved earnings, achieved solid double-digit infrastructure order growth, executed on our balanced capital allocation plan and maintained a strong balance sheet. We ended the quarter with a record high order backlog of $191 billion and we remain confident in our full-year 2011 operating framework.”

GE is aggressively investing in its growth platforms. Highlights from the quarter include the closing of GE’s acquisition of Converteam, a leading provider of power conversion and automation systems and high-efficiency power electronics, motors and generators. GE continued to build its global position, including announcing two Russian joint ventures that will help modernize the country’s healthcare and power generation sectors.