General Electric posted a 9.6 per cent rise in quarterly profit today on good results in its commercial finance business and strong demand for products ranging from jet engines to gas turbines.
The company also said it had decided to exit the subprime lending business, where it recorded a loss in the quarter.
GE, whose operations also include NBC media, said second-quarter profit rose to $5.42 billion, or 53 cents per share, from $4.95 billion, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.
Operating profit came to 52 cents per share, matching the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
Revenue rose 12 percent to $42.32 billion.
Profit rose at five of GE's six segments, declining only in health care, where operating earnings slipped 8 percent. The company attributed that to regulatory changes.
GE said it expects to report third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of 54 cents to 56 cents per share. Analysts expect 55 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company also said it would repurchase up to $14 billion of its shares this year.
Shares of GE - the world's second-largest company by market capitalization, behind Exxon Mobil - are up 4.8 per cent this year. However, they still trail the 11.2 per cent rise of the Dow Jones industrial average, of which it is a component.