GE Sells Stake in Swiss Re; Reaffirms Q1 and '07 EPS

General Electric has announced it sold its $2.8 billion stake in Swiss Reinsurance and plans to use expected pre-tax proceeds totaling $565 million for restructuring and legal costs. GE sold half of its stake, or 16.65 million shares, back to Swiss Re and sold another 16.65 million shares in the secondary market. GE CEO Jeff Immelt comments, "Swiss Re’s stock has performed well, and we have gained significant value in our equity holdings." Immelt says the focus in '07 continues to be "on generating high-quality earnings and using gains for restructuring." In addition, Immelt says, "GE is off to a strong start for the year. We are confident in our ability to meet our EPS guidance of $0.43-0.45 for the quarter, up 8-13%, and $2.18-2.23 for the year, up 10-12%." According to Reuters Estimates, analysts' average estimates are $0.44 for Q1 and $2.22 for the full year.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg, Reuters
Commentary: General Electric: Flaw In The Bullish Case? • GE Earnings Double, Meeting Forecast; Strong NBC Numbers • Profiting from Non-Hurricanes
Stocks/ETFs to watch: General Electric (GE), Swiss Reinsurance (SWCEY.PK). Competitors: General Re -- subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), Hannover Re (HVRRY), Munich Re (trades in Germany). ETFs: streetTRACKS Dow Jones Global Titans Index Fund (DGT), iShares Dow Jones US Industrial (IYJ), S&P 500 Index SPDRs (SPY)

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