Briefcase

GE’s 3Q profits fall; shares dip 5 percent

NEW YORK – General Electric’s return to its roots as an industrial company continues to proceed unevenly.

• Sales of industrial equipment – from wind turbines to jet engines to locomotives – lagged in the third quarter. Revenue of $35.9 billion was about $1.7 billion shy of Wall Street estimates and investors drove the stock down 5 percent.

• GE has been de-emphasizing its finance unit, GE Capital, which accounted for more than half of GE’s profit in 2006 during a boom in financial services, but recorded billions in write-offs when the economy went into recession.

• Instead, it’s focusing on making products ranging from wind and natural gas turbines to sonogram machines to energy-efficient appliances.

China currency report on hold

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration announced Friday it will delay a scheduled report on whether China is manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages until after an upcoming meeting of the world’s major economies next month.

The Treasury Department said the administration will wait until after President Barack Obama meets with other leaders of the Group of 20 nations in Seoul in early November.

The administration’s announcement was certain to disappoint U.S. manufacturing companies, labor unions and lawmakers who contend that China is keeping its currency undervalued to gain trade advantages.

Federal deficit hit $1.3 trillion

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said Friday the federal deficit hit a near-record $1.3 trillion for the just-completed budget year.

That means the government had to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spent. Tax revenue continued to lag while spending on food stamps and unemployment benefits went up as joblessness neared double-digit levels in a struggling economy.

While expected, the eye-popping deficit numbers provide Republican critics of President Barack Obama’s fiscal stewardship with fresh ammunition less than three weeks ahead of the midterm congressional elections. The deficit was $122 billion less than last year, a modest improvement.

Gannett newspapers woes continue

SAN FRANCISCO – An unrelenting decline in Gannett Co.’s newspaper business overshadowed a third-quarter upturn in its broadcasting revenue that was driven by heavy political advertising at its television stations.

Friday’s bad news from Gannett’s print operations trumped the good news in television because the company gets almost three-fourths of its revenue from publishing.

The July-September period marked the 15th consecutive quarter that Gannett’s publishing segment has produced less revenue than the prior year, and the company’s executives aren’t making any predictions when the slide might end.