GE 2007 Annual Report Download - page 54

52 ge 2007 annual report
’   
Global revenues rose 22% to $86.5 billion in 2007, compared with
$70.8 billion and $60.9 billion in 2006 and 2005, respectively.
Global revenues to external customers as a percentage of con-
solidated revenues were 50% in 2007, compared with 47% and
45% in 2006 and 2005, respectively. The effects of currency
fl uctuations on reported results were to increase revenues by
$4.0 billion, $0.1 billion and $0.8 billion in 2007, 2006 and 2005,
respectively.
A. U.S.
B. Europe
C. Pacific Basin
D. Americas
E. Middle East and Africa
F. Other Global
2007 REVENUES
GE global revenues in 2007 were $49.8 billion, up 16% over
2006, led by increases at Infrastructure, primarily in the Middle
East and Africa, Europe and the Pacifi c Basin. GE global revenues
were $43.0 billion in 2006, up 15% over 2005, led by increases at
Infrastructure, primarily in Europe, Middle East and Africa and the
Pacifi c Basin.
GECS global revenues rose 32% to $36.7 billion in 2007,
compared with $27.8 billion and $23.4 billion in 2006 and 2005,
respectively. Global revenues as a percentage of total revenues
were 51% in 2007, compared with 45% and 42% in 2006 and
2005, respectively. The effects of currency fl uctuations on reported
results were to increase revenues by $2.3 billion and $0.6 billion
in 2007 and 2005, respectively, compared with a decrease of
$0.1 billion in 2006.
GECS revenues in the Middle East and Africa grew 32% in 2007,
primarily as a result of organic revenue growth at Infrastructure.
Revenues grew 35% in the Pacifi c Basin, 30% in Europe and 23%
in the Americas in 2007, primarily as a result of organic revenue
growth, acquisitions and the effects of the weaker U.S. dollar,
primarily at Commercial Finance and GE Money.
A. U.S.
B. Europe
C. Pacific Basin
D. Americas
E. Other Global
2007 ASSETS
Total assets of global operations on a continuing basis were
$420.3 billion in 2007, an increase of $87.9 billion, or 26%, over
2006. GECS global assets on a continuing basis of $363.6 billion
at the end of 2007 were 21% higher than at the end of 2006,
refl ecting core growth, acquisitions and the effects of the weaker
U.S. dollar in Europe, the Pacifi c Basin and the Americas, primarily
at Commercial Finance and GE Money.
Financial results of our global activities reported in U.S. dollars
are affected by currency exchange. We use a number of tech-
niques to manage the effects of currency exchange, including
selective borrowings in local currencies and selective hedging of
signifi cant cross-currency transactions. Such principal currencies
are the pound sterling, the euro, the Japanese yen and the
Canadian dollar.
Environmental Matters
Our operations, like operations of other companies engaged in
similar businesses, involve the use, disposal and cleanup of sub-
stances regulated under environmental protection laws.
We are involved in a sizable number of remediation actions to
clean up hazardous wastes as required by federal and state laws.
Such statutes require that responsible parties fund remediation
actions regardless of fault, legality of original disposal or owner-
ship of a disposal site. Expenditures for site remediation actions
amounted to $0.2 billion in both 2007 and 2006. We presently
expect that such remediation actions will require average annual
expenditures in the range of $0.2 billion to $0.3 billion over the
next two years.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled in
February 2002 that approximately 150,000 pounds of polychlori-
nated biphenyls (PCBs) must be dredged from a 40-mile stretch
of the upper Hudson River in New York state. On November 2,
2006, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
approved a consent decree entered into between GE and the EPA
that represents a comprehensive framework for implementation
of the EPA’s 2002 decision to dredge PCB-containing sediments
in the upper Hudson River. The dredging will be performed in
two phases with an intervening peer review of performance after
phase 1. Under this consent decree, we have committed up to
$0.1 billion to reimburse the EPA for its past and future project
oversight costs and agreed to perform the fi rst phase of dredging.
We further committed that, subject to future agreement with the
EPA about completion of dredging after completion of phase 1
and the peer review, we will be responsible for further costs,
including costs of phase 2 dredging. Our Statement of Financial
Position as of December 31, 2007 and 2006, included liabilities
for the estimated costs of this remediation.