GE profit tops estimates as margins improve

The U.S. conglomerate posted a 4 percent rise in organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions, for its industrial manufacturing businesses, on which Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt is increasingly focusing the company. GE said such revenue was on track to hit the higher end of its projected range of 4 percent to 7 percent growth for 2014.

GE's shares rose 3.5 percent to $25.10 in premarket trading.

Third-quarter net income rose to $3.54 billion, or 35 cents per share, from $3.19 billion, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, earnings of 38 cents per share topped the analysts' average estimate by 1 cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 1 percent to $36.17 billion, below the $36.79 billion that analysts expected.

GE's profit margin for its industrial businesses came in at 16.3 percent, expanding by 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

Like those of other diverse U.S. manufacturers, GE's shares have underperformed the broader market this year after a big run in 2013.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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