General Electric in this morning’s earnings release announced “immediate actions to strengthen its balance sheet and position its businesses for success.” First, GE plans to reduce its quarterly dividend from 12c to 1c per share beginning with the board’s next dividend declaration, which is expected to occur in December 2018. This change will allow GE to retain ~$3.9B of cash per year compared to the prior payout level. Second, GE intends to reorganize Power to accelerate the business’ operating and financial improvements. GE plans to create two units – a unified Gas business combining GE’s gas product and services groups, and a second unit constituting the portfolio of GE Power’s other assets including Steam, Grid Solutions, Nuclear, and Power Conversion. The company also intends to consolidate Power’s headquarters structure to ensure these units can best serve their customers. GE Chairman and CEO Lawrence Culp said, “After my first few weeks on the job, it’s clear to me that GE is a fundamentally strong company with a talented team and great technology. However, our results are far from our full potential. We will heighten our sense of urgency and increase accountability across the organization to deliver better results. We are on the right path to create a more focused portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet. My priorities in my first 100 days are positioning our businesses to win, starting with Power, and accelerating deleveraging. We are moving with speed to improve our financial position, starting with the actions announced today. I look forward to updating you further on our progress in early 2019.”