Industrial conglomerate GE has withdrawn its financial guidance for 2020 due to business uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company, which is the parent firm of GE Healthcare, said that it was "prudent" to withdraw its 2020 guidance because it "cannot forecast with reasonable accuracy the full duration, magnitude, and pace of recovery across our end markets, operations, and supply chains."
For the first quarter of 2020 (end-March 31), GE said it expects its adjusted earnings per share to be "materially below" its prior guidance released on March 4 of 10¢ a share, while industrial free cash flow was expected to be close to the previous guidance of negative $2 billion.
The company noted that it is taking actions to "come out stronger" when the COVID-19 crisis is over and that it had an extra $20 billion on its balance sheet due to the divestiture of its BioPharma business to Danaher in March.
