General Electric said today that third-quarter profit and revenue fell, mainly due to its shrinking finance business and the negative effects of foreign currency.

However, the US industrial conglomerate posted a record backlog of orders and said earnings rose at six of its seven industrial businesses.

Chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt noted the results were "were very strong in an improving global business environment".

Net income fell to $3.19 billion, or 31 cents per share, from $3.49 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of 36 cents per share topped the average estimate of analysts by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 1.5 per cent to $35.7 billion. Analysts looked for nearly $36 billion.

GE said the negative impact of foreign currency took a $132 million toll on revenue.

Among GE’s seven industrial segments, its oil and gas and aviation lines posted revenue increases of 18 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively, offsetting a 10 percent decline in its power and water business that makes a variety of turbines.

The company’s accumulated backlog of service and equipment orders for items such as jet engines and turbines grew to $229 billion, up $6 billion from the second quarter.(Reuters)