GE announced third-quarter 2011 operating earnings of $3.4 billion, up 11% from the third quarter of 2010.

“We are pleased to deliver our sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit operating earnings growth in a volatile macro environment,” GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. “We improved earnings, achieved solid double-digit infrastructure order growth, executed on our balanced capital allocation plan and maintained a strong balance sheet. We ended the quarter with a record high order backlog of $191 billion and we remain confident in our full-year 2011 operating framework.”

GE Capital

The press release indicates GE Capital earned $1.5 billion for the quarter versus $818 million, an increase of 79% over Q3 2010 performance. Year-to-date earnings increased to $4.9 billion compared to $2.1 billion earned during the first nine months of 2010.  Earnings also increased in GE Capital’s Commercial Lending and Leasing business reporting year-to-date earnings of $1.9 billion versus $987 million for the same period in 2010.

“GE Capital executed across all of its businesses, earning $1.5 billion after tax, an increase of 79% from the third quarter of last year,” Immelt said. “We grew GE Capital volume to $43 billion, up 15%. GE Capital’s margins remained strong at 5.4% year-to-date and the business continues to benefit from the credit cycle recovery. GE Capital continued to strengthen its capital ratios and liquidity during the quarter. GECC and GECS Tier 1 common ratios were up to 11.0% and 9.6% and we have reduced leverage across the portfolio.”