Assets and Liabilities of Businesses Held For Sale and Discontinued Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Assets and Liabilities Of Business Held For Sale and Discontinued Operations

Note 2. ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF BUSINESSES HELD FOR SALE AND DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

Assets and Liabilities of Businesses Held for Sale

In the fourth quarter of 2014, we signed an agreement to sell our Signaling business at Transportation, with assets of $267 million and liabilities of $148 million to Alstom for approximately $800 million, and our consumer finance business Budapest Bank, with assets of $3,474 million and liabilities of $2,434 million to Hungary’s government. The transactions remain subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and are targeted to close in 2015.

In the third quarter of 2014, we signed an agreement to sell our Appliances business with assets of $2,538 million and liabilities of $1,356 million to Electrolux for approximately $3,300 million. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is targeted to close in 2015.

In the second quarter of 2014, we committed to sell GE Money Bank AB, our consumer finance business in Sweden, Denmark and Norway (GEMB-Nordic). We completed the sale on November 6, 2014 for proceeds of $2,320 million.

In the first quarter of 2013, we committed to sell certain of our machining & fabrication businesses at Aviation and our Consumer auto and personal loan business in Portugal. We completed the sale of our machining & fabrication business on December 2, 2013 for proceeds of $108 million. We completed the sale of our Consumer auto and personal loan business in Portugal on July 15, 2013 for proceeds of $83 million.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF BUSINESSES HELD FOR SALE
December 31 (In millions)	2014		2013
Assets
Cash and equivalents	$	676	$	5
Investment securities		448		7
Current receivables(a)		180		-
Inventories		588		-
Financing receivables – net		2,144		-
Property, plant, and equipment – net		1,015		-
Goodwill		539		24
Intangible assets – net		170		2
Other		540		12
Assets of businesses held for sale	$	6,300	$	50
Liabilities
Accounts payable(a)	$	510	$	1
Other current liabilities		348		-
Bank deposits		1,931		-
Other		586		5
Liabilities of businesses held for sale	$	3,375	$	6

(a)Certain transactions at our Appliances and Signaling businesses are made on an arms-length basis with GECC, consisting primarily of GE customer receivables sold to GECC and GECC services for material procurement. These intercompany balances included within our held for sale businesses are reported in the GE and GECC columns of our financial statements, but are eliminated in deriving our consolidated financial statements.

NBCU

On March 19, 2013, we closed a transaction to sell our remaining 49% common equity interest in NBCUniversal LLC (NBCU LLC) to Comcast Corporation (Comcast) for total consideration of $16,722 million, consisting of $11,997 million in cash, $4,000 million in Comcast guaranteed debt and $725 million in preferred stock. The $4,000 million of debt and the $725 million of preferred shares were both issued by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Comcast. During the three months ended March 31, 2013, both of these instruments were sold at approximately par value. In addition, Comcast is obligated to share with us potential tax savings associated with Comcast’s purchase of our NBCU LLC interest, if realized. We did not recognize these potential future payments as consideration for the sale, but are recording such payments in income as they are received. GECC also sold real estate comprising certain floors located at 30 Rockefeller Center, New York and the CNBC property located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to affiliates of NBCU LLC for $1,430 million in cash.

In the first quarter of 2013, as a result of the transactions, we recognized pre-tax gains of $1,096 million ($825 million after tax) on the sale of our 49% common equity interest in NBCU LLC and $921 million ($564 million after tax) on the sale of GECC’s real estate properties.

Discontinued Operations

Discontinued operations primarily comprised GE Money Japan (our Japanese personal loan business, Lake, and our Japanese mortgage and card businesses, excluding our investment in GE Nissen Credit Co., Ltd.), our U.S. mortgage business (WMC), our Commercial Lending and Leasing (CLL) trailer services business in Europe (CLL Trailer Services), our Consumer banking business in Russia (Consumer Russia) and our Consumer mortgage lending business in Ireland (Consumer Ireland). Results of operations, financial position and cash flows for these businesses are separately reported as discontinued operations for all periods presented.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Operations
Total revenues and other income (loss)	$	(268)	$	186	$	191
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes	$	(351)	$	(494)	$	(586)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes		224		155		198
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	(127)	$	(339)	$	(388)
Disposal
Gain (loss) on disposal before income taxes	$	14	$	(2,027)	$	(792)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes		1		246		197
Gain (loss) on disposal, net of taxes	$	15	$	(1,781)	$	(595)
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes(a)	$	(112)	$	(2,120)	$	(983)

(a)The sum of GE industrial earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, and GECC earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, is reported as GE industrial earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, on the Consolidated Statement of Earnings.

December 31 (In millions)	2014		2013
Assets
Cash and equivalents	$	133	$	232
Financing receivables – net		-		711
Other		1,102		1,396
Assets of discontinued operations	$	1,235	$	2,339
Liabilities
Deferred income taxes	$	237	$	248
Other		988		3,685
Liabilities of discontinued operations	$	1,225	$	3,933

Other assets at December 31, 2014 and 2013 primarily comprised a deferred tax asset for a loss carryforward, which expires principally in 2017 and in part in 2019, related to the sale of our GE Money Japan business.

GE Money Japan

During the third quarter of 2008, we completed the sale of GE Money Japan, which included our Japanese personal loan business. Under the terms of the sale, we reduced the proceeds from the sale for estimated refund claims in excess of the statutory interest rate. Proceeds from the sale were to be increased or decreased based on the actual claims experienced in accordance with loss-sharing terms specified in the sale agreement, with all claims in excess of 258 billion Japanese yen (approximately $3,000 million) remaining our responsibility. On February 26, 2014, we reached an agreement with the buyer to pay 175 billion Japanese yen (approximately $1,700 million) to extinguish this obligation. We have no remaining amount payable under the February 26, 2014 agreement as our reserve for refund claims of $1,836 million at December 31, 2013 was fully paid in the six months ended June 30, 2014.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR GE MONEY JAPAN
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	59	$	(1,636)	$	(649)

WMC

During the fourth quarter of 2007, we completed the sale of WMC, our U.S. mortgage business. WMC substantially discontinued all new loan originations by the second quarter of 2007, and is not a loan servicer. In connection with the sale, WMC retained certain representation and warranty obligations related to loans sold to third parties prior to the disposal of the business and contractual obligations to repurchase previously sold loans that had an early payment default. All claims received by WMC for early payment default have either been resolved or are no longer being pursued.

The remaining active claims have been brought by securitization trustees or administrators seeking recovery from WMC for alleged breaches of representations and warranties on mortgage loans that serve as collateral for residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). At December 31, 2014, such claims consisted of $3,694million of individual claims generally submitted before the filing of a lawsuit (compared to $5,643 million at December 31, 2013) and $9,225 million of additional claims asserted against WMC in litigation without making a prior claim (Litigation Claims) (compared to $6,780 million at December 31, 2013). The total amount of these claims, $12,919 million, reflects the purchase price or unpaid principal balances of the loans at the time of purchase and does not give effect to pay downs or potential recoveries based upon the underlying collateral, which in many cases are substantial, nor to accrued interest or fees. As of December 31, 2014, these amounts do not include approximately $1,070million of repurchase claims relating to alleged breaches of representations that are not in litigation and that are beyond the applicable statute of limitations. WMC believes that repurchase claims brought based upon representations and warranties made more than six years before WMC was notified of the claim would be disallowed in legal proceedings under applicable statutes of limitations.

Reserves related to repurchase claims made against WMC were $809 million at December 31, 2014, reflecting a net increase to reserves in the twelve months ended December 31, 2014 of $9 million due to incremental provisions offset by settlement activity. The reserve estimate takes into account recent settlement activity and is based upon WMC’s evaluation of the remaining exposures as a percentage of estimated lifetime mortgage loan losses within the pool of loans supporting each securitization. Settlements in prior periods reduced WMC’s exposure on claims asserted in certain securitizations and the claim amounts reported above give effect to these settlements.

ROLLFORWARD OF THE RESERVE
December 31 (In millions)		2014		2013
Balance, beginning of period	$	800	$	633
Provision		365		354
Claim resolutions / rescissions		(356)		(187)
Balance, end of period	$	809	$	800

Given the significant litigation activity and WMC’s continuing efforts to resolve the lawsuits involving claims made against WMC, it is difficult to assess whether future losses will be consistent with WMC’s past experience. Adverse changes to WMC’s assumptions supporting the reserve may result in an increase to these reserves. Taking into account both recent settlement activity and the potential variability of settlements, WMC estimates a range of reasonably possible loss from $0 to approximately $500 million over its recorded reserve at December 31, 2014. This estimate excludes any possible loss associated with an adverse court decision on the applicable statute of limitations, as WMC is unable at this time to develop such a meaningful estimate.

At December 31, 2014, there were 15lawsuits involving claims made against WMC arising from alleged breaches of representations and warranties on mortgage loans included in 14securitizations. The adverse parties in these cases are securitization trustees or parties claiming to act on their behalf. Although the alleged claims for relief vary from case to case, the complaints and counterclaims in these actions generally assert claims for breach of contract, indemnification, and/or declaratory judgment, and seek specific performance (repurchase of defective mortgage loan) and/or money damages. Adverse court decisions, including in cases not involving WMC (such as the New York Court of Appeals’ decision on statute of limitations, expected in 2015), could result in new claims and lawsuits on additional loans. However, WMC continues to believe that it has defenses to the claims asserted in litigation, including, for example, based on causation and materiality requirements and applicable statutes of limitations. It is not possible to predict the outcome or impact of these defenses and other factors, any of which could materially affect the amount of any loss ultimately incurred by WMC on these claims.

WMC has also received indemnification demands, nearly all of which are unspecified, from depositors/underwriters/sponsors of RMBS in connection with lawsuits brought by RMBS investors concerning alleged misrepresentations in the securitization offering documents to which WMC is not a party or, in two cases, involving mortgage loan repurchase claims made against RMBS sponsors. WMC believes that it has defenses to these demands.

To the extent WMC is required to repurchase loans, WMC’s loss also would be affected by several factors, including pay downs, accrued interest and fees, and the value of the underlying collateral. The reserve and estimate of possible loss reflect judgment, based on currently available information, and a number of assumptions, including economic conditions, claim and settlement activity, pending and threatened litigation, court decisions regarding WMC’s legal defenses, indemnification demands, government activity, and other variables in the mortgage industry. Actual losses arising from claims against WMC could exceed these amounts and additional claims and lawsuits could result if actual claim rates, governmental actions, litigation and indemnification activity, adverse court decisions, actual settlement rates or losses WMC incurs on repurchased loans differ from its assumptions.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR WMC
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Total revenues and other income (loss)	$	(291)	$	(346)	$	(500)
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	(199)	$	(232)	$	(337)

Other Financial Services

During the fourth quarter of 2013, we announced the planned disposition of Consumer Russia and classified the business as discontinued operations. We completed the sale in the first quarter of 2014 for proceeds of $232 million.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR CONSUMER RUSSIA
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Total revenues and other income (loss)	$	24	$	260	$	276
Gain (loss) on disposal, net of taxes	$	4	$	(170)	$	-
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations,  net of taxes	$	(2)	$	(193)	$	33

During the first quarter of 2013, we announced the planned disposition of CLL Trailer Services and classified the business as discontinued operations. We completed the sale in the fourth quarter of 2013 for proceeds of $528 million.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR CLL TRAILER SERVICES
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Total revenues and other income (loss)	$	1	$	271	$	399
Gain (loss) on disposal, net of taxes	$	12	$	18	$	-
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	37	$	(2)	$	22

During the first quarter of 2012, we announced the planned disposition of Consumer Ireland and classified the business as discontinued operations. We completed the sale in the third quarter of 2012 for proceeds of $227 million

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR CONSUMER IRELAND
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Total revenues and other income (loss)	$	-	$	-	$	7
Gain (loss) on disposal, net of taxes	$	1	$	6	$	(121)
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	1	$	6	$	(195)

GE Industrial

During the fourth quarter of 2013, we recorded an increase to our tax reserve related to Spanish taxes for the years prior to our 2007 disposition of our Plastics business. During the third quarter of 2012, we resolved with the Internal Revenue Service the tax treatment of the 2007 disposition of our Plastics business, resulting in a tax benefit of $148 million. The sum of GE industrial earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, and GECC earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, is reported as GE industrial earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes, on the Statement of Earnings.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR GE INDUSTRIAL
(In millions)		2014		2013		2012
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	$	(5)	$	(66)	$	147