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GE Prices Secondary Public Offering of Genworth Financial Class A Common Stock at $26.50 Per Share; GE Increases First Quarter Earnings Per Share Guidance


WEBWIRE

FAIRFIELD, Conn.-- March 24, 2005--GE today announced the pricing of the Genworth secondary public offering.
A total of 80,500,000 shares of Genworth Class A common stock are being sold in the secondary offering at a price to the public of $26.50 per share. The underwriters do not have an over-allotment option.
Concurrently with the closing of the offering, Genworth will repurchase directly from GE approximately 19.4 million shares of Genworth’s Class B Common Stock for $500 million.
GE, as the selling stockholder in the secondary offering, will receive net proceeds from the offering and the repurchase of approximately $2.6 billion and after these transactions will own approximately 52% of Genworth’s common stock.
As previously announced, GE will use the proceeds to eliminate “parent-supported” debt at GE Capital and enable GE Capital to increase the dividend it pays GE from 10% of its earnings to 40% commencing in the second quarter. Genworth will not receive any of the proceeds of the offering.
GE expects, subject to market conditions, to reduce its ownership over the next two years as Genworth transitions to full independence.
“We’re pleased to complete this important next step in the reduction of our investment in insurance,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.
“GE’s end markets continue to show solid growth, and our businesses are performing very well. To reflect their strong performance and the impact of the Genworth transactions, we are increasing our guidance for first-quarter earnings per share from $.36-$.37 to $.37-$.38, a 16-19% increase over first quarter 2004. We are also reconfirming full-year guidance of $1.76-$1.83 per share,” Immelt said.
A registration statement relating to the public offering was filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering is being made solely by means of a prospectus. The global coordinator and bookrunner for the offering is Morgan Stanley. JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch & Co. are joint lead managers and bookrunners for the offering. Copies of the final prospectus may be obtained from Morgan Stanley, Attn: Prospectus Department, 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, tel. (212) 761-4000.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

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