2 Reasons Shareholders Should Love GE's Annual Report
Earlier this month, General Electric (NYSE: GE) filed its annual report with the SEC. While many investors ignore big SEC filings, due to their length and complexity, they often contain important tidbits -- if you dig far enough. GE's 2021 annual report had two pieces of very good news for shareholders. Let's take a look.
The first piece of encouraging news was a sharp drop in GE's pension deficit. Five years ago, the industrial conglomerate's pension deficit stood near $31 billion. By the end of 2020, GE had whittled that down to $20.6 billion, mainly due to company contributions to the pension plans and freezing pension benefit accruals for many participants.
During 2021, rising interest rates reduced GE's gross pension obligations. Meanwhile, its main pension plan posted a solid 9.7% return last year. As a result, the pension deficit shrank by nearly $10 billion, ending the year at $11.1 billion. That's even better than the estimate of $12 billion that management provided in January.
Source Fool.com
