LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - US industrial giant General Electric is halving its quarterly dividend to 12 cents per share as new CEO John Flannery attempts to turn its fortunes around.
The conglomerate said on Monday that it was reducing its dividend from 24 cents in an attempt to free up capital, with GE facing a deterioration in its cash levels.

Flannery took over as the chief executive of the company in August after predecessor Jeff Immelt stepped down in the midst of stagnating growth.

"We understand the importance of this decision to our shareowners and we have not made it lightly," Flannery said in a statement. "We are focused on driving total shareholder return and believe this is the right decision to align our dividend payout to cash flow generation."

GE also projected a disappointing outlook for earnings in 2018, with expected income per share being set at $1.0-$1.107, with analysts expecting $1.18.

The firm continues to make attempts at streamlining its operations with reports suggesting that it is considering a large number of job cuts.

General Electric was down almost 4% at the open on Wall Street in response to the dividend cut.

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