GE Healthcare sees double-digit rev growth in India http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-06-29T103253Z_01_BOM201892_RTRIDST_0_
Thu Jun 29, 2006
BANGALORE, June 29 (Reuters) - GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), expects its Indian operations to post "double-digit" growth in revenues in coming years on the back of new launches, a senior company official said on Thursday.
"India has raised its importance in terms of growth opportunities for business," Daniel Peters, president and chief executive of GE Healthcare's medical diagnostics division, told Reuters ahead of a news conference. The U.S. firm, which has two units in India, notched revenues of $420 million in 2005 from South Asia, which also included Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. India accounted for 90 percent of the revenue. Peters said Indian revenues have been expanding in "double-digits" for some years, and would continue the growth rate in coming years, but declined to give specifics.
GE Healthcare has a 51 percent stake in Wipro GE Medical Systems Private Ltd., which makes ultrasound scanners, X-ray systems, and cardiology products for the domestic market.
The remainder in the unit, which had sales of $200 million in 2005, is held by Bangalore-based Wipro Corporation, a unit of Wipro Ltd. (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India's third-largest software services exporter.
GE Healthcare also has a wholly owned unit, GE Medical Systems India Pvt. Ltd., that makes diagnostics systems such as magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear positioners to detect cancers for the global market.
GE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in May that the world's second-most valuable company planned to invest $250 million in infrastructure and healthcare projects in India.
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