General Electric Co reported a 36 percent drop in quarterly profit, as a global recession pounded its hefty finance arm, but the company said the order backlog at its industrial arm remained stable.

The world's largest maker of jet engines and electricity-producing turbines said on Friday net income attributable to common shareholders came to $2.74 billion, or 26 cents per diluted share, down from $4.3 billion, or 43 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue fell 9 percent.

The company said its order backlog remained stable at $171 billion.

Earlier in the quarter, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company cut its quarterly dividend by 68 percent and was stripped of its top-tier AAA credit rating by both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

Its shares are down approximately 63 percent over the past 12 months, a far sharper drop than the 36 percent fall of the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI>.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Derek Caney)

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