GE Profit Rises 18 Percent in Third Quarter

General Electric Co. said quarterly earnings rose 18 percent, with profit up at its jet engine, healthcare equipment and railroad locomotive units, as well as the hefty GE Capital finance arm.

The largest U.S. conglomerate said on Friday that third-quarter earnings attributable to common shareholders came to $2.34 billion, or 22 cents per share, compared with $1.98 billion, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

The results included an 8-cent-per-share charge to buy back the preferred shares the company had sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. during the financial crisis.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)