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GE lost billions by 'misjudging' renewables: report

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AFP Paris
Last Updated : Jun 06 2019 | 5:45 PM IST

Investors in General Electric, once one of the world's most valuable companies, lost tens of billions of dollars after the Paris climate deal as it failed to adapt to the pace of the green energy transition, new analysis showed Thursday.

A report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said GE had lost a "simply staggering" USD 193 billion (172 billion euros) in just three years to 2018 -- amounting to almost three quarters of its market capitalisation.

The Cleveland-based research group said GE and its principal shareholders misjudged the falling price of renewables as the world transitions to cleaner energy and suffered from a collapse of the gas turbine and thermal power construction markets.

"GE assumed wrongly that demand for natural gas and coal would continue to track global economic growth," they said, accusing GE of "an epic failure of corporate governance."

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First Published: Jun 06 2019 | 5:45 PM IST

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