By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Double-digit earnings growth at its Evendale-based jet engine business helped fuel General Electric Co.'s 47 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits.

GE, the world's biggest company in market value, said net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 was $4.56 billion, or 45 cents a share, versus net income of $3.1 billion, or 31 cents a share, a year ago. Fourth-quarter revenues rose 4 percent to $37 billion.

"The economy's definitely improving,'' chairman Jeff Immelt said, noting that fourth-quarter orders rose 19 percent.

Fourth-quarter operating profit at GE Aircraft Engines, which has struggled in the face of the commercial airline industry slump, was $630 million, up 12 percent from $561 million a year ago. Revenues slipped 1 percent to $3.06 billion.

GEAE has been cutting jobs in the wake of the slump in airline sales, but GE said productivity gains and an almost 40 percent increase in military engine spares boosted jet engine earnings.

"(GEAE) is positioned for an excellent 2004,'' Immelt told investors.

In the current quarter, GE expects its recently combined jet engine and locomotive business, now known as GE Transportation, to post a 10 percent gain in revenues and a 10-15 percent increase in operating earnings.

For the year, GE reported net income of $15 billion, or $1.49 a share, after accounting changes, up 6 percent from $14.1 billion, or $1.41 a share, a year ago.

Profit gains were led by the consumer and commercial finance businesses, which rose 38 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Immelt said orders are growing at all of GE's industrial businesses. Eight of GE's 13 businesses that include NBC, finance, insurance and medical systems, posted double-digit earnings growth in 2003.

For the year, GEAE's operating earnings increased 4 percent to $2.15 billion from $2.06 billion in the prior year. Jet engine revenues slipped 4 percent to $10.7 billion from $11.1 billion in 2002.

• Multi-Color Corp.: The Cincinnati supplier of labels and consumer packaging said net earnings rose 9 percent to $1.6 million, or 24 cents a share, in the third quarter.

For the same three months last year, Multi-Color reported net earnings of $1.49 million, or 23 cents a share. Revenues increased 27 percent to $33 million from $25.9 million a year ago.

The closing of its Las Vegas plant and other manufacturing consolidation steps reduced fourth-quarter earnings by 2 cents a share.

Because of ongoing costs from the manufacturing moves, Multi-Color said it expects that full-year and fourth-quarter earnings will be flat compared with last year. Multi-Color's shares fell 12 cents Friday, closing at $18.13.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com