GE sees up to $1 bln in Olympics-related sales

By Scott Malone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is on track to generate between $800 million and $1 billion in revenue related to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a top GE executive said on Tuesday.

"We're about a quarter to a third of the way there, coming out of 2006, and we think we'll get most of the rest of that in 2007, and we'll have some follow-on stuff in early 2008," said John Rice, a GE vice chairman who serves as president and chief executive of the GE Infrastructure unit, speaking at the Reuters Manufacturing Summit in New York.

Rice said the company expects revenue related to the Olympics, which will be broadcast by the conglomerate's NBC Universal media affiliate, to come to about $400 million this year.

"China is using this as an opportunity to significantly increase its infrastructure investment, particularly in areas around Beijing," Rice said.

Overall, GE is on track to generate about $2.5 billion in sales in China this year.

"We don't see any abatement of that," Rice said. "There's always a question about how long China can continue to grow at this rate but, frankly, we see a lot of the right things happening and maybe ... instead of 9, 10, 11, it's 7, 8, 9 percent growth. But it's going to be pretty healthy growth on a relative basis for a long time."

China's major stock index, the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC dropped 9 percent on Tuesday on fears that the government would crack down on speculation that has driven stock prices there to record highs. That weighed on U.S. stocks, which suffered their worst one-day slide in more than eight months.

GE shares were off 25 cents to $35.09 on the New York Stock Exchange.

GE Infrastructure is the company's largest division, last year accounting for 29 percent of the conglomerate's $163.39 billion in revenue. The unit's businesses range from jet engines to power-generating equipment and include some major elements of the company's "Ecomagination" green-business initiative, including wind turbines.

GE is the world's second-largest company by market capitalization, trailing Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)