Below is the segment disclosure reported by General Electric in its 1998 annual report.

In addition, General Electric provided the following information about the businesses comprising CECS:

“Consumer services — private-label and bank credit card loans, personal loans, time sales and revolving credit and inventory financing for retail merchants, auto leasing and inventory financing, mortgage servicing, and consumer savings and insurance services.

Equipment management — leases, loans, sales and asset management services for portfolios of commercial and transportation equipment, including aircraft, trailers, auto fleets, modular space units, railroad rolling stock, data processing equipment, containers used on ocean-going vessels, satellites.

Mid-market financing — loans, financing and operating leases and other services for middle-market customers, including manufacturers, distributors and end users, for a variety of equipment that includes vehicles, corporate aircraft, data processing equipment, medical and diagnostic equipment, and equipment used in construction, manufacturing, office applications, electronics and telecommunications activities.

Revenues for the years ended December 31 Total revenues Intersegment revenues External revenues (in millions) 1998 1997 1996 1998 1997 1996 1998 1997 1996 GE Aircraft Engines $ 10,294 $ 7,799 $ 6,302 $ 292 $101 $ 86 $ 10,002 $ 7,698 $ 6,216 Appliances 5,619 5,801 5,586 12 12 5 5,607 5,789 5,581 Industrial Products and Systems 11,222 10,984 10,401 479 491 453 10,743 10,493 9,948 NBC 5,269 5,153 5,232 — — — 5,269 5,153 5,232 Plastics 6,633 6,695 6,509 20 24 22 6,613 6,671 6,487 Power Systems 8,466 7,915 7,643 166 80 67 8,300 7,835 7,576 Technical Products and Services 5,323 4,861 4,700 14 18 23 5,309 4,843 4,677 All Other 264 308 291 — — — 264 308 291 Eliminations (1,367) (1,176) (1,032) (983) (726) (656) (384) (450) (376)
Total GE segment revenues 51,723 48,340 45,632 — — — 51,723 48,340 45,632 Corporate items

(a) 507 2,919 1,116 — — — 507 2,919 1,116 GECS net earnings 3,796 3,256 2,817 — — — 3,796 3,256 2,817 Total GE 56,026 54,515 49,565 — — — 56,026 54,515 49,565 GECS 48,694 39,931 32,713 — — — 48,694 39,931 32,713 Eliminations (4,251) (3,606) (3,099) — — — (4,251) (3,606) (3,099)
Consolidated revenues $100,469 $90,840 $79,179 $ — $ — $ — $100,469 $90,840 $79,179.

GE revenues include income from sales of goods and services to customers and other income. Sales from one Company component to another generally are priced at equivalent commercial selling prices.

(a) Includes revenues of $944 million and $789 million in 1997 and 1998, respectively, from an appliance distribution affiliate that was deconsolidated in 1998. Also includes $1,538 million in 1997 from exchanging preferred stock in Lockheed Martin Corporation for the stock of a newly formed subsidiary.

Property, plant and equipment additions (including equipment leased to others)
For the years ended December 31 Depreciation and amortization (including goodwill and other intangibles)
For the years ended December 31 (in millions) 1998 1997 1996 1998 1997 1996 1998 1997 1996 GE Aircraft Engines $ 8,866 $ 8,895 $ 5,423 $ 480 $ 729 $ 551 $ 398 $ 292 $ 282 Appliances 2,436 2,354 2,399 150 83 168 137 131 123 Industrial Products and Systems 6,466 6,672 6,574 428 487 450 440 408 362 NBC 3,264 3,050 3,007 105 116 176 127 142 121 Plastics 9,813 8,890 9,130 722 618 748 591 494 552 Power Systems 7,253 6,182 6,322 246 215 185 215 199 184 Technical Products and Services 3,858 2,438 2,245 254 189 154 143 137 123 All Other 189 224 239 — — — 52 46 40 Total GE segments 42,145 38,705 35,339 2,385 2,437 2,432 2,103 1,849 1,787 Investments in GECS 19,727 17,239 14,276 — — — — — —
Corporate items and eliminations

(a) 12,798 11,482 10,310 158 129 114 189 180 176 Total GE 74,670 67,426 59,925 2,543 2,566 2,546 2,292 2,029 1,963 GECS 303,297 255,408 227,419 8,110 7,320 5,762 3,568 3,240 2,805 Eliminations (22,032) (18,822) (14,942) — — — — — —
Consolidated totals $355,935 $304,012 $272,402 $10,653 $9,886 $8,308 $5,860 $5,269 $4,768.

Specialized financing — loans and financing leases for major capital assets, including industrial facilities and equipment and energy-related facilities; commercial and residential real estate loans and investments; and loans to and investments in public and private entities in diverse industries.
Specialty insurance — U.S. and international multiple-line property and casualty reinsurance; certain directly written specialty insurance and life reinsurance; financial guaranty insurance, principally on municipal bonds and structured finance issues;
private mortgage insurance; and creditor insurance covering international customer loan repayments.
Very few of the products financed by GECS are manufactured by GE’s segment.”
How useful is GE’s segment information? What do you learn from this information that you cannot learn from the consolidated results? How important is GECS to GE’s overall performance? What other information would you want to have to analyze the performance of GECS?AppendixLO1