General Electric's net income jumped 77 percent during the first quarter -- the company's first financial report to Wall Street since finalizing the sale of its controlling stake in NBC Universal to Comcast in January.
GE said that the soaring profits were driven by GE Capital, its lending services business.
Overall, its net income was $3.43 billion, or 31 cents per share, compared to $1.95 billion, or 17 cents per share, last year.
"As today's results show, GE has emerged from the recession a stronger, more competitive company," GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said in a statement.
But the results were not necessarily a reflection of the NBCU sale, he said. (GE still owns 49 percent of NBCU.)
As CNNMoney.com noted, GE said "three quarters of the profit it earned on the deal was wiped out by restructuring costs."
