GE, one of the world’s largest companies, said that orders improved late in the year in its businesses that supply equipment like turbines for power plants and sonogram machines for hospitals. Its profit decline was smaller than previous quarters even though the company’s big lending unit still weighed on earnings. Results beat Wall Street forecasts for the conglomerate, which is coming off one of the worst years in its 117-year history.

Bank of America Corp. lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills. The nation’s second-largest bank said it wrote down loans on its books by almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter.

GE says the continued woes of its big financial unit fueled a big drop in third-quarter earnings, outweighing signs of improvement in its divisions that make heavy machinery and other industrial equipment.

General Electric says it likely will shut down its Winchester light bulb plant next summer.

General Electric Co.‘s second-quarter profit was sliced nearly in half, the company said yesterday, as the recession drove down earnings at its finance unit and smothered demand for its wide-ranging industrial goods. Although earnings beat Wall Street forecasts by a penny, GE’s revenue fell $3 billion short of expectations, helping push down shares 6 percent. Quarterly sales fell across its divisions, from health care to broadcasting, suggesting that the recession is still sapping demand for goods and services.

Richmond-based Media General Inc. yesterday reported a wider first-quarter loss as advertising sales continued to falter in the economic downturn. Media General, which owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, reported a loss of $21.3 million, or 96 cents per share, compared with a loss of $20.3 million, or 92 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2008. The recent results included severance expenses of $4.5 million, or 20 cents per share.