General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is already on the path to raise its dividend later in the year. Now we have word from the company that GE Capital will pay the parent company some $6.5 billion in dividends this year, after having reinstated the GE Capital dividend in 2012. This is taking place at the same time that GE is shrinking GE Capital as far as a total percentage of the GE portfolio of business units.

The $6.5 billion will be paid in two parts. The first is a normal $2 billion earnings distribution. The second is a special dividend of $4.5 billion. Immelt confirmed the plans to continue shrinking GE Capital.

The earnings distribution is roughly 30% back to the parent. While we expect a higher dividend from GE in late 2013, the special dividend payment is more than two-thirds of the distribution. Even with some $68 billion in cash on the GE Capital balance sheet, higher normalized dividends usually require steady income rather than a special dividend to get to steadily higher dividends.

GE has told us that if it can trim GE Capital by 10% of its total portfolio, then it will be valued more as an industrial conglomerate rather than a conglomerate too dominated by the finance unit. GE did confirm that it still plans to return $18 billion cash to its shareholders in 2013, including the repurchase of some $10 billion of common stock.

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