General Electric Co (GE.N) expects to burn less cash in the current quarter than it did a year earlier, continuing a year-on-year improvement in cash generation, Chief Financial Officer Carolina Dybeck Happe said on Thursday. The industrial conglomerate expects to post a similar level of improvement in cash flow this quarter as it did a quarter ago, Dybeck Happe said at a Wolfe Research Transportation and Industrials Conference. In the quarter through March, GE reported a $1.7 billion of improvement in cash flow from a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, on average, expect the Boston-based company to report a cash outflow of $746 million in the current quarter, smaller than an outflow of $2.1 billion a year ago. GE has forecast to generate $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion in free cash flow this year. The company"s shares closed up 7.1% at $14.35.