GE tries to assure investors

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thursday, April 24th 2008, 4:00 AM

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, faced with an unhappy crowd, worked to reassure shareholders Wednesday that the company's performance will improve.

The annual meeting came just two weeks after GE failed to meet first-quarter profit and revenue goals, which triggered a sell-off that wiped out more than $46 billion of GE's market value.

The surprising report came a month after GE promised investors 10% earnings growth in 2008.

"This has triggered a tough reaction and it should," Immelt told about 1,000 shareholders. "I can assure you that we . . . ask ourselves some very tough questions."

Some analysts said Immelt had credibility problems for not warning Wall Street, and former CEO Jack Welch fueled the fire by promising to "get a gun out and shoot" his successor if he allowed GE to miss its targets again.

"We are in the toughest economy since 2001 and the worst housing crisis since the Depression," Immelt said.

He pledged to boost cost-cutting from $2 billion to $3 billion, and adjusted expected '08 earnings growth to 5% or less.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt puts on a happy face at shareholders meeting.

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