Tuesday, September 6, 2011

As Jeff Immelt Prepares for His Second Decade as Head of General Electric, Shareholders.... (GE)

...wonder how much more of his lovin' they can take.*
The stock is down 3.36% today, at $15.23. The DJIA and S&P are down 1.64% and 1.63% respectively.
Here's the chart comparing GE's stock performance with that of the S&P500 and DJIA during Immelt's tenure:


From Bloomberg:
GE’s Immelt Aims to Beat S&P Profit Growth
Jeffrey Immelt, saying he holds few regrets after leading General Electric Co. (GE) in 10 years bracketed by terrorism and a nuclear meltdown, predicts a payoff through 2013 as reinvigorated industrial units expand globally.

“Through all the volatility, we still focused on some big things and, I think, got them right,” Immelt said of a tenure as chairman and chief executive officer begun four days before the Sept. 11 attacks. A key goal in the next two years is profit growth that beats the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, he said in an interview. “We feel like we can deliver for investors.”

Those investors saw the stock slide 60 percent to less than $16, the first dividend cut since 1938 and the loss of a AAA credit rating amid what Immelt calls “black-swan events” that included two recessions. The fourth-longest serving CEO among companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, he reshaped GE by focusing on energy, health care and transportation while selling divisions that once created 40 percent of sales. Immelt and directors say the result is a GE with less risk, able to thrive in emerging markets and at home....MORE
It might be nice if he sang a bar of "My Way":
Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention...

*Sorry, I still had the Bushisms from the post immediately below tickling a neuron.