General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt told shareholders today that it is hard to tell how long the current global recession will linger.
“It’s difficult to predict how bad this will be and how long this will last,” Immelt said at the company’s shareholder meeting in Orlando, Fla., where the largest U.S. conglomerate has a large entertainment business. “The global economy and capitalism itself have been fundamentally reset.”
The Fairfield-based company has seen its shares pounded over the past year as its GE Money finance arm — which has operations ranging from U.S. store credit cards to financing jet engine purchases — has dragged heavily on its results.
GE last week reported a 36 percent drop in profit, heavily weighed by finance and by its NBC Universal media business.
So far this year, GE has been stripped of its top-tier “AAA” credit ratings by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, and the board has also cut its shareholder dividend by 68 percent in a move to conserve cash.
