GE targeting growth opportunities in developing nations

GE targeting growth opportunities in developing nations

2005-03-03 buttociated Press

General Electric Co. expects 60 percent of its growth to come from developing countries in the next decade, compared to about 20 percent for the past decade, according to the company's annual report.

Business with China should exceed US$5 billion this year, while GE is also targeting growing opportunities in Russia, India, eastern Europe, southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America, Jeffrey Immelt, the company's chief executive, said in the report.

The Fairfield-based industrial, financial and media conglomerate "played hurt" in recent years as a weak economy and other setbacks harmed its key businesses, Immelt said in GE's annual report, which paints a picture of a bellwether planning to bounce back from tough times.

GE expects to return to double-digit profit growth this year after divesting US$15 billion of slow-growth buttets and investing more than US$60 billion to create a faster-growing company, Immelt said.

GE's strategy relies on what Immelt called "imagination breakthroughs' - new projects and products such as a fuel-efficient locomotive and a portable ultrasound. The company plans to invest about US$5 billion in that type of research and development over the next four years, hoping to boost sales by US$25 billion.

To achieve that growth, GE has changed its approach to look at countries as customers, Immelt said. He cited Qatar, where GE has landed portions of the country's liquid natural gas projects and is pursuing a major airline order and other business.

Immelt dismissed the notion that GE is too big to grow and set a goal of increasing the company's revenue, excluding acquisitions, by 8 percent annually instead of the historic average of 5 percent.