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Jeff Immelt says General Electric Co will make $20 billion

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:November 3, 2008 Become a writer!

The U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) will earn 20 billion dollars this year, said its CEO Jeff Immelt in an interview with the economic daily Les Echos, without specifying what results.

U.S. investor Warren Buffett injected $5 billion into General Electric’s equity as the company needed to maintain its “AAA” debt rating, not because it was in dire need of cash, Immelt says, adding that Buffett’s investment in GE is “symbolic.”

General Electric will seize acquisition opportunities as soon as possible when liquidity returns and while valuations remain cheap, Immelt also said.

Immelt said he expects more regulation to result from the financial crisis, adding that the idea of the Federal Reserve becoming the lone financial system regulator in the US would be “a plus.” He also says greater cooperation between European and American financial regulators would be better.