GE chief upbeat on economy

General Electric Co. Chairman Jeffery Immelt said industrial orders are broad and deep in what he described on Tuesday as probably the best economy he has seen in four years.

Immelt provided a business update during an interview on cable news channel CNBC, which is part of GE's NBC television network. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)

Shares of Fairfield, Connecticut-based are off about 9 percent this month and dipped below $30 a share on Monday, the first time the stock closed below that level in three months.

Nevertheless, Immelt said industrial orders are strong across GE businesses that make plastics, appliances and aircraft parts.

"It's broad. It's deep," Immelt said. "This is the best economy we've probably been in four years....I think (2005) looks very good."

Immelt acknowledged some choppiness in GE shares over the company's recent equity offering to raise about $3.8 billion through the sale of about 119.4 million shares.

GE plans to use the proceeds, in part, to fund its $3.8 billion payment to Vivendi Universal for a controlling stake in the French company's U.S. entertainment assets. It plans to combine the assets with its NBC television business.

Immelt suggested GE shares are being weighed down by the convergence of three big events. Besides the Vivendi deal, GE is acquiring UK-based Amersham Plc, a healthcare company, and plans an initial public offering next month of its newly named Genworth insurance operations.

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"This is going to be a blip on the screen when it's all said and done," Immelt said.

He said GE shares are priced attractively, trading at about 16 times 2005 earnings.

Last week, GE said broad-based growth in industrial orders and financial services assets are driving its revenue growth. It said "increased visibility" will help the company reach the high end of its target earnings ranges — about 32 cents per share in the first quarter and 39 cents per share in the second quarter.

The forecasts exclude any impact from the Amersham acquisition or the Genworth IPO.

Analysts' average earnings forecasts are 31 cents per share for the first quarter and 38 cents for the second quarter, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.