Investors favour GE's Immelt despite tough year

By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) - It has been a rocky year for General Electric, but despite the troubles at its vast finance arm and a slumping stock price, many investors and analysts say the guy at the top -- Chief Executive Jeff Immelt -- is safe in his job.

"Would everyone give Immelt an 'A'? No. But, I would give him an 'A'," said Brian Langenberg of investment manager Langenberg & Co. "Immelt has done all the things that he has needed to do to deal with GE's problems and I don't know what else he could do."

Although investors say that GE could have reacted sooner to the global credit crisis, they add that few people are better qualified to steer the company through tough times -- and stress that changing leadership during a crisis would send a bad signal to the market.

"I think Immelt has done a great job," said Douglas Ober, CEO of Adams Express Co, which manages assets of $1.7 billion (1.1 billion pounds) and holds 1,388,000 GE shares. "He is doing what needs to be done and that will hold GE in good stead for the future."

"I'm very patient with Jeff," Ober added.

GE's woes began in April when the gargantuan conglomerate stunned Wall Street with a 6 percent drop in first-quarter net profit, as the credit crisis cut profits in its financial services business.

Since then, as the United States has faced its worst financial storm since the Great Depression, GE has had to raise $15 billion through a secondary stock offering -- including $3 billion from investment mogul Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)(BRKb.N).

Added to that, a declining U.S. economy has helped pummel GE's stock, which is now worth less than half what it was when Immelt took over from legendary former CEO Jack Welch on September 10, 2001. Most of that slide has come this year.