In a year that saw some of the world s biggest banks buckle under the strain of a deepening credit crisis, few investors would blame General Electric for shrinking its own finance arm.
Indeed, GE s shares surged by 14 per cent on Tuesday after executives revealed details of a plan to wean the company off its dependency on financial services for profit, while assuring its GE Capital division can prosper as what Michael Neal, the unit s chief executive officer, called a well-funded, but smaller, business.
