OREANDA-NEWS.  GE [NYSE: GE] announced today the release of its 2012 Annual Report, available on the Company’s website at www.ge.com/annualreport. The title and theme of “GE Works” is reflected in GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt’s letter to shareowners, which addresses the Company’s performance, culture, and how GE can thrive in the years ahead.

"Strategy is about making choices, building competitive advantage and planning for the future," writes Immelt. "As we look forward, it is important that investors see the Company through a set of choices we make for the purpose of creating value over time."

Immelt outlines five choices “that drive the future" of GE:

Remaking GE as an infrastructure leader: "About USD 60 trillion of infrastructure investment is needed by 2030 to support billions of new consumers joining the middle class in the emerging world, and to support developed-market productivity. At USD 100 billion of revenue with 15% margins, we are the largest and most profitable infrastructure company in the world.”
Balanced capital allocation with a focus on dividend growth: "We like GE to have a high dividend yield, which is appealing to the majority of our investors…In total, we plan to return USD 18 billion to investors this year through dividend and buyback.”
Investment in organic growth: "We believe that investing in technology and globalization is key to gaining market share. Annually, we invest more than USD 10 billion to launch new products and build global capability."
Alignment with customer outcomes: "Our growth is aligned with customer outcomes, and our products improve their productivity…We only win when our customers win."
Leading the big productivity drivers of the era: Immelt writes that GE is positioned to lead in three key productivity themes: “the shale gas revolution,” the rise of advanced manufacturing technologies, and the power of the Industrial Internet to increase productivity through better analytics.

Immelt closes the letter with a focus on the culture of GE. "A good culture is the only filter that can make size a strength and not a weakness." The key to GE's culture today, he writes, is "Simplification."

“We are building processes that drive speed, accountability and compliance,” writes Immelt. “The decisions we are making today will shape the Company for years to come. GE can execute on a scale few can match. I hope, as an investor, that makes you proud.”

Distribution of printed annual reports and proxy statements begins this week in preparation for GE’s annual shareowners meeting on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana.