General Electric executives this week outlined details of their plans to bolster profits in response to pressure from prominent investors.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the previously announced merger of its oil and gas operations with oilfield services titan Baker Hughes will result in increased revenue.
The company will also cut about $1 billion in costs — likely by reducing its overall footprint and closing some facilities — and sell off two of its smaller units in order to raise an estimated $4 billion.
The divisions reportedly on the chopping block include GE Water, which provides chemicals, equipment and services for industrial and public water systems, and GE Industrial Solutions, which sells electrical distribution and grid equipment.
Reports last month suggested that GE would sell its Water division by mid-2017 as part of its effort to appease shareholders, who called on the company to cut costs and boost profits. Curbing GE's sprawling operations to focus on heavy equipment and software would lead to improved growth, executives believe.
The company previously sold off most of GE Capital.
“We’ve made the company simpler,” CEO Jeff Immelt told financial analysts Wednesday, according to the Journal. “We’ve made the company deeper.”
Immelt added that the company was on pace to hit its earnings benchmark of $2 per share in 2018.
