General Electric Co. share price down, forecasts a 10% increase in industrial profit, oil prices weigh

General Electric Co. projected that profit at its industrial divisions will increase by at least 10% next year. The outlook was found surprising by some analysts, considering the fact that the U.S.-based company has been affected by the sharp decline in oil prices.

Chief Executive Officer Mr. Jeffrey Immelt said for NBC: “We’ve done what we set out to do – aggressive portfolio reshaping under way, good industrial execution.” He also added: “We have a lot of work going on inside the company to reduce costs.”

General Electric said it expecets earnings per share in the range from $1.70 to $1.80 in 2015. This is an increase of between 2% and 8% from the $1.67 which analysts expect for the current year.

General Electric also projected that earnings per share at its industrial units will jump by no less than 10% in 2015. Still, the company revealed that the profits and revenues generated from its new oil services business are likely to decline.

According to analysts at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., about 21% of the US companys entire industrial revenue is exposed to the oil and gas business. This is why the impact of tumbling oil prices on these units is expected to be significant. In addition, GEs healthcare and power generation divisions could also fall under the blows of the crisis, in case that oil remain under pressure.

Chief Executive Officer Immelt commented on the concerns about the weight the declining prices could have on the companys industrial units: “Even before prices went down, oil and gas customers were really focused on improving the quality of the project. We like our competitive position.”

General Electric Co. fell by 0.41% on Tuesday in New York to close at $24.49 per share, marking a one-year change of -9.23% and valuing the company at $246.94 billion. The companys shares stood 2.14% lower at €19.700 in Frankfurt at 9:26 GMT on Wednesday. According to CNN Money, the 14 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for General Electric Co. have a median target of $29.50, with a high estimate of $32.00 and a low estimate of $27.00. The median estimate represents a +20.46% increase from the last price of $24.49.