In seeking to repair General Electric’s reputation for meeting investors’ expectations, Jeff Immelt is eyeing a plan that will sever ties to some of the businesses that helped make its enviable track record possible.

Mr Immelt, GE’s chief executive, told investors on Thursday that spinning off the company’s consumer and industrial division may ensure that GE’s results – and, Mr Immelt hopes, its stock price – more closely reflect the prospects of the company’s faster-growing units in energy, aviation, healthcare, media and financial services.