LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The chief executive of General Electric Co. delivered an upbeat financial report at the conglomerate's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, but he was greeted by angry retirees who say their pensions do not reflect the company's strong performance.

Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and chief executive of the Fairfield, Conn.-based company, told 755 shareholders that GE in 2003 "executed a dramatic transformation."

General Electric "became a stronger company, bigger, faster and more positioned for growth," Immelt said. "We worked through a tough economic environment and the cyclical downturns of the energy and aviation industries."

The shareholders meeting in Louisville, home to GE's Consumer and Industrial unit, followed by less than three weeks the company's report of an 8 percent increase in profits during the first quarter. Nine of its 11 businesses reported double-digit gains.

Earlier this month, Boeing announced that GE and Rolls Royce PLC will jointly supply the engines for the new 7E7 Dreamliner airplane. The deal could be worth as much as $40 billion over 25 years, and one-fourth of that amount could be for engines.

GE also recently closed on the purchase of Amersham PLC, a diagnostic imaging agents and life sciences company, to broaden its reach into medical technology. With GE Medical Systems, a medical imaging, health care services and information technology business, the combined $14 billion business now known as GE Healthcare is expected to generate $16 billion in revenues in 2005.

"There are very few companies with the resources to acquire exciting companies like Amersham or Universal entertainment," Immelt said.

Despite Immelt's upbeat message, scores of elderly retirees - some reminding the audience of their military service in World War II - arrived from such GE strongholds as Schenectady, N.Y., Lynn, Mass., and Erie, Pa., to criticize management for what the former workers said was the company's failure to pay adequate pensions.

"It's our pension, not GE's," shareholder Helen Quirini of Schenectady told Immelt and other executives.

Quirini, 84, who retired in 1980, said GE will not need to spend much to keep its retirees happy.

"The cost of financially rewarding retirees will gradually diminish until we die," she said.

Immelt promised shareholders that GE will honor its commitment to the more than 500,000 current and future retirees. Currently, 201,000 former employees and beneficiaries are drawing from the retirement fund, which last year paid benefits of more than $2 billion, he said.

GE reported a $43.8 billion pension fund at the end of 2003.

"As a result of our careful management, GE remains one of the few companies with a pension fund surplus," Immelt said.

GE spokesman Gary Sheffer said after the meeting that the company has approved six pension increases since 1981 and paid retirees an extra month's pension last year.

Immelt also defended GE's record on the politically charged issues of outsourcing where jobs are sent overseas and corporate governance.

"We aggressively sell our products in every corner of the world," he told shareholders. "This requires us to be honest about the need to compete for global markets. ... But when we make moves in tough businesses to remain competitive, we act with compassion through early retirement and retraining."

Shareholders were met by protesters outside the Kentucky Convention Center. Some criticized GE for moving jobs outside the United States.

Bob Davis of Louisville, who worked at GE for 36 years before he retired in 1989, said moving jobs overseas has reduced the number workers who make refrigerators, air conditioners and other appliances in Louisville from 21,000 to 3,000 over the past few decades.

Immelt also touched on accounting scandals that prompted federal legislation in 2002, noting that many companies are addressing the issue this year.

"In the recent past, corporate responsibilities got tangled in personal interests and a lot of people were hurt in a lot of ways," he said. "And in time, trust in business eroded."

Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., senior vice president, said the company ties Immelt's compensation to the company's performance. Under an incentive for the chief executive officer established by the board in 2003, he is awarded "performance share units" instead of stock options.

Shareholders elected 15 board members and rejected 15 shareholder proposals dealing with issues ranging from corporate governance to product testing on animals and storage of nuclear plant fuel rods.

In trading Wednesday, GE shares closed down 53 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $30.02 on the New York Stock Exchange.