General Electric’s flotation of its GE Money Bank is expected to value the Swiss consumer finance business at up to 1.53 billion Swiss francs, in a further step in the US firm’s retreat from the finance sector.

GE Money Bank expects to raise up to 1.05 billion Swiss francs from the share sale it said yesterday, in what will be Switzerland's first flotation in a year. GE Capital, a subsidiary of General Electric, plans to sell up to 18 million shares, or 60 per cent of Zurich-based Money Bank.

General Electric has said it aims to shift its earnings mix to 70 per cent industrial and 30 per cent financial. The company has already sold its consumer credit business in Austria and Germany to Spanish bank Santander. GE’s banking business, GE Capital, contributed 45 per cent of GE’s earnings in 2012.– (Reuters)