DETROIT – General Motors Corp. (GM) on Tuesday said it flipped to a net profit, trouncing Wall Street estimates as it benefited from cost-cutting, a better mix of products and growing sales overseas.
GM said it posted a net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 a share, compared with a net loss of $3.4 billion, or $5.98 a share a year earlier.
Excluding such one-time items as charges related to Delphi's bankruptcy, the company said it earned $2.48 a share.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting adjusted earnings of $1.08 a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Forecasts on that basis had ranged from 50 cents per share to $1.64 per share.
Revenue from its auto operations rose 2.2 percent to $45.9 billion from $44.8 billion a year earlier.
Total revenue fell to $46.8 billion from $53.9 billion, including results from the GMAC financing arm, which was taken over last year by a group led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. GM realized net income of $139 million from the 49-percent share it still holds in GMAC.
GM's North American automotive net losses narrowed sharply to $39 million from $3.95 billion a year earlier.
The No. 1 U.S. automaker, which had lost more than $12 billion in the past two years, is in the middle of a sweeping restructuring that includes slashing more than 34,000 jobs and closing 12 plants.
GM took charges of $374 million for costs associated with helping supplier Delphi Corp. restructure in bankruptcy.
The Detroit company had estimated its total exposure to helping Delphi emerge from bankruptcy with lower labor costs at $7 billion.
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