GM reports $62-million profit
It was the second straight quarter of positive earnings for the nation’s largest automaker. Excluding special items, GM’s adjusted net income was $94 million, or 17 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to adjusted earnings of $350 million, or 62 cents a share in the first quarter of 2006.
GM revenue for the three-month period ended March 31 were $43.91 billion, compared with $52.38 billion in the first quarter of 2006.
After losing $12.4 billion in the last two years, officials at GM credited this quarter’s success on growing presence in emerging foreign markets, along with its aggressive turnaround plan in North America for the good news.
“The first quarter of 2007 marked another quarter of continued progress in GM’s global automotive operations," said GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, in a statement. “We were able to expand vehicle sales and improve automotive profitability based on the progress in our turnaround initiatives in North America and Europe and our expansion strategy for key growth markets like China, Russia and South America."
GM said it sold a record 2.26 million cars and trucks in the first quarter of 2007, a jump of 3% when compared to the first three months of 2006. Asia Pacific vehicle sales increased by more than 20%, while GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East saw a 17% jump, followed by a 6% climb at GM Europe.
However, GM North America posted an adjusted loss of $85 million for the first quarter, compared with an adjusted net loss of $251 million in the same period in 2006.
Wagoner said the earnings decline was largely a result of losses incurred by the GMAC Financial Services business, due to weakness in the nation’s mortgage sector. GM holds a 49% stake in GMAC, after selling 51% in 2006.
“Our strongest growth is in the Asia Pacific market, which is critically important as this will be the fastest growing region in the world over the next decade," Wagoner said. “We continue to build on our already strong footprint in China, take advantage of GM-DAT’s great capabilities, and move aggressively in other important markets, like India." Detroit Free Press