General Motors said third quarter net income plunged to $0.7bn or $0.45 a share, from $1.5bn or $0.89 a share a year ago. It explained that operating improvements during the quarter were more than offset by special items and tax expenses.
A special items net loss of $0.9bn included $0.8bn related to the repurchase of 120 million shares. Extra tax expenses of $0.5bn also hit the bottom line.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Sales rose to $39bn from $37.6bn in the third quarter of 2012 while the operating measure – earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was up to $2.6bn from $2.3bn a year ago.
“We made gains in the third quarter as we improved our North American margins and increased our global share on the strength of our Chevrolet brand,” said GM chairman and CEO Dan Akerson in a statement.
“Our efforts to build great cars and trucks and deliver solid financial results were recognized this quarter by Moody’s investment grade rating.”
By region
GM North America reported EBIT of $2.2bn compared with $1.7bn in the third quarter of 2012.
GM Europe reduced its EBIT loss to $(0.2)bn compared with $(0.5)bn.
GM International Operations reported EBIT of $0.3bn compared with $0.8bn.
GM South America reported EBIT of $0.3bn compared with $0.2bn.
GM Financial earnings before tax were flat at $0.2bn for the quarter, the same as last year.
GM CFO Dan Ammann said: “We also further strengthened our fortress balance sheet and reduced our cost of capital through our $4.5bn refinancing of high cost obligations.”
See also: CEO Dan Akerson post-results comments in earnings call
