UPDATE 5GM offers workers buyouts posts 4thquarter loss
(Recasts, adds background, updates share price)
By Kevin Krolicki and David Bailey
DETROIT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said
on Tuesday it would offer a new round of buyouts to all of its
U.S. factory workers as it posted a quarterly loss that
underscored the pressure the top U.S. automaker faces in its
slumping home market.
Some analysts were encouraged that the sweeping deal with
the United Auto Workers covering 74,000 factory workers could
allow GM to cut labor costs more aggressively than expected.
But GM’s results, including a record $39 billion full-year
loss, also point to continued risks for the automaker’s
turnaround from a slower U.S. economy, higher fuel costs and
tighter credit conditions, others said.
For the fourth quarter, GM reported a net loss of $722
million, or $1.28 per share, compared with net income of $950
million, or $1.68 per share, a year earlier.
GM said its fourth-quarter loss reflected lower U.S.
production, more aggressive discounting on its recently
launched full-size pickup trucks and weaker results in Germany,
traditionally its most profitable market in Europe.
For all of 2007, GM posted a record net loss of almost $39
billion, reflecting a $38 billion tax-related charge taken in
the third quarter. GM also posted net losses of $2 billion for
2006 and $10.4 billion for 2005.
For 2008, GM said it expects to post improved global
automotive results driven by gains in emerging markets. But it
declined to offer a more specific forecast for the crucial and
troubled U.S. market, still its largest by revenue. Continued…
