GM quarterly net loss mushrooms to $4.8 billion

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp. on Thursday said
its fourth-quarter net loss mushroomed to $4.8 billion as it
struggled with high costs, shrinking market share and sluggish
sales of sport utility vehicles.

The world’s largest automaker said the loss amounted to
$8.45 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $99
million, or 18 cents a share.

Excluding one-time items, the company lost of $1.2 billion,
or $2.09 a share. On that basis, analysts’ average forecast was
a loss of 12 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

GM shares dropped 2.7 percent to $23.20 in pre-market trade
on the Inet electronic brokerage system, down from a close at
$23.85 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

One-time items reduced earnings by $3.6 billion, or $6.36 a
share. They included a restructuring charge of $1.3 billion at
GM’s North American operations, and a preliminary after-tax
charge of $2.3 billion related to a benefit guarantee with the
United Auto Workers union and bankrupt auto parts supplier
Delphi Corp..

Analysts were expecting charges after GM in October
announced plans to slash 30,000 jobs and shutter 12 facilities,
but no one knew how large the charges would be.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell to $51.2 billion from $51.4
billion a year earlier.

The fourth-quarter loss brought GM’s net loss for the full
year to $8.6 billion.

The automaker has been facing high labor and raw materials
costs, loss of market share to foreign rivals, and
disappointing sales of high-profit SUVs.

GM has seen its debt rating cut to below “junk” status
several times in the past year, by agencies such as Moody’s and
Standard & Poor’s.

The automaker plans to sell a controlling stake in its
finance arm, GMAC, in order to restore the unit’s
investment-grade ratings.