Detroit (Michigan), Oct 16: General Motors Corp. earned 425 million dollars in the third quarter, beating analysts' expectations, as income from its financing arm offset slumping revenues from automobile sales. The world's largest automaker showed a turnaround from the third quarter of 2002, when it posted an 804-million-dollar loss, largely due to special charges.
Earnings per share, at 79 cents, came in well ahead of the 66 cents per share expected on Wall Street, and revenues for the July-September quarter rose 5.4 per cent from a year ago to 45.93 billion dollars. But the company's profit from its core automobile operations plunged to 34 million dollars compared with 368 million a year ago, even as it increased its share of the global market.
"On balance, General Motors posted solid business results despite ongoing pricing pressure, lower production volumes and increased pension and health care costs," said GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner. "And the accelerating us economy and the enthusiastic response to our new products give us reason for optimism as we look forward," he added.
With incentives and so-called legacy costs eating into automotive profits, it was GMAC, the company's financing arm that propped up third-quarter earnings.
The unit earned 630 million dollars, up 30 per cent from the same quarter a year ago, on the back of strong mortgage operations in the residential and commercial sectors. Bureau Report