General Motors Co posted fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations, capping its most profitable year in over a decade after slashing costs and debt in a landmark bankruptcy. Profit for all of 2010 was $4.7 billion, GM's first full-year earnings since 2004 and its largest profit since 1999, when it earned $6 billion on booming sales of trucks and SUVs.
GM shares opened at $34.85, up 26 cents, following the earnings report early Thursday. Separately, GM said the audit committee of its board had determined the company's financial operations under Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell had remedied a "material weakness" in financial reporting, addressing a lingering concern for investors.
The automaker said it would pay more than $200 million in bonuses to hourly workers, including payouts of about $4,300 for each of its roughly 45,000 US factory workers represented by the United Auto Workers union. Liddell said he expected the current quarter would represent a "strong start" to 2011 and said the fourth quarter had been slightly ahead of the automaker's internal projections.
Fourth-quarter net income was $510 million, or 31 cents per share. Earnings for the first three quarters of 2010 totalled $4.2 billion. GM ended 2010 with nearly $28 billion in cash and about $5 billion on an undrawn credit facility. Its US pension plans were underfunded by about $12 billion, Liddell said.
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