GM net income falls in third quarter

NEW YORK: Top US automaker General Motors said Wednesday that third quarter earnings fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, and said Europe's turmoil would keep earnings flat in the current period.

GM, maker of the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, said net earnings in the quarter to September 30 were $2.09 billion dollars, compared to $2.22 billion a year earlier.

The figure was sharply lower than the previous quarter's $2.50 billion.

On a fully diluted basis, earnings per share fell to $1.03 from $1.20 a year earlier.

Revenues were up to $36.7 billion from $34.1 billion.

After a strong recovery over the past year from the 2008-2009 recession and government-led rescue, GM predicted that the fourth quarter would show little change from a year earlier, "as a result of seasonal trends in North America and weakness in Europe."

It said restructuring charges in Europe would also hit its full-year bottom line "due to deteriorating economic conditions."

Chief executive Dan Akerson called the quarter "solid" and said it was rooted in GM's gaining sales and market share in both the US and Chinese markets this year.

"But solid isn't good enough, even in a tough global economy," he said in a statement.

"Our overall results underscore the work we have to do to leverage our scale and further improve our margins everywhere we do business."

The company said that in Europe, the company took a $300 billion loss on earnings calculated before interest and tax, compared to a $300 billion gain a year earlier.

It also endured smaller declines in its Asian and Latin American businesses.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011