DETROIT (AP) — General Motors’ fourth-quarter profit rose
2 percent from a year ago, but the company fell short of Wall Street
expectations as it spent heavily to restructure outside the U.S.
GM
rode record North American earnings to a profit of $913 million, or 57
cents per share. That compares with $892 million, or 54 cents per share,
a year ago. Revenue rose 3 percent to $40.5 billion.
Excluding
one-time items, including a $700 million charge to exit the Chevrolet
brand in Europe, GM made 67 cents per share. But analysts polled by
FactSet expected 88 cents on revenue of $40.8 billion.
New CEO
Mary Barra said GM’s restructuring actions will strengthen the company
for the future. New Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said Wall
Street analysts "didn’t comprehend that restructuring." Much of the
restructuring costs were for employee severance expenses.
For the
full year, GM’s earnings fell 22 percent to $3.8 billion or $2.38 per
share. Without one-time items, including $800 million in impairment
charges, it earned $3.18 per share.
GM also announced that 48,500 U.S. hourly workers will get up to $7,500 in profit-sharing checks.
Shares fell 4 percent to $33.83 in premarket trading.
In
North America, GM made $1.9 billion in the quarter before taxes and a
record $7.5 billion pretax for the full year. Stevens said the company’s
four brands gained market share in retail sales to individual
customers, and its transaction prices rose. The company recently has
lost pickup truck sales to competitors Ford and Chrysler, which have
raised discounts. But Stevens said GM will stick with its approach of
selling cars and trucks on value rather than price.
"What we want is profitable growth," he said.
In
Europe, the world’s second-largest automaker lost $800 million for the
full year, but that was less than half of the $1.9 billion it lost in
2012. GM lost $300 million in the struggling region in the fourth
quarter, compared with an $800 million loss in 2012.
But outside North America and Europe, GM’s results were weaker than a year ago.
GM
earned $1.2 billion in its international operations, which include
Asia, for the full year, down by more than half from $2.5 billion the
prior year. GM’s international operations earned $200 million in the
fourth quarter, down from $700 million in 2012.
GM’s operating
profits also fell in South America, where it earned $300 million for the
full year, down from $500 million in 2012. Fourth quarter earnings were
flat, compared with a $100 million profit in 2012.
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