GM quarterly profit misses estimates as Europe losses widen

DETROIT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Thursday posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as its loss in Europe widened and the U.S. automaker was unable to hold vehicle prices in its core North American market.

GM completed its second full year as a public company since its fall 2010 initial public offering, which followed the bankruptcy restructuring and $50 billion U.S.-taxpayer bailout of the prior year.

Net income in the fourth quarter rose to $892 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with $472 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding several one-time items, GM earned 48 cents a share, 3 cents shy of what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected.

Revenue in the quarter rose 3 percent to $39.3 billion, above the $39.15 billion analysts had expected.

For all of 2012, GM earned $4.9 billion, down from a record $7.6 billion in 2011, due to higher taxes and weakness in Europe.