Earnings

GM posts strong profit on US demand, smaller loss in Europe

GM driving up incentives
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GM driving up incentives

General Motors on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong results in its core North American market and a smaller-than-anticipated loss in Europe.

Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $757 million, or 45 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with $1.48 billion, or 89 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Excluding one-time items related to the repurchase of preferred stock and tax expenses, GM earned 96 cents a share, 2 cents more than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected.

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GM earnings better than expected
VIDEO0:5000:50
GM earnings better than expected

The results in North America and Europe helped to offset weaker-than-expected earnings in GM's international operations, which include China and South America. The international earnings fell to $299 million from $761 million last year as the markets outside China were a drag.

After the earnings announcement, the company's shares rose in pre-market trading. (Click here to get the latest quote.)

The company posted third-quarter earnings excluding items of 96 cents per share, up from 93 cents a share in the year-earlier period.

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Revenue increased to $39 billion from $37.58 billion a year ago.

Analysts had expected the automaker to report earnings excluding items of 94 cents a share on $39.49 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

By Reuters