General Motors Co. posted a fourth-quarter adjusted profit slightly above expectations and its first full-year earnings since 2004.
The top U.S. automaker reported fourth-quarter net income of $510 million after paying dividends on preferred shares, or 31 cents per share, down from the pace of earnings in the first three quarters of 2010 on higher costs to launch new vehicles and a continuing drag from losses in its European operations.
After adjusting for a loss of 21 cents per share on the purchase of preferred shares that had been held by the U.S. Treasury, adjusted earnings per share were 52 cents.
It was the company's first profitable year since 2004 and GM's best performance since making $6 billion in 1999 during the pickup truck and SUV boom.
The quarterly profit was less than the two previous quarters. GM says expenses were higher because it launched two new vehicles.
Revenue for the quarter was $36.9 billion.
The full-year profit is impressive considering that from 2004 through 2009, GM was in a state of perpetual restructuring, trying to downsize its work force and shrink its factory capacity to match falling demand for its vehicles. The company lost more than $80 billion during the period and almost ran out of cash in 2008, when the government began a bailout that eventually reached $49.5 billion.
With government financing, GM went into bankruptcy protection in June 2009, leaving a quick 40 days later cleansed of burdensome debt and labor costs. With lower costs and new models such as the Chevrolet Equinox — a small SUV that seats five — GM began its comeback.
Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said GM's bottom line also was helped by reductions in debt and pension liabilities following the bankruptcy process.
GM made less in the fourth quarter than it did during the three previous periods, mainly because of the charges and higher expenses from launching two new vehicles, the Chevrolet Cruze compact and Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car.
