GM reports biggest-ever automotive loss

In the U.S., workers represented by the UAW — or about 98 percent of GM’s U.S. hourly workers — will be eligible for the buyouts, GM spokesman Dan Flores said.

Shares in GM fell 52 cents, or 1.9 percent, to close at $26.60, though analysts were disappointed with the fourth-quarter results, particularly in North America.

The huge annual loss was mostly due to a $39 billion third-quarter charge for unused tax credits. It topped the company’s previous annual loss record, when it lost $23.4 billion in 1992 because of a change in health care accounting, according to Standard & Poor’s Compustat.

GM’s results also were dragged down by its 49 percent stake in GMAC Financial Services, which lost $2.3 billion last year because of its ResCap mortgage division. GM attributed a $1.1 billion loss to GMAC.

Excluding the tax charge and other special items, GM lost $23 million, or 4 cents per share, for the year, compared with a net income of $2.2 billion in 2006 — easily beating Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected GM to post a full-year loss of 95 cents per share.

GM reported $181 billion in revenues for the year, down from $206 billion in 2006. The company sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide, up 3 percent from the year before.

For the fourth quarter, GM posted a loss of $722 million, or $1.28 per share, compared with a net income of $950 million in the year-ago quarter. Fourth-quarter charges included $622 million to Delphi for its restructuring efforts, and a gain of $1.6 billion because of tax credits related to GM’s pension liabilities and the sale of its Allison Transmission unit.

GM’s North American division posted a $1.5 billion loss for the year, nearly identical to its loss in 2006. GM Europe, which saw market share losses in Germany but gains in Russia and elsewhere, managed a profit of $55 million, down from $357 million a year earlier.

The company did better in the rest of the world, with its Latin America, Middle East and Africa division more than doubling earnings to a record $1.3 billion. The Asia-Pacific division earned $744 million, up from $403 million in 2006.

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