General Motors Corp on Thursday posted its sixth straight quarterly loss as it took more than $1 billion in restructuring-related charges, but the company's stock shot higher as investors reacted to signs the automaker's turnaround was gaining traction.
The world's largest automaker reported a loss of $323 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.3 billion, or $2.22 per share a year earlier. Revenue rose to $52.2 billion from $45.8 billion a year earlier.
GM's embattled Chief Executive Rick Wagoner hailed the results as evidence of the progress the company has made in cutting costs and restoring its auto operations to profitability after a $10.6 billion loss in 2005.
Excluding one-time items, but including a $1 billion pre-tax healthcare charge, GM lost $529 million, or 94 cents a share. Excluding that health-care charge, equivalent to $1.20 a share, GM would have posted a profit of 26 cents a share.
On that basis, analysts on average had forecast a loss of 42 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
But Wall Street estimates had ranged from a loss of $1.33 a share to a profit of 6 cents a share, making comparisons difficult. GM did not provide a forecast for its results for the remainder of the year.
The automaker posted a gain of just over 4 percent in global vehicles sales, but a drop of 5 percent in the US market, where its strategy hinges on the success of a new line of higher-margin sport-utility vehicles.
In response to dwindling US market share, GM plans to cut 30,000 jobs and close a dozen plants, and has cut top executive pay. GM also halved its dividend, cutting the payout for the first time in more than 13 years.
GM has set a target of cutting $7.5 billion from its annual costs by the end of 2006, including about $4 billion in cash savings, a key measure for the company which has been hit by credit downgrades and Wall Street talk of an eventual bankruptcy filing if its turnaround sputters.
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