General Motors reported a post-bankruptcy 2009 net loss of 4.3 billion dollars Wednesday but said it hoped to achieve profitability in 2010. The new GM, which emerged from bankruptcy protection on July 10, achieved global revenues of 57.5 billion dollars and ended the year with net cash from operations of one billion dollars.
"As the results for 2009 show, there is still significant work to be done," Chris Liddell, GM vice chairman and chief financial officer, said in a statement. "However, I continue to believe we have a chance of achieving profitability in 2010." Liddell said that while significant work remained, the automaker has made enormous strides in slashing its operating costs and is very close to breaking even. We don't need to make that much of an improvement to get to profitability," Liddell said in a conference call with analysts and the media.
The 2009 net loss includes the pre-tax impact of a 2.6-billion-dollar settlement loss related to the United Auto Workers union retiree medical plan and a 1.3-billion-dollar loss related to foreign exchange rates. GM said it intended to complete the repayment of 8.4 billion dollars in government loans by June "at the latest." GM has completed fresh-start accounting - which includes determining the fair value of assets and liabilities - and will file its third-quarter and 2009 results with the Securities and Exchange Commission later Wednesday.