GM reports 62% annual profit increase

[Grace62]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/busine....html?_r=2

"DETROIT — General Motors reported a big annual profit on Thursday, but losses in Europe dragged down fourth-quarter earnings.

The results mean G.M.’s hourly workers in the United States will receive profit-sharing checks next month of up to $7,000, an all-time high.

G.M. said it earned a quarterly profit of $472 million, or 28 cents a share, down from $510 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago. It was the eighth-consecutive quarterly profit for the carmaker, which cleansed much of its debt in bankruptcy two years ago, but also the smallest during that stretch.

For all of 2011, G.M. earned $7.6 billion, nearly all of it from North America. That was 62 percent higher than the $4.7 billion it earned a year ago and nominally more than G.M.’s previous record of $6.7 billion in 1997 (in today’s dollars, the 1997 profit would be about $9.4 billion). "

[Will Collier]

My profits would be way up, too, if the government paid off all my debts, gave me a huge chunk of cash, and leaned on people who'd loaned me money.

[JPK]

Without making this a "other side" discussion, GM is fortunate to have had the help from the Government, so that they were still around to recover.

JPK

[cbelt3]

... so the stock that we all own is worth money now, and the US can slowly sell it off, hopefully at a profit ?

THAT is what I call 'A Win !".

[Will Collier]

cbelt3 wrote:
... so the stock that we all own is worth money now, and the US can slowly sell it off, hopefully at a profit ?

THAT is what I call 'A Win !".

GE is $19 a share today. Government "bought" in at $55. Don't hold your breath.

[OWC Jamie]

Will Collier wrote:
My profits would be way up, too, if the government paid off all my debts, gave me a huge chunk of cash, and leaned on people who'd loaned me money.

No raises and frozen pension plans won't hurt profits either

[Buck]

Obama Motors!
Screwed investors, and gave the company to the UAW union!
The new union owners just cancelled the pensions of the non-union workers (salaried positions).
Union thugs indeed.

[Rick-o]

Buck wrote:
Obama Motors!
Screwed investors, and gave the company to the UAW union!
The new union owners just cancelled the pensions of the non-union workers (salaried positions).
Union thugs indeed.

Heh! You're funny!! (

[ztirffritz]

I would have canceled the pensions too. They don't make sense unless one can guarantee that the company will ALWAYS be profitable AND will ALWAYS grow bigger. Since one can't guarantee either, 401ks make much more sense. The company gives the employee a similar benefit, but it divorces the company from responsibility. The company still pays the benefit, they're just not on the hook for the outcome 40,50, 60 years from now. That becomes the employee's responsibility, as it should be.

[Grace62]

GM hasn't put new salaried employees on a pension plan since 2001.
Here is yesterday's article, which outlines the changes to plans for employees who were on the plan before 2001. They keep the pension benefits they had accrued to date, and now can be on a 401K plan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/busine...rkers.html