GM posts $6 billion loss for first quarter

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GM posts $6 billion loss for first quarter

Posted Thursday, May 7, 2009, 11:31 am in Employee News

General Motors Corp. posted a $6 billion net loss in the first quarter, and revenue plummeted 47 percent amid a global economic downturn and low sales that have helped push the automaker to the brink of bankruptcy, The Detroit News reported.

GM spent $10.2 billion more than it took in during the first quarter, a cash burn that was partially offset by $15.4 billion in federal loans that has kept the company afloat since December, the News said. GM ended the quarter with $11.6 billion in cash and marketable securities, down from $14.2 billion at the end of 2008, the paper said.

The automaker’s revenue was $22.4 billion, down from $42.4 billion in the first quarter last year, according to GM’s press release. The loss of $9.78 per share, the automaker’s eighth-straight quarterly loss, compares with a $3.3 billion net loss, or $5.80 per share, a year earlier, the article said.

The results fared better than the $11.05 per-share loss Wall Street was expecting, according to estimates of 10 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial Network, the News said. With more than 610 million outstanding shares, that would have meant a loss of more than $6.7 billion, the story said. (The Detroit News)