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GM
shares rose about 4.5 percent to $35 in premarket trading.
GM posted profit of $1.50 a share in the quarter, up 55 percent
from a year ago and well ahead of the $1.18 per share consensus
among Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
GM's robust quarter contrasted with disappointing results from
other big U.S. manufacturers, which have wrestled with slowing
growth in China and the drag on revenues exerted by the strong
U.S. dollar.
For GM, a big key to success was in North America, where cheap
gasoline has fueled surging demand for large pickup trucks and
sport utility vehicles, segments where GM is dominant.
The automaker generated 72 percent of its quarterly revenue in
North America, where profit margins hit a record 11.8 percent.
In China, GM's share of joint-venture profits for the quarter
dipped to $463 million from $484 million a year ago, but profit
margins rose to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent, reflecting sales
of higher-priced sport utility vehicles and luxury cars.
GM Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said the company
expects to hit its goal this year of generating 10 percent
profit margins in North America for the full year, a year ahead
of its previous forecast.
Overall, however, GM's revenues for the quarter fell 1.3 percent
to $38.8 billion, largely because of the impact of the strong
U.S. dollar. GM said revenues would have been $2.3 billion
higher if exchange rates had remained constant.
In the quarter, GM had $1.5 billion in costs related to a
settlement of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a
mishandled ignition switch recall. Including the charges, net
income totaled $1.36 billion, or 84 cents a share, versus $1.47
billion, or 81 cents a share.
The rise in per share net income reflected GM's continuing share
buyback program. The company said it has spent $2.9 billion
through Oct. 19 buying back shares, putting it more than halfway
toward completing a previously announced $5 billion repurchase
plan projected to be completed in 2016.
Since GM told investors that it would increase profit and
margins on Oct. 1, its shares have risen nearly $5.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall and Joseph White; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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