GM’s strong performance continues
So General Motors announced Tuesday that it earned a $1.3 billion profit in the second quarter of this year, its strongest performance since 2004 and a half-billion dollar increase over last quarter’s profit of $865 million. Revenue increased as well, to $33.2 billion. GM ended the quarter with $32.5 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand, setting it up for an initial stock offering. It has also obtained a $5 billion line of credit.
GM has already repaid $6.7 billion in Treasury Department loans, but the rest of the $50 billion bailout was converted into equity; the US owns 60.8% of GM. The government is expected to begin selling its stake in GM as soon as the initial public offering is made, which could come as early as Friday.
In related news, Ford posted a $2.6 billion profit for the second quarter; Chrysler lost $172 million, which was a $25 million improvement over the previous quarter (and a huge improvement over the fourth quarter of last year, when it lost $2.7 billion).
