GM posts $1.2 billion loss

General Motors Co.’s third-quarter financial results revealed a $1.15 billion loss. GM said that due to reduced costs and stabilizing sales, the company would set out to begin repaying $6.7 billion in US loans. In a statement, CEO Fritz Henderson said that the results are evident of the solid foundation being built for the new GM but that there’s more work to be done.

The third quarter report shows a “managerial net loss” for the period from July 10, which is the day GM exited court protection, through Sept. 30. For the same period last year, GM recorded an operating loss of $4.2 billion and a net loss of $2.5 billion.

GM also revealed that revenue for third quarter rose to $28 billion, up $4.9 billion from the second quarter. GM explained that much of this increase was due to a global seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 67.8 million units in the quarter, up from 62.7 million in the second quarter. GM also pointed out that it will burn through additional cash in the fourth quarter.

Included in GM’s plans is a payout of $2.8 billion for Delphi’s bankruptcy settlement while $2 billion is set aside for “payment term adjustments,” $2.5 billion for loan repayment to the U.S., Canadian and German governments and $1 billion in restructuring costs. In addition, cash levels will be “materially lower than third-quarter levels of $42.6 billion.” The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for total U.S. vehicles will be 10.7 million in the last three months of this year.

As influenced by the Cash-for-Clunkers program, GM’s adjusted demand averaged 11. 7 million units in the third quarter. Moreover, GM reported that annual light-vehicle sales are typically 200,000 to 300,000 below total vehicles and that fourth-quarter global demand will drop to a 65.4-million-unit annual rate. In 2010, global sales are expected to reach a total between 62 million and 65 million units. In the US, total-vehicle sales will hit 11 million to 12 million units.