General Motors, surviving on $13.4 billion in US aid, reported a $9.6 billion fourth- quarter loss as chief executive officer Rick Wagoner prepared to ask the Treasury for more cash to get through the year.
The deficit was $15.71 a share, wider than the year-earlier net loss of $1.5 billion, or $2.70, the biggest US automaker said today in a statement. GM posted an annual loss of $30.9 billion, the second largest in its 100-year history.
"The size of the loss matters not only because it impacts what it will cost to restructure the company, but also the kind of bill for which the taxpayer is on the hook, said John Casesa, a managing partner at consultant Casesa Shapiro Group in New York. "Conditions in this quarter could not have been worse".
GM's future may pivot on whether Wagoner (56) is able to persuade President Barack Obama's auto task force to approve as much as $16.6 billion in additional money to keep the Detroit-based automaker operating.
He is scheduled to meet with the panel today in Washington, people familiar with the talks said. GM said February 17th it needs at least $2 billion more in loans next month or it will run out of cash.
Should the task force opt to withhold further aid, GM's only option may be a government-backed bankruptcy.
Fourth-quarter sales plunged 52 per cent to $30.8 billion, GM said. Excluding some expenses, the operating loss was $9.65 a share. GM last posted an annual profit in 2004.
GM lost $38.7 billion in 2007, including a $38.3 billion third-quarter charge for tax accounting because of ongoing losses.
A collapse in domestic sales and waning demand in overseas markets forced GM to announce plans for 47,000 job cuts in 2009, five more US plant closings by 2012 and the sale or shutdown of the Saab, Hummer and Saturn brands.
GM is also paring pay for many salaried workers and seeking debt and labour concessions.
Bloomberg