GENERAL Motors Co. recorded first quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.0 billion, or $0.60 per fully diluted share. These results include a net loss from special items related to goodwill impairment that reduced net income by $0.6 billion, or $0.33 per fully diluted share. In the first quarter of 2011, GM's net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.2 billion, or $1.77 per fully diluted share, including a net gain from special items of $1.5 billion or $0.82 per share. Net revenue in the first quarter of 2012 was $37.8 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $2.2 billion, an increase of $0.2 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011. "The US economic recovery, record demand for GM vehicles in China and the global growth of the Chevrolet brand helped deliver solid earnings for General Motors," said Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO. "New products are starting to make a difference in South America, but Europe remains a work in progress. We'll continue to work on both revenue and cost opportunities until we have brought GM to competitive levels of profitability." With the strengthening US economy helping release pent-up demand, GM now expects that full-year 2012 US light vehicle sales will be in the 14.0 million - 14.5 million range. Previously, the company expected sales to fall between 13.5 million – 14.0 million units. Based on the company's current outlook, GM North America's results for the second and third quarters of 2012 are expected to be comparable to the first quarter of 2012 due to the scheduled downtime at factories that produce full-size trucks. "We are aggressively eliminating complexity to reduce our costs, and at that same time, we are preparing for more than 20 major vehicle launches around the world in 2012 to drive revenue this year and farther into the future," said Dan Ammann, senior vice president and CFO. GM North America reported EBIT-adjusted of $1.7 billion, including restructuring costs of $0.1 billion, an improvement of $0.4 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011. GM Europe reported an EBIT-adjusted loss of $0.3 billion compared with break-even results in the first quarter of 2011. GM International Operations reported EBIT-adjusted of $0.5 billion compared with $0.6 billion in the first quarter of 2011. For the quarter, automotive cash flow from operating activities was $2.3 billion and automotive free cash flow was $0.3 billion. GM ended the quarter with very strong total automotive liquidity of $37.3 billion.
