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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 17, 2006

GM's losses in '05 rise to $10.6B

By Jim Irwin
Associated Press

General Motors says its revised 2005 loss translates to $18.69 a share, after earlier reporting it lost $8.6 billion, or $15.13 a share.

ASSOCIATED PRESS LIBRARY PHOTO | January 2005

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DETROIT — General Motors Corp. revised its loss for 2005 to $10.6 billion — $2 billion more than it reported in January — citing higher costs it anticipates for its broad restructuring and the bankruptcy reorganization of Delphi Corp.

GM also said late yesterday it will recognize a previously reported goodwill impairment charge of $439 million at its finance arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp.

GM, the world's largest automaker, said it expects to increase the charge for its exposure relating to Delphi's Chapter 11 filing to $3.6 billion from the previous estimate of $2.3 billion.

Additionally, GM will boost its North American restructuring charge to $1.7 billion from the previously reported $1.3 billion to cover higher expected costs for plants the company aims to close.

The previous charge included cash payments that would be made to affected employees during the current labor agreement, while the revised charge considers GM's estimate of costs it expects to pay after the contract expires in September 2007.

The change "reflects developments in the discussions with Delphi" and the United Auto Workers union on a comprehensive agreement, the company said in a statement.

"The revised Delphi charge is based on the facts and circumstances as they exist today," the company said.

GM spokesman Jerry Dubrow-ski said the company increased the charge by $1.3 billion after it "refined the range" of its potential liability for Delphi workers' compensation.

"We've got better information" than was available when Delphi filed for bankruptcy Oct. 8, he said.

The goodwill impairment charge relates mainly to GMAC's commercial finance operating segment. Previously, GM reported but did not recognize these charges in its 2005 financial statements because the goodwill was deemed recoverable. GM decided to recognize the $439 million charge for the fourth quarter of 2005 after an internal review of accounting standards and consultation with its outside auditors.

The changes involve bookkeeping, not GM's embattled manufacturing operations. "These are accounting issues," Dubrowski said.

The 2005 loss translates to $18.69 a share. Previously, the world's largest automaker said it lost $8.6 billion, or $15.13 a share, last year.

GM sold 9.2 million vehicles worldwide in 2005, the second-largest volume in the company's history. North American losses wiped out sales gains in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East; GM's worldwide market share slipped to 14.2 percent from 14.4 percent in 2004.

The automaker's U.S. sales increased 1 percent in the first two months of this year, although GM yesterday announced a cash incentive program for vehicles that have gone unsold for as long as four months.

GM is attempting to negotiate a revised labor agreement with Delphi and the UAW to help Delphi's hourly workers. The supplier, which GM spun off in 1999, has asked the UAW and other unions to agree to pay cuts of more than 60 percent for its 34,000 unionized hourly workers. The unions have refused.