GM books record annual profit; union workers due $7,000

[longnecker]

DETROIT (AP) – General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed into financial ruin.

The 103-year-old company (GM) made $7.6 billion in 2011, up 62% from 2010.

Full-year revenue rose 11% to $105 billion.
North America led the way with a $7.2 billion pretax profit. But problems surfaced that could hurt future earnings. GM lost $700 million before taxes in Europe and lost $100 million in South America.
GM'S fourth-quarter profit was flat with 2010. GM earned $500 million, or 28 cents per share. Revenue rose 3% to $38 billion. Before one-time items, GM earned 40 cents per share
Analysts expected earnings of 42 cents on revenue of $37.9 billion.
GM also said Thursday that its 47,500 blue-collar workers in the U.S. will get $7,000 profit-sharing checks in March. The checks are based on North American performance and are a record for the company.
General Motors said Wednesday that it plans to freeze its U.S. pension plan for longtime white-collar workers and give all salaried employees annual bonuses but not pay raises in an effort to hold down expenses.
The automaker said roughly 19,000 salaried workers hired before 2001 will move from a traditional pension with guaranteed payments to a 401(k)-type plan with contributions based on salary and bonuses. Employees hired after 2001, which represent about 30% of the company's salaried workforce, already are in that defined contribution plan.
The changes take effect Oct. 1, and workers will keep all pension benefits they have already accrued, officials said.
Strong sales in the U.S. and China helped the carmaker turn a record profit, beating its old record of $6.7 billion in 1997 during the pickup truck and SUV boom. Read more
http://www.usatoday.com/money/compan...ors/53113520/1

[Tralee]

Great, the made a profit, rather than give out a big bonus, how about they pay off the loan from the tax payers? Seems to me that should be job #1 and a smaller bonus to the workers.