General Motors 2Q Profit More Than Doubles On US Earnings

DETROIT (WWJ) - General Motors earned 2.9 billion in the second quarter, more than doubling last year's profits and going well above analyst expectations.

"This was an outstanding quarter for GM," said CEO Mary Barra. "Our results were generated by strong retail sales in the U.S., record sales in China, and a continued emphasis on improving the performance of our operations worldwide."

GM posted earnings per share of $1.81, well above the $1.29 Wall Street was expecting.

Once again the main earnings engine was North America, where the company posted pre-tax earnings of $3.6 billion. That number is important because it's the number that GM and the UAW use to compute profit-sharing checks at the end of the year.

GM made money all around the world, except Latin America where it posted some slight losses. The company earning around a half billion dollars in the China market.

While GM made $100 million in Europe, Chief Financial Officer Randy Stevens says the "headwinds" created by Britain's decision to leave the European Union could cost up to $400 million if they continue the rest of the year.

"The referendum that has passed and the Brexit vote has created a lot of uncertainty in the market."

But, Stevens says strength in the U.S. and China markets have caused GM to increase their overall guidance for the year, expecting profits to top last year.

Barra says the second half should be strong for GM.

"We'll continue to focus on driving profitable growth and leveraging our technical expertise to lead in the future of personal mobility."