They rear up General Motors earnings in 2011. The automaker earned $7,6 billion last year, best result ever, up 62% from $4,7 billion in 2010. The auto giant today released its fourth-quarter 2011 results, with profits down to $468 million (28 cents a share) from $510 million in the same period last year.
In the last three months of 2011 the turnover it rose 3% to $38 billion, slightly above analysts' estimates, which had expected $37,9 billion. However, throughout the year the turnover it grew 11%, to $105 billion. “We've made a lot of progress this year, but there's still a long way to go to achieve our goals,” said Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann.
Earnings growth in 2011 was driven by gradual recovery of the US economy, which made possible price increases, and fromincrease in sales in China. Operating earnings, which highlight the importance of the core business, rose to $1,7 billion in the last three months of 2011, from $1,2 billion a year earlier. For the full year 2011, the indicator grew to $7,4 billion for the full year 2011, from $6,6 billion a year earlier.
