GM reports US$865 million profit for first quarter

The result is GM's first quarterly profit since the company emerged from bankruptcy protection last June, and the American carmaker reported a first quarter profit of US$865 million for the period of January to March 2010. The restructured GM is also much healthier financially, with US$35.7 billion in cash available as assets, as well as other easily convertible securities on hand and revenues of $31.5 billion for the quarter.

GM attributes the profits to the rebounding car market in North America, which has seen sales grow after the global economic recession of 2008 and 2009 which severely affected car sales. GM North America reported profits of US$1.2 billion for the quarter, while GM International Operations posted a similar amount in profit.

"In North America we are adding production to keep up with strong demand for new products in our four brands," said GM's vice chairman and CFO Chris Liddell. But GM's ultimate goal is to get listed publicly again, which will be a challenge as GM Europe is still posting losses, with a US$500 million deficit for the first quarter of 2010.