....More government money to repay the govt. loan????? What a charade?

AP
DETROIT - General Motors, its river of red ink stemmed by a trip through bankruptcy court, reported a narrower quarterly loss and said it would start repaying billions of dollars in government loans that helped keep it alive.

GM lost $1.2 billion for the third quarter — far less than the $6 billion it lost in the first three months of the year, before GM was transformed by a stay in bankruptcy protection. The company credited a sharp reduction in debt and sales of new models.

In what it called a sign of progress, GM also pledged to start paying back $6.7 billion in U.S. loans. But the money will come from a contingency account full of government cash, leading critics to question just how healthy the automaker really is. .......

The repayment of government loans will begin with a $1.2 billion installment in December. GM said it plans to repay the debt over the next two years and possibly as early as next year.

That money will come from a $16.4 billion contingency fund set up by the U.S. government in case sales worsened or other problems cropped up. The seemingly circular payment plan was already stirring controversy in Congress.

What is the logic in repaying government loans with taxpayer dollars?" asked Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Republican Sen. John McCain

A sign of progress!!! HA HA HA. That's hillarious.

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"That's because they went from an astounding $95 billion in debt pre-bankruptcy to $17 billion under the "New" GM. Here's the full press release. Items to note:

● GM Q3 earnings: EBIT loss before special items of $261 million and managerial net loss of $1.2 billion.'
● Cash reserves increased by $3.3 billion to $42.6 billion.
● GM posted revenue of $28 billion in the third quarter of 2009 (July 1-Sept. 30, 2009), which was up approximately $4.9 billion in Q2
● GM will burn $8.3 billion in cash this next quarter on debt repayments, Delphi and restructuring so expect the 4th quarter to look worse than this quarter.
● GM "anticipates modest growth, with total industry volumes estimated at 62 to 65 million." Expects US SAAR at a rose-colored 11-12 million units sold in 2010.
● GM spent $320 million for cull of 2,042 U.S. dealers.
● These aren't "real" financial results. All these numbers are not provided using GAAP principles. So, you know, if you're an accountant, prepare to vomit a little bit before you go any further. (I'll be right back...)

http://jalopnik.com/5405538/new-gm-drops-totally-useless-financial-results
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GM to announce 3rd-quarter earnings on Monday

General Motors Co. said Tuesday that it will release its preliminary third-quarter earnings on Monday morning, the automaker's first earnings release since emerging from bankruptcy this summer.

The company is not expected to make a profit but has hinted that its results for the quarter will show a big improvement over the same period last year. (1)

.... GM last released a quarterly earnings statement in May, when it reported losing $6 billion in the first quarter of 2009. At the time, it was trying to stave off collapse and was staying afloat from infusions of government aid.

GM lost $2.5 billion in the third quarter of 2008 and a huge $30.9 billion for the entire year.

The company says the numbers it releases Monday cannot be compared with other quarters because they do not comply with U.S. accounting principles. (2) The period also is not a full quarter (3) as it covers only the period from its emergence from bankruptcy to Sept. 30.

.... As a private company, GM is not required to file financial updates, (4) but company officials have said they plan to continue to make regular disclosures. (5)


Following the footnoted bolds:

(1) and (2) -- How can a company get away with telling the world that its number will be better when they've admitted they won't be comparable? Answer: They can't, except in Government/General Motors Land. Shoot, there isn't even a "same period as last year" to discuss in the first place.

(3) -- How can AP headline its story as being about "3rd-quarter earnings" when the article content says the report isn't for a full quarter? Answer: It can't, and doesn't, unless it's taking stenography in Government/General Motors Land.

(4) and (5) -- Since when is it acceptable that the full-blown "financial statements" required of any company in which the investing public has an ownership interest are allowed to turn into mere "financial updates" and "regular disclosures," even though the entire taxpaying public has a vested interest in its government's majority ownership? Answer: Since we've arrived in Government/General Motors Land.

Other questions logically arise:

When, if ever, will we see financial results for the period GM was in bankruptcy? Will Motors Liquidation Company, the shell of old GM, file a report for April 1 - July 9 with the SEC, or will those financial results be buried in oblivion forever?
Will GM even attempt to tell us how its "accounting" differs from GAAP and roughly what GAAP income or loss would have been, or will we just forced to go "uh-huh" at whatever level of incomplete information the company and its government owners are willing to give us about its balance sheet, income and expense, and cash flow?
Are outside Big Four or other auditors involved at GM in looking over whatever passes for financial statements (oops, I meant "financial updates") to see if they're even reasonable or credible? If they are, what is their level of involvement, and do they have an opinion to issue on the financials? Oh, and when's the outside audit going to take place?

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2009/11/15/ap-parrots-gms-comparative-tease-not-comparable-financials-coming-monday