GM’s $1B: good omen

General Motors generated $1 billion in cash last year after leaving bankruptcy in July as CEO Ed Whitacre cut half of the US brands and shuffled management to push for a profit in 2010.

The net loss was $4.3 billion from its Chapter 11 exit through Dec. 31, Detroit-based GM said yesterday. Cash and marketable securities totaled $36.2 billion at year’s end, according to slides prepared for an analyst call.

GM needs cash to meet a goal of repaying government loans in 2010 and to market the new models pivotal to Whitacre’s demands for increased sales.

The results offer the first look at the 2009 financial performance of the biggest US automaker since it emerged from the remnants of General Motors Corp.

GM posted a fourth-quarter loss of $3.4 billion and used $1.9 billion in cash. For the third quarter, a period that began with the end of bankruptcy on July 10, GM generated $3.3 billion in cash and lost $1.15 billion, the company said Nov. 16. Revenue for 2009 was $57.5 billion.

The automaker said it repaid $2.4 billion to the US Treasury and $400 million to Canada of the original $8.3 billion in government debt.

Excluding interest and taxes, GM said its fourth-quarter operating loss was $4 billion. The net loss included $2.6 billion in costs to finance a union retiree medical fund.