GM Reports Record Net Income of $9.7 Billion and Record EBIT-Adjusted of $10.8 Billion for 2015

DETROIT, Feb. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- 

• Full-year 2015 EPS of $5.91; EPS-adjusted of $5.02, up 65 percent from 2014
• Fourth quarter EPS of $3.92; EPS-adjusted of $1.39, up 17 percent from 2014
• Fourth quarter net income of $6.3 billion; record EBIT-adjusted of $2.8 billion
• Returned $5.7 billion to shareholders in 2015

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today announced record 2015 calendar-year net income attributable to common stockholders of $9.7 billion, or $5.91 per diluted share, up from $2.8 billion, or $1.65 per diluted share in 2014. Earnings per share (EPS) adjusted for special items was $5.02, up 65 percent compared to $3.05 in 2014.

Full-year earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted rose to a record
$10.8 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2014. EBIT adjusted margin for the year also increased, to a record 7.1 percent, compared to 4.2 percent in 2014.

"It was a strong year on many fronts, capped with record sales and earnings, and a substantial return of capital to our shareholders," said Chairman and CEO Mary Barra.  "We continue to strengthen our core business, which is laying the foundation for the company to lead in the transformation of personal mobility. We believe the opportunities this will create in connectivity, autonomous, car-sharing and electrification will set the stage for driving value for our owners for years to come."

Special items during the calendar year impacted full-year net income to common stockholders favorably, $1.5 billion, or $0.89 per share, compared to an unfavorable $(2.4) billion impact in 2014, or $(1.40) per share. Among these special items were a net gain from the reversal of certain valuation allowances on deferred tax assets, and charges for litigation matters related to the ignition switch recall and a Venezuelan bolivar currency devaluation.

Total net revenue for the year was $152.4 billion, compared to $155.9 billion in 2014. The change in net revenue is due primarily to a negative net foreign currency exchange impact of $9.3 billion. Holding exchange rates constant, net revenue in 2015 was $5.8 billion higher than 2014.

Based on its strong operating performance in 2015 and consistent with the outlook provided in January, the company reaffirms its expectation that its EPS-adjusted will be between $5.25 and $5.75 in 2016.

Fourth Quarter Results

GM's fourth quarter 2015 net income attributable to common stockholders was
$6.3 billion, or $3.92 per diluted share, up from $1.1 billion, or $0.66 per diluted share during the fourth quarter of 2014. Earnings per share adjusted for special items during the fourth quarter was $1.39, up 17 percent compared to $1.19 per share for the fourth quarter of 2014.

EBIT-adjusted was a record $2.8 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin was 7.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to EBIT-adjusted of $2.4 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin of 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

"The fourth quarter closed another very strong year of operating performance," said Chuck Stevens, executive vice president and CFO. "We plan to improve our results in 2016, driven by a significant vehicle launch cadence, continued emphasis on growing our adjacent businesses and an unrelenting focus on driving efficiencies into our core operations."

Special items during the fourth quarter of 2015 impacted net income to common stockholders favorably, $4.0 billion, or $2.53 per share, compared to an unfavorable $(0.9) billion impact in 2014, or $(0.53) per share. These special items included a $3.9 billion net non-cash benefit related to the release of the company's valuation allowances on certain GM Europe deferred tax assets.

Total net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $39.6 billion, approximately equal to the fourth quarter of 2014.  Holding exchange rates constant, net revenue during the fourth quarter was $2.4 billion higher than the fourth quarter of 2014.

Overview (in billions except for per share amounts)

Segment Results

• GM North America (GMNA) reported EBIT-adjusted of $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $2.2 billion in 2014.  Full-year EBIT-adjusted of $11.0 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin of 10.3 percent were both records, and compared to EBIT-adjusted of $6.6 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin of 6.5 percent in 2014. Based on GMNA's 2015 financial performance, the company will pay profit sharing of up to $11,000 to approximately 49,600 eligible GM U.S. hourly employees. 
• GM Europe (GME) reported EBIT-adjusted of $(0.3) billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to $(0.4) billion in 2014.  Full-year EBIT-adjusted was $(0.8) billion in 2015, compared to $(1.4) billion in 2014.
• GM International Operations (GMIO) reported EBIT-adjusted of $0.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $0.4 billion in 2014.  Full-year EBIT-adjusted was $1.4 billion in 2015 compared to $1.2 billion in 2014. Results included China equity income of $0.6 billion in the fourth quarter and
  $2.1 billion for the full year.
• GM South America (GMSA) reported approximately break-even results in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to EBIT-adjusted of $0.1 billion in 2014.  Full-year EBIT-adjusted was $(0.6) billion in 2015 compared to EBIT-adjusted of $(0.2) billion in 2014.
• GM Financial reported earnings before taxes (EBT) of $0.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to $0.1 billion in 2014. Full-year EBT was $0.8 billion, compared to $0.8 billion in 2014.

Cash Flow and Liquidity

For the fourth quarter of 2015, automotive cash flow from operating activities was $2.2 billion, compared to $3.8 billion in 2014. In the fourth quarter of 2015, adjusted automotive free cash flow was $(0.3) billion, compared to $1.8 billion in 2014. For the year, adjusted automotive free cash flow was $2.2 billion, compared to $3.1 billion a year ago.

GM ended 2015 with total automotive liquidity of $32.5 billion compared to $37.2 billion at year-end in 2014.  Automotive cash and marketable securities was $20.3 billion at the end of 2015, compared to $25.2 billion a year earlier.

In 2015 GM returned approximately $5.7 billion to shareholders, including $2.2 billion in common stock dividends and $3.5 billion through the GM common stock repurchase program.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com

Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release and in related comments by management, our use of the words "plan", "anticipate," "goal," "expect," "possible," "target," "believe," "commit", "intend," "continue," "may," "would," "could," "should," "project," "appears," "potential," "on track," "designed," "effect," "estimate," "evaluate," "forecast," "initiative," "objective," "outlook," "priorities," "pursue," "seek," "will," "when," or the negative of any of those words or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent our current judgment about possible future events. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. Among other items, such factors may include: our ability to realize production efficiencies and to achieve reductions in costs; our ability to restructure our operations in various countries; our ability to maintain quality control over our vehicles and avoid material vehicle recalls and the cost and effect on our reputation of product recalls; our ability to maintain adequate financing sources, including as required to fund new and improved products and services and investments in new technology; our ability to realize successful vehicle applications of new technology; our ability to deliver new products, services and customer experiences; volatility in the price of oil; the ability of our suppliers to timely deliver parts, components and systems; the availability of wholesale and retail financing in markets in which we operate to support the sale of our vehicles; the success of our full-size pick-up trucks and SUVs; the results of our joint ventures, which we cannot operate solely for our benefit and over which we may limited control; changes in economic conditions, commodity prices, housing prices, foreign currency exchange rates or political stability in the markets in which we operate; changes in laws, regulations and policies or other activities of governmental authorities or stricter or novel interpretations and consequent enforcement of existing requirements; significant changes in the economic, political and regulatory environment and market conditions in China; costs and risks associated with litigation and government investigations including those related to our various recalls and risks, consequences and costs associated with failure to comply with the deferred prosecution agreement; increases in our pension expense or projected pension contributions; and our ability to manage risks related to security breaches and other disruptions to our vehicles, information technology networks and systems.

GM's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q provide information about these and other factors, which we may revise or supplement in future reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that it may make except as required by applicable law.  All subsequent written and forward-looking statements attributed to GM or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referenced above.

SOURCE General Motors

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