Profit rises on finance unit

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

General Motors Corp.'s third-quarter profit rose 3.5 percent, led by car and home loans. The world's largest automaker trimmed its 2004 earnings forecast because of losses in Europe, where it announced plans to cut jobs by almost a fifth, and slower growth in Asia.

Net income increased to $440 million, or 78 cents a share, from $425 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier when there were fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 3 percent to $44.9 billion, the Detroit-based company said today in a statement.

The earnings "are disappointing, but they are still on the positive side," said Michael Kastner, who helps manage $12 billion in bonds including General Motors at Deutsche Bank Private Banking in New York. "It's not like they are losing money."

General Motors Chief Executive Rick Wagoner is using no-interest car loans and rebates to win business for the finance unit, which produced three-quarter of profit this year.

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