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"GM Affirms Earnings Outlook for 2nd Quarter, 2004 "
"DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. said Monday the outlook for the global auto industry remains strong and the company is on track to meet its second-quarter and 2004-calendar-year financial targets.At an annual meeting with securities analysts and investors, Rick Wagoner, GM's chairman and chief executive officer, said the automaker expects global industry sales of more than 61 million units in 2004."GM is on-track to meet its 2004 targets of $2 to $2.25 earnings per share in the second quarter this year, and $7 per share for the calendar year, excluding special items," said John Devine, GM vice chairman and chief financial officer. "Longer term, we continue to work toward our goal of achieving earnings of $10 per share by 2006."GM's financial-services subsidiary, General Motors Acceptance Corp., continues to be a strong contributor to GM's financial performance. "GMAC is exceeding expectations and is confident it will surpass its target of $2 billion net income for 2004 by a wide margin," Devine said. GM North America is on-track to hit its earnings target of $1 billion to $1.4 billion this year, despite a continuing tough competitive environment. GM Asia Pacific is showing continued strength and is on track to earn between $700 million and $800 million. In the Latin America/Africa/Mid-East region, the outlook is encouraging and GM expects to reduce losses further and beat the targeted range of ($200) million to ($100) million. The turnaround at GM Europe has proven more difficult than anticipated, and GME is expected to be in a loss position for the 2004 calendar year, largely because of lower-than projected revenue growth.Other financial priorities are on-track, as GM expects to generate $5 billion in operating cash flow, reduce structural costs in automotive operations by more than $500 million, reduce material costs in North America by 3.5 percent and by 3.0 percent in Europe, and hold capital spending to $7 billion.The outlook for U.S. industry sales for 2004 is approximately 17.2 million, with total North American sales of about 20.2 million. The projection for Europe is also approximately 20.2 million units. Industry sales in Asia Pacific are expected to total about 17 million units, while sales in Latin America, Africa and the Mid-East should reach approximately 3.8 million. "