General Motors has reported a loss of $39 billion for the third quarter of this year. This was due to a massive accounting charge, and it came despite some improvement in the company's global car business.
The whopping loss came mainly from a writedown of tax credits that GM said it had to remove from its books under accounting rules.
But even excluding once-off items, GM had a 2007 third-quarter adjusted net loss of $1.6 billion, with the results hurt by troubles at GMAC, its former finance arm in which it still holds a stake.
Total revenue for the period reached $43.83 billion. GM is trying to emerge from a period of heavy financial losses and tough competition in its home market from Japanese rivals.
Late on Tuesday, GM disclosed the write-off of billions of dollars in potential tax credits in the US, Canada and Germany. Those credits need to be reviewed regularly and the car maker decided it could no longer count on earning enough money to use the credits before they expire.
The company said its loss related to its 49% stake in GMAC was $757m in the latest quarter. General Motors' North America posted for a loss from continuing operations of $247m in the July-September period.
