GM expected to show strong second-quarter results: Reuters

Reuters is reporting General Motors is preparing to release second-quarter results that will show a substantial gain over the first quarter. General Motors will use these results  to bolster its bid to return to capital markets and pay back taxpayers, two people familiar with the matter said

GM, now 61 per cent-owned by the U.S. government, is counting on the momentum from its quarterly results to help it clinch a US$5 billion bank credit facility as it prepares a stock offering expected to be the largest ever for the U.S. market.

GM has substantially completed work needed to register the IPO with the SEC but needs to complete negotiations with banks for its credit facility before that filing, the sources said.

As part of that process, GM has been reaching out to financial institutions and investors in an outreach spearheaded by Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell and intended to give them confidence in the automaker’s outlook, according to people with knowledge of those private discussions.

GM Chief Executive Ed Whitacre, appointed by the Obama administration to oversee the automaker’s turnaround, said last week he expected the automaker’s second-quarter result would be viewed positively by both potential investors and creditors.

“It will be good. It will be impressive,” said Whitacre, who has also said his top priority is shedding the automaker’s ties to the U.S. government and the label “Government Motors” used by critics of its bailout.