GM 4Q profit hurt by China sales drop

General Motors Co said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter operating profit dropped 8 percent, as strong sales in its US market were offset by a 25 percent drop in China sales.

The company said strong pricing on pickup trucks and crossover SUVs in North America drove results, though the sales drop in China, the world’s largest auto market, during the quarter hurt the bottom line by about $200 million.

The largest US auto maker in terms of sales said pretax profit excluding one-time factors for the October-to-December period was $2.8 billion, or $1.43 a share, surpassing the average analysts' estimate of $1.24 a share.

The company said strong pricing on pickup trucks and crossover SUVs in North America drove results, though the sales drop in China during the quarter hurt the bottom line by about $200 million.

GM CFO ’s Dhivya Suryadevara said higher commodity costs in 2018, which partly stemmed from the effect of tariffs on steel and aluminum, hurt the company’s bottom line last year by more than $1 billion. She said GM cut costs in other areas to mitigate the impact.

Net income totaled $2 billion, compared with a $5.1 billion net loss in the fourth quarter of 2017 stemming from a charge related to tax-law changes. The most recent quarter included a $1.3 billion charge related to job cuts under a continuing restructuring in North America, offset partly by a tailwind from foreign tax credits.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 2 percent to $38.4 billion, better than the average analysts' forecast of $36.5 billion.