By Kevin Krolicki and David Bailey
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM) on Wednesday posted a first-quarter loss due to a costly supplier strike, waning demand for its most profitable vehicles and charges related to struggling former subsidiaries.
GM, whose shares rose nearly 4 percent in pre-market trading, also took a $1.45-billion charge for its remaining investment in finance company GMAC and a $731-million charge for its exposure to the bankruptcy of auto parts supplier and former subsidiary Delphi Corp.
Weighed down by those charges, GM posted a net loss of $3.25 billion, or $5.74 per share, compared with a profit of $62 million, or 11 cents a share a year-earlier.
Revenue declined to $42.7 billion from $43.4 billion.
Excluding one-time items, GM reported a first-quarter loss of $350 million, or a 62 cents per share, a narrower loss than Wall Street had expected.
On average, analysts had expected GM to post a loss of $1.67 per share before items, according to Reuters Estimates.
GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said analysts may have underestimated the strength of GM's sales from emerging markets and the progress it made in cutting costs in North America.
"The headline numbers don't look that great, but when you actually peel back the numbers...I feel the first quarter is very encouraging," Young told reporters.
Shares of GM rose as much as 6 percent in pre-market trade. The stock had dropped nearly 15 percent since the start of the year amid mounting evidence of deepening difficulties for the No. 1 U.S. automaker.
(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Derek Caney)
