General Motors Co. (GM) will invest $269 million to open an electric motor plant in White Marsh, Maryland that will manufacture 40,000 rear wheel drive motors (use both gasoline and battery power) for cars and trucks annually. The plant would create 200 jobs.
The new facility, which is expected to open in 2013, is closely located to the company’s existing 471,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 2000. The facility manufactures Allison A-1000 transmission for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Heavy Duty pickup truck lines. In addition, it builds two-mode hybrid transmissions for the Chevy Tahoe and plans to manufacture a hybrid transmission for the Cadillac Escalade.
The new plant will be powered by 1.23 megawatts of rooftop solar power, installed by Baltimore’s Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG). Constellation will operate the power system, while GM will lease the power under a 20-year agreement.
A couple of days back, GM announced to invest $109 million in its Flint and Bay City operations in Michigan as a part of its $2 billion investment plan at 17 assembly and components plants in eight states in the U.S. Through the $2 billion investment plan, GM aims at creating or preserving more than 4,000 hourly and salaried jobs at the plants.
The investment at Flint and Bay City plants will support production of 1.4L Ecotec Engine that will be used in fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cruze, Volt plug-in hybrid and the Sonic.
GM, a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stock, earned a profit of $3.2 billion or $1.77 per share in the first quarter of 2011 that increased more than threefold from $865 million or 55 cents per share a year ago. However, more than half of the profits have been contributed by one-time gain from sales of the company’s ownership interest in Delphi Automotive LLP ($1.6 billion) and Ally Financial Inc. ($300 million).
Excluding these gains and a $0.4 billion goodwill impairment charge at GM Europe (GME) resulting from a change in accounting standards and charges of $0.1 billion at GM International Operations (GMIO) related to revised tax regulations affecting the company’s India joint venture, GM’s profit stood at $1.7 billion or 95 cents per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. It was also GM's biggest profit in 11 years since earning $1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2000.
Revenues during the quarter went up 15% to $36.2 billion on sales of 2.2 million vehicles globally, up 11% from the prior year. It exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $35.2 billion.
Strong demand for its fuel-efficient lineups including Chevrolet Cruze compact and Equinox crossover helped boost the company’s sales. The automaker occupied a market share of 11.5% during the quarter, up from 11.1% in the year-ago quarter.
However, GM is still lagging behind its hometown rival, Ford Motor Co. (F), in spite of selling more vehicle units. Ford posted a 48% rise in profit to $2.61 billion in the first quarter of 2011 from $1.76 billion in the same quarter of 2010. On earnings per share basis, profits rose 35% to 62 cents from 46 cents a year ago, thereby topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12 cents.
The company’s revenues escalated 18% to $33.1 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $30.5 billion. The increase in revenues was backed by a 12% rise in sales to 1.40 million vehicles.
CONSTELLATN EGY (CEG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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