GM adds a couple hundred mil to Q2 losses; GMAC sale may not come until '07

Despite the fact that Wall Street is giddy about General Motor's performance in the second quarter of 2006, the automaker still lost $3.2B due mostly to write-downs associated with employee buyouts. Or, rather, make that $3.4B, according to a filing with the Security and Exchange commission. The discrepancy - one of several in recent months - comes as the company takes an additional charge of $200M related to a difference in declared value and taxable value of some GMAC assets.

And while the automaker was on the topic of GMAC, it also saw fit to mention that the sale of GM's lending arm might not be completed this calendar year. Apparently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Company has placed a six-month halt on the sale of any industrial loan companies, and that includes GMAC. The impact of this isn't known at this time, but it's unlikely to be severe, and GM states that the details of the sale will still be worked out by the fourth quarter of this year.

[Source: Reuters]