General Motors sees 12 percent profit drop

DETROIT General Motors (GM) says its third-quarter profit fell 12 percent as losses grew in Europe and North American warranty costs cut into earnings.

The company says it earned $1.5 billion from July through September, down from $1.7 billion a year earlier.

GM earned 89 cents per share compared with $1.03 a year earlier. Revenue grew 2.5 percent to $37.6 billion.

Excluding one-time items, GM made 93 cents per share, easily beating Wall Street expectations of 60 cents.

But GM lost $478 million pretax in Europe, compared with a $292 million loss a year earlier. In North America, pretax profits fell 17 percent to $1.8 billion.

The company predicted further European losses this year but expects to break even there by mid-decade.