GM Prepares IPO Filing/Earnings Release
General Motors is expected to file the paperwork for its much anticipated Intitial Public Offering of stock on Friday, one day after the company released second quarter earnings of $1.3 billion.
Last week Whitacre said G.M. was working on the paperwork for the filing, and it would come within weeks. Several media outlets are reporting that the plan is to file the papers on Friday of this week. General Motors will not confirm those reports. Analysts say GM needs a strong second quarter showing if it wants to launch the stock with a good price.
Thursday morning, G.M. reported a profit of $1.3 billion in the second quarter. It posted earnings of $865 million in the first quarter.
"The organization is different," says GM board member Steve Girsky. "It's structured differently. The span of control is reduced. The chain of command is well defined."
Girsky--who's had a long career as a Wall Street analyst, and was once a personal advisor to former GM CEO Rick Wagoner--talked to WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert at last week's Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City. You can hear his comments on today's Worldwide Automotive Report.
"The products are improving," he said. "We're getting better value for these products, and the company's moving faster."
Girsky represents the UAW's interests in General Motors. Their retiree health care trust fund--called a VEBA--is being paid for largely through a stake in the company. It won't be funded until G.M. starts selling stock. The groundwork for that could be laid as early as next week, as General Motors is preparing the paper work needed to begin the process.
It could still take several months for General Motors to start selling stock after filing the IPO paperwork. CEO Ed Whitacre and other top investors will spend their time pitching the company before large investor groups.
Whitacre has refused to comment on speculation that the Obama Administration may be pressuring the company to emerge from government ownership before the November elections.
Whitacre says he's anxious to shed the government's 60 per cent stake in the comapny as soon as possible.
Analysts say while General Motors has come a long way since last year's bankruptcy. It's turnaround is still behind that of Ford, which has made nearly five billion dollars so far this year. And G.M.'s Girsky will not argue with that.
"No one's in denial here," he said. "The competition is intense. We think it's gonna get tougher. We've gotta plan for that. No one thinks it's finished."
But, Girsky says recent management changes at General Motors have put the right people in the right positions. He says people who are in new positions often ask the tough questions that weren't asked before.
"Everybody knows there's still a lot of work to do here here. The good news is everybody's focused on getting the job. We're winning more converts inside and outside this organization every day. "
