GM posts $9.6 billion 4Q loss

Tom Krisher and Kimberly S. Johnson ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner (right) explains the company's restructuring plans Tuesday in Detroit.

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. says it lost $9.6 billion in the fourth quarter and burned through $6.2 billion in cash as it sought government help to avoid running out of cash.

The nation's biggest domestic automaker lost $30.9 billion for all of 2008 as it struggled against a U.S. sales slump and a global recession.

GM has received $13.4 billion in federal loans and its executives are in Washington, D.C., Thursday to talk to the Obama administration about the company's request for up to $30 billion.

For the fourth quarter, GM says it lost $15.71 per share, compared with a loss of $722 million, or $1.28 per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding special items, The Detroit company's loss was $9.65 per share. On that basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a loss of $7.40 per share.

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