General Motors posts $898M 4Q net profit

(AP) General Motors says its fourth-quarter net profit nearly doubled as it made a dizzying array of accounting moves due to tax credits and devaluing European assets.

The company made $898 million, up from $468 million in 2011.

GM earned 54 cents per share compared with 28 cents a year ago. Revenue grew 3 percent to $39.3 billion.

The fourth-quarter profit included billions in one-time accounting gains and losses that ended up being a $100 million increase. Without it the company earned 48 cents per share. That was short of analyst estimates. They predicted 51 cents.

GM made $1.4 billion pretax in North America but lost $699 million in Europe.

For the full year, GM made $4.9 billion, or $2.92 per share. That was down from $7.6 billion in 2011.