The Crank: Despite headlines, Government Motors still has our money

By John LeBlanc Interpreted one way, General Motors chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre's announcement this week that the U.S. automaker has paid back $8.1 billion in government loans a full five years ahead of schedule could be considered “good” news. Especially considering where GM was less than a year ago. But let’s get one thing straight: GM—and Chrysler—still has a lot of Canadian and U.S. tax-payer money tied up in equity shares. For those keeping score at home, GM received about $61.5 billion in loans from both the U.S. Treasury and Export Development Canada, with the majority of those funds converted into GM stock. (As of now, the U.S. Treasury holds a 60.8 per cent stake in the common stock of GM, Export Development Canada 11.7 per cent, the UAW health care trust 17.5 per cent and old GM, now known as Motors Liquidation, holds 10 per cent.) Now, until GM can launch an initial public offering (IPO) that, in theory at least, would allow the governments to sell off their stakes in the automaker, tax-payers on both sides of the border should hold off on popping the champagne for awhile. And remember, GM keeps on losing (our) money. GM reported a net loss of $4.3 billion for the period from its emergence from bankruptcy in July through the end of 2009, including a $3.4 billion net loss for the fourth quarter. So…do you think GM has done a good job getting back on its feet? Do you think the investors will reward GM with a healthy enough stock price (when or if its IPO happens) so the company can pay ALL the tax-payer money back?

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