GM makes first profit in 3 years

General Motors reported its first quarterly profit in almost three years Monday.

The Detroit automaker said cost controls and strong sales of new models led it to a $865 million US profit in the period from January through March, a strong sign GM has reversed course from staggering losses that nearly caused its death.

It also generated higher revenue from growth in Asia and South America.

The $1.66-per-share profit was far better than a loss of $6 billion, or $9.78-per-share, for the same period last year.

Chief financial officer Chris Liddell said it might be difficult to sustain the same level of profit for the remainder of the year, because first-quarter production is usually higher than other quarters, with automakers ramping up for the spring selling season.

"I'd still be reasonably cautious about the rest of the year," he said.

The U.S., Canadian and Ontario governments, as part of the relaunch of GM, provided loans of $8.4 billion and took equity stakes in the new company.

The payment of $5.8 billion — $4.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury and $1.1 billion Cdn to Export Development Canada on April 21 — completed the payback of those loans.