Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 21, 1995                   TAG: 9504210123
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GM'S 1ST QUARTER TOPS PREDICTIONS

The earnings exceeded the expectations of securities analysts, who had forecast, on average, $2.27 a share. But the stock market reacted coolly to the earnings report, with GM shares closing at $43.875 each, down 12.5 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Still, analysts said the strong earnings indicated that the company was solving some of the manufacturing problems that have been a drag on its financial results.

``It's taken a long, long time for them to get their plants up and running properly,'' said Harvey Heinbach, an analyst with Merrill Lynch. ``This is an indication they are making progress internally.''

The company reported that its North American operation, including its parts manufacturing subsidiary, had net income of $1.1 billion in the quarter, compared with a loss of $199 million a year ago.

GM was the last of the Big Three domestic automakers to report quarterly earnings.

GM's first-quarter profit was up 152 percent from the $852.7 million earned a year earlier. Revenues totaled $43.3 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent.

Despite the increase in homegrown profits, Smith said the North American operations were still below standard. ``Despite these impressive results, a significant amount of work remains to be done,'' he said.

Worldwide, GM's vehicle sales increased 10.4 percent, to 2,296,000, largely because of stronger sales overseas.

The company's international operations produced net income of $522 million, an increase of 36 percent over the $385 million in the 1994 period.