General Motors Corporation, USA — (31-12-2008)
From Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements :Note 2 : Basis of Presentation :
Going Concern :
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern, which contemplates the realisation of assets and the liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. We have incurred significant losses from 2005 through 2008, attributable to operations and to restructurings and other charges such as support for Delphi and past, present and future costcutting measures. We have managed our liquidity during this time through a series of cost reduction initiatives, capital markets transactions and sales of assets. However, the global credit market crisis has had a dramatic effect on our industry.
In the second half of 2008, the increased turmoil in the mortgage and overall credit markets (particularly the lack of financing to buyers or lessees of vehicles), the continued reductions in U.S. housing values, the volatility in the price of oil, the recession in the United States and Western Europe and the slowdown of economic growth in the rest of the world created a substantially more difficult business environment. The ability to execute capital markets transactions or sales of assets was extremely limited, and vehicle sales in North America and Western Europe contracted severely and the pace of vehicle sales in the rest of the world slowed. Our liquidity position, as well as our operating performance, were negatively affected by these economic and industry conditions and by other financial and business factors, many of which are beyond our control.
These conditions have not improved through January 2009, with sales of total vehicles for the U.S. industry falling to 657,000 vehicles, or a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.8 million vehicles, which was the lowest level for January since 1982. We do not believe it is likely that these adverse economic conditions, and their effect on the automotive industry, will improve significantly during 2009, notwithstanding the unprecedented intervention by governments in the United States and other countries in the global banking and financial systems.
Due to this sudden and rapid decline of our industry and sales, particularly in the three months ended December 31, 2008, we determined that, despite the far-reaching actions to restructure our U.S. business, we would be unable to pay our obligations in the normal course of business in 2009 or service our debt in a timely fashion, which required the development of a new plan that depended on financial assistance from the U.S. Government. On December 31, 2008, we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (UST Loan Agreement) with the United States Department of the Treasury (UST), pursuant to which the UST agreed to provide us with a $ 13.4 billion secured term loan facility (UST Loan Facility). We borrowed $ 4.0 billion under the UST Loan Facility on December 31, 2008, an additional $ 5.4 billion on January 21, 2009 and $ 4.0 billion on February 17, 2009. As a condition to obtaining the UST Loan Facility, we agreed to achieve certain restructuring targets within designated time frames as more fully described in Note 15.
Pursuant to the terms of the UST Loan Facility and as described more fully in Note 15, we submitted to the UST on February 17, 2009 our plan to return to profitability and to operate as a going concern (Viability Plan). In order to execute the Viability Plan, we have requested additional U.S. Government funding of $ 22.5 billion to cover our baseline scenario liquidity requirements and $ 30.0 billion to cover our downside sensitivity liquidity requirements. We proposed that the funding could be met through a combination of a secured term loan of $ 6.0 billion and preferred equity of $ 16.5 billion under a Viability Plan baseline scenario, representing an increase of $ 4.5 billion over our December 2008 request, reflecting changes in various assumptions subsequent to the December 2, 2008 submission and $ 9.1 billion incremental to the $ 13.4 billion currently outstanding. We have suggested to the UST that the current amount outstanding as of February 28, 2009 of $ 13.4 billion under the UST Loan Facility plus an incremental $ 3.1 billion requested in 2009 could be provided in the form of preferred stock. We believe this structure would provide the necessary medium-term funding we need and provide a higher return to the UST, commensurate with the higher returns the UST receives on other preferred stock investments in financial institutions.
Under a Viability Plan downside sensitivity sce-nario, an additional $ 7.5 billion of funding would be required above the amounts described above, which we have requested in the form of a secured revolving credit facility. The collateral used to sup-port the current $ 13.4 billion UST Loan Facility would be used to support the proposed $ 7.5 billion secured revolving credit facility and the $ 6.0 billion term loan. Our Viability Plan also assumes $ 7.7 billion in loans under the provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Section 136 Loans) from the Department of Energy. Our 2009 baseline vehicle sales forecast is 10.5 million vehicles in the United States and 57.5 million vehicles globally. In 2009, our liquidity, under our Baseline plan, is dependent on obtaining $ 4.6 billion of funding from the UST in addition to the $ 13.4 billion received to date; a net $ 2.3 billion from other non-U.S. governmental entitles the receipt of $ 2.0 billion in Section 136 Loans; and the sale of certain assets for net proceeds of $ 1.5 billion. This funding and additional amounts described above are required to provide the necessary working capital to operate our business until the global economy recovers and consumers have an available credit and begin purchasing automobiles at more historical volume levels. In addition, the Viability Plan is dependent on our ability to execute the bond exchange and voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA) modifications contemplated in our submissions to the UST and our ability to achieve the revenue targets and execute the cost reduction and other restructuring plans. We currently have approximately $1 billion of outstanding Series D convertible debentures that mature on June 1, 2009. Our funding plan described -above does not include the payment at maturity of the principal amount of these debentures. If we are unable to restructure the Series D convertible debentures prior to June 1, 2009, or otherwise satisfactorily address the payment due on June I, 2009, a default would arise with respect to payment of these obligations, which could also trigger cross defaults in other outstanding debt, thereby potentially requiring us to seek relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The following is a summary of significant cost reduction and restructuring actions contemplated by the Viability Plan:
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm :
We have audited the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets of General Motors Corporation and subsidiaries (the Corporation) as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related Consolidated Statements of Operations, Cash Flows and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2008. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15. These financial statements and financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and financial statement schedule based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Over-sight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of General Motors Corporation and subsidiaries at December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2008, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, such financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31,2008, have been prepared assuming that the Corporation will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Corporation’s recurring losses from operations, stockholders’ deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans concerning these matters are also discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
As discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Corporation: (1) effective January 1, 2008, adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.157, Fair Value Measurements, (2) effective January 1, 2007, adopted the recognition and measurement provisions of FASB Interpretation No. 48,Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes – an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109, (3) effective January 1, 2007, changed the measurement date for defined benefit plan assets and liabilities to coincide with its year end to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158,Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans – an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106 and 132 (R) (SFAS No.158), and (4) effective December 31, 2006, began to recognise the funded status of its defined benefit plan in its consolidated balance sheets to conform to SFAS No. 158.
As discussed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, on November 30,2006, the Corporation sold a 51% controlling interest in GMAC LLC, its former wholly-owned finance subsidiary. The Corporation’s remaining interest in GMAC LLC is accounted for as an equity method investment.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on the criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated 4-3-2009 expressed an adverse opinion on the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting.
