GM reports second-worst annual loss

DETROIT -- The notice, called a "going concern" statement, is issued by auditors when they begin to doubt a company is a viable business. But such a notice would hardly be a surprise, because GM has said in recent months that without government help, it cannot weather the downturn.

"It doesn't mean they are going out of business, but it means there is an elevated risk," says Efraim Levy, an analyst at Standard & Poor's. The going concern statement protects the auditors, Levy says, by putting investors on notice that the company is at risk of going out of business. But that could change, if the automaker receives more government aid.

While investors digested GM's loss of $9.6 billion in the fourth quarter and $30.9 billion for all of 2008, CEO Rick Wagoner was in Washington meeting with members of President Obama's automotive task force to lay out the company's updated viability plan. GM has already received $13.4 billion in loans from the government and says it needs up to $16.6 billion more. The automaker says it needs $2 billion of that by the end of March.

GM said it burned through $5.2 billion in cash in the fourth quarter and expects to burn through $14 billion this year, much of it in this quarter. On an earnings conference call, it said its debt stands at $82 billion.

The earnings report showed global auto sales weakening quickly, another troubling sign. Strong international sales had propped up GM, even as North American sales eroded.

Last year "was an extremely difficult year for the U.S. and global auto markets, especially the second half," Wagoner said. "These conditions created a very challenging environment for GM and other automakers and led us to take further aggressive and difficult measures to restructure our business."