GM Reports Loss as Fiat Stake Damps Results

General Motors Corp.’s better-than-expected third-quarter earnings report was deflated by concerns about the automaker’s underfunded pensions and its holdings in Hughes Electronics Corp. and Italian car maker Fiat.

GM on Tuesday reported a loss of $804 million, or $1.42 a share, largely due to a $1.37-billion write-down of the value of its investment in Fiat and other one-time charges. Its year-earlier loss was $368 million, or 41 cents a share.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $615 million, or $1.20 a share. A consensus of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected GM to earn 99 cents a share, including the Hughes loss.

Overall, GM sales for the quarter rose 3% to $43.58 billion.

The world’s largest automaker also raised its fourth-quarter and full-year expectations. “Our confidence in the year remains very strong, and that’s reflected in these numbers,” John Devine, GM’s chief financial officer, told analysts and reporters during a conference call.

GM shares rose $3.44, or 10%, to close at $36.70 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Still, the positive news was tempered with negative reports about pensions, the Hughes satellite TV business and Fiat.

GM’s third-quarter figures include results from Hughes, whose proposed merger with EchoStar Communications Corp. was blocked last week by federal regulators. Hughes, which said Monday that it would aggressively try to salvage the merger, lost $81 million in the third quarter.

Another sour note was the 20% stake that GM bought in Fiat two years ago. The huge write-down reflects the Italian automaker’s crumbling business amid slumping sales.