EARNINGS ROUNDUP / GMAC

GMAC, the auto and home lender that received a $6-billion government bailout, reported a first-quarter loss Tuesday of $675 million in part on surging loan defaults.

The loss widened from $589 million a year earlier, the Detroit-based company said. The percentage of auto loans more than 30 days past due rose to 3.1% in the quarter from 2.4% in the same period a year earlier.

“We’re at the highest retail credit loss that the auto industry has seen in recorded time,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Hull said. “You’re going to see more losses flow through our financials in the next few quarters on the auto side.”

Rising foreclosures and tumbling auto sales left GMAC on the brink of collapse in December. The company’s bonds rallied this year after the government deemed the lender critical to the survival of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler. GMAC said Tuesday that a GM bankruptcy wouldn’t trigger its own filing.

GMAC is among 19 banks awaiting results of the government’s stress test, designed to determine which firms need additional capital to weather further deterioration in the economy.