As of this morning, the company’s stock [NYSE: GM] was trading at about $22 a share, about 33 percent below its $33 IPO price from November 2010. Akerson said the most crippling uncertainty is Europe, which is in the midst of an economic crisis. He said investors want to see GM’s European operations, which lost $700 million in 2011, at least break-even. Watch video
View full sizeGeneral Motors Co. CEO and Chairman Dan Akerson during shareholder comments during the Detroit automaker's 2012 annual shareholders meeting June 12 at its world headquarters in the Renaissance Center.DETROIT, MI- General Motors Co.’s stock isn’t performing as well as it should be because of its troubled European operations, pension obligations and overall economic uncertainty, according to CEO and Chairman Dan Akerson.
“I regret that the stock has not done well post-IPO,” he said during the automaker’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday in Detroit. “I will ensure you that we are all dedicated to improving that over the immediate to long-term.”
As of this morning, the company’s stock [NYSE: GM] was trading at about $22 a share, about 33 percent below its $33 IPO price from November 2010.
Akerson said the most crippling uncertainty is Europe, which is in the midst of an economic crisis. He said investors want to see GM’s European operations, which lost $700 million in 2011, at least break-even.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Akerson said during remarks to media before the meeting at the company’s headquarters inside the Renaissance Center. “People buy stocks with not the past (in mind). I mean it’s great we had a good year last year, why is the stock down? Because there’s uncertainty in the future.”
In regards to pension obligations, Akerson told investors during the hour-long meeting that the company has gone “far beyond what any other company has done to reduce pension risk.”
The Detroit-based automaker earlier this month offered lump sums to 42,000 of its 118,000 U.S. white-collar retirees, which is expected to cut its pension obligations by $26 billion. In February, GM also announces it would eliminate traditional pensions for its 26,000 current salaried U.S. workers.
At last year’s shareholder meeting, Akerson said GM’s stock is a long-term investment. He echoed those comments to investors today during the meeting.
“Stocks in large measure are based on future expectations,” he said. “Although I think we are doing a lot of good things for the long haul, sometimes the short-term picture is clouded by failures in the market place -- a bad launch would be an example -- or macroeconomic drivers that are sometimes outside the control of the company.”
One uncertainty Akerson did not mention directly being a factor for the stock’s performance was the government’s 32 percent stake in the automaker. Some analysts have speculated that the government’s continuing ownership has hurt its performance.
Akerson said he has not had discussions with the government about when it plans to sell its remaining stake in the company.
Less than 100 shareholders -- ranging from California and Canada to Metro Detroit -- were present for the 2012 meeting, which ended at 10:30 a.m.
Check back to MLive.com for continuing coverage of the meeting.