GM posts strong profit on U.S. demand, smaller loss in Europe

General Motors Co on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong results in its core North American market and a smaller-than-anticipated loss in Europe.

Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $757 million, or 45 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with $1.48 billion, or 89 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Excluding one-time items related to the repurchase of preferred stock and tax expenses, GM earned 96 cents a share, 2 cents more than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected.

The results in North America and Europe helped to offset weaker-than-expected earnings in GM's international operations, which include China and South America. The international earnings fell to $299 million from $761 million last year as the markets outside China were a drag.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman and Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)