Holden Posts $210 Million Loss For 2009 On Back Of Pontiac Project

HOLDEN HAS this week announced a $210.6 million loss in the last financial year, the result of GM's decision to retire the Pontiac brand - a move that saw Holden's export programme take a huge hit.

Holden Chief Financial Officer Mark Bernhard said the cancellation of Holden's left-hand-drive Pontiac G8 production and export deal meant a loss of $224.3 million in one-off development costs, saved only by a small after-tax profit of $12.8 million.

"The result, while disappointing, was the by-product of one of the most severe economic downturns in recent memory," Mr Bernhard said.

Total revenue for Holden in the 2009-10 financial year was $3.8 billion, down from $5.8 billion in 2008.

Mr Bernhard said that while the carmaker's domestic sales also suffered as a result of the economic crisis, recent growth in the global market has seen the company's finances improve, leading to a profitable start to 2010.

"As the health of the world economy began to improve in the second half of the year, so too did our finances, Mr Bernhard said.

"At this time that we started to witness the benefits of some of the more difficult restructuring decisions made during the year to ensure we were operating on a leaner, more efficient base. This contributed to the company's positive operating cash flow of $289.8 million."

Holden is set to begin local assembly of its new Cruze small car, in both sedan and hatch bodyshapes. A wagon variant is expected to join the line-up in the future.

Click here to read TMR's review of the 2009 Holden Cruze CDX Petrol And CD Diesel.