Washington - General Motors Co. stock fell 1.2 percent Wednesday, closing at $18.80, down $0.22, on worries about Europe — the first time the Detroit automaker's stock has closed below $19 a share since its initial public offering.
The Detroit automaker has seen its share price tumble by more than 52 percent since it reached a high closing price in January 2011 of $38.90, just after going public in November 2010. The company has shed more than $30 billion in market capitalization over the last 18 months, and now is worth about $29 billion.
The fall came as Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday that second quarter earnings declined on larger-than-expected losses in Europe.
GM's low stock price has prevented the Treasury from exiting the automaker. It still holds 500 million shares of stock in the company as part of its $49.5 billion bailout, or a 32 percent stake.
It needs about $53 a share in order to break even on its GM bailout. At current prices, it would lose $17.25 billion on the bailout.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told The Detroit News last month that the government should exit GM quickly, even if the government incurred a hefty loss on its investment.
But Obama administration officials have said the government has no intention of selling any of its remaining GM shares before the November election.
In a report released Wednesday, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program's special inspector general said taxpayers are still owed nearly $27 billion for the GM bailout and $14.7 billion for the $17.2 billion bailout of Detroit lender Ally Financial Inc. The Treasury still holds a 74 percent stake in Ally as part of the bailout of the former GM finance unit.
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