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DETROIT, May 9: General Motors Corp. on Monday revised its first-quarter results to exclude a charge for a retiree health care deal with its union, an accounting change that pushed the world's largest automaker to profit.

GM said that it had made the change after discussions with securities regulators over how to treat an initially reported charge of $681 million, or $1.20 a share, related to a health-care settlement with blue-collar retirees.

After excluding that charge, GM said it had earned $445 million, or 78 cents per share in the first quarter, compared with an initially reported loss for the period of $323 million, or 57 cents per share.

GM reported a net loss of $1.3 billion or $2.22 per share in the first quarter of 2005.

The revised results snapped a losing streak of five consecutive quarters for the automaker, which is shedding jobs and closing plants to adjust to a loss of share in the U.S. market.

''It's not a good thing or a bad thing. It's an accounting thing,'' Argus Research analyst Kevin Tynan said of the revised results. ''If you take out special charges, their operating performance is essentially the same.'' GM had cautioned investors last month that its first-quarter results could change as a result of discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission over how to book charges related to money the company will contribute to a new trust for retiree health care.

GM said it will book charges related to the union settlement over seven years, beginning in the third quarter of this year.

The automaker said it will make contributions of $1 billion this year and next year and then again in 2011 to that trust as a result of a cost-saving deal with the United Auto Workers.

GM, which lost $10.6 billion in 2005, is banking on its new line of redesigned sport utility vehicles and trucks to help turn things around in North America. While initial sales of the SUVs have done well, analysts have expressed concern over gas prices hurting sales of the gas-guzzling vehicles in the coming quarters this year.

Excluding special items, including a profit from the sale of its stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., GM said it had posted earnings of $184 million, or 32 cents per share in the first quarter.

GM also revised first-quarter results for its finance arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp., to reflect the tax effect of the sale of its commercial mortgage division. GMAC earned $637 million, compared with the previously-reported $605 million, GM said.

GM's accounting practices have been under scrutiny after the company restated past earnings, increased its reported loss for 2005 by $2 billion due to accounting errors and delayed the filing of its annual report.

The company's initial first-quarter results had been greeted positively by investors and prompted a debate over whether GM had begun to turn the corner under Chief Executive Rick Wagoner.

But Tynan said the revised results are sure to create confusion among investors.

''The revisions will raise many questions. While all of this underscores the magnitude of what GM is trying to do with restructuring, it could also scare away investors who don't want to take the time to understand what these things mean from quarter to quarter.'' GM shares closed at $23.55, up 37 cents, in Monday trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

REUTERS