Facing its worst financial outlook in more than a decade, General Motors reported a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss on Tuesday that it attributed to a stark turnaround in its North American operations. The company also said it was no longer certain enough of its outlook to provide earnings guidance for the full year, backing away even from the bleak revisions it made to its forecast last month.And GM appeared to raise the stakes in its discussions with the United Auto Workers union over soaring health care costs, which are expected to approach $6 billion this year. Today, in declining to provide 2005 earnings projections, GM cited ‘‘uncertainty affecting key elements of our financial forecast, such as resolution of the health-care cost crisis.’’A top GM executive also said on Tuesday that GM might start withdrawing money from a $20 billion special fund set aside for retiree health-care expenses. GM has not withdrawn money from the fund in two decades. The developments come after union leaders said last week, following a meeting with top GM executives, that they would not accede to the company’s desire to sharply scale back health-care benefits but did leave open ground for modest concessions. That may not be good enough for GM’s executives. Investors appeared to be further unsettled by GM’s report today, even though the loss was in line with GM’s profit warning of last month that sent the company’s shares to a 12-year low in the weeks since and led to a shake-up of the company’s North American management. Financial analysts were especially concerned about the company’s failure to provide earnings guidance and GM prodigious cash consumption in a quarter that saw the automaker drain $3.5 billion from its balance sheet. — NYT
