CHICAGO, United States (AFP) - General Motors sped past Wall Street forecasts Tuesday by announcing a second-quarter profit of 891 million dollars, helped by cost-cutting and growth in key markets.

The largest US automaker posted its third straight quarterly profit and rebounded from a loss of 3.4 billion dollars in the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the profit amounted to 2.48 dollars a share, well ahead of the average analyst estimate of 1.13 dollars.

Revenues also surprised to the upside at 46.8 billion dollars. This was down 13 percent from a year ago but better than the 44.5 billion expected for the automaker undergoing a painful reorganization in its vast North American operations.

"We again saw improved results in sales, income and cash flow this quarter, driven by the continued successful implementation of our business strategies," said Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and chief executive officer.

"In particular, our heavy commitment to key growth markets around the world really paid off in strong growth and earnings. In North America we continue to make progress with our focus on great new products, a disciplined sales and marketing strategy, and structural cost reduction, although profitability remains close to breakeven."