DETROIT (AP) — General Motors' second-quarter net profit fell more than 40 percent as the company posted a loss from the sale of its European unit and charges for restructuring in India and selling its business in South Africa.

The company posted net income of $1.66 billion, compared with a record $2.87 billion a year ago. But when the European loss and one-time items are stripped out, GM still made $2.4 billion from continuing operations, or $1.89 per share. That's down 12 percent from last year but it still beat Wall Street estimates easily. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.68 per share.

Revenue was $37 billion, falling short of analyst estimates of $40.3 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said GM still had a strong quarter with pretax earnings of $3.7 billion. That was down $100 million from a year ago, due largely to a $270 million drop in North America that he attributed to production cuts as the company ramps up to launch its new full-size pickup truck.

Revenue was $37 billion, falling short of analyst estimates of $40.3 billion.

The net earnings include a $770 million loss as GM prepares for the sale of its European Opel and Vauxhall brands to French carmaker PSA Group. It also includes $654 million in one-time items from restructuring in India, the sale of GM's South Africa business and lingering legal costs from an embarrassing ignition switch recall. Stevens said the sale to PSA still is on track to close by the end of the year.

Pretax profits in North America, GM's most lucrative region, fell 14 percent for the quarter to $3.48 billion. But profits in International Operations, including China, nearly doubled to $340 million. GM also narrowed its loss in South America from $118 million to $23 million. Profits at its loan-making unit rose 67 percent to $357 million.

GM made a strong profit in the U.S. even though sales were down 4 percent for the quarter. That's because much of the sales drop came from lower-profit car sales, which were down 19 percent. Truck and SUV sales rose 3 percent, and that pushed up GM's average sales price per vehicle up 3 percent to $39,118, according to Edmunds.com.

Shares of GM fell about 1 percent to $35.45 in premarket trading Tuesday.