GM Reports $1.3 Billion Second-Quarter Profit

General Motors Co. said Thursday it posted a $1.3 billion second-quarter profit, as it prepares to sell its stock to the public, the Associated Press reported.

It was the second straight quarterly profit for GM, which made $865 million in the first quarter, AP said.

GM, which is 61% owned by the U.S. government, is seeking to raise $12 billion to $16 billion in an initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.

Such an IPO would be the second-largest in U.S. history, behind Visa Inc.’s $19.7 billion offering in 2008, Bloomberg said.

The sale also would be the first step in freeing the Detroit-based automaker from government ownership, which Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre has pushed for after GM’s $50 billion taxpayer bailout in the wake of its bankruptcy in June 2009, Bloomberg said.