The chairman and CEO of troubled automaker General Motors (GM) has announced he is hopeful the company will return to profit this year. Almost six months after GM emerged from bankruptcy, Ed Whitacre has predicted that the Detroit-based automaker will make money in 2010, while acknowledging there are still obstacles to be overcome. The company hasn't made an annual profit since 2004 and wasn't expecting to do so until 2011. It made $88 billion in losses from 2005 through the first quarter of last year.