(Bloomberg) — General Motors Co., posting a second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates, said it will spend at least $400 million to pay victims of the 2.59 million compact cars with a potentially faulty ignition switch linked to at least 13 deaths.

Profit excluding one-time items was 58 cents a share, helped by redesigned pickups and large sport-utility vehicles in the U.S. and improved sales in China, GM said today in a statement. That compared with an average estimate of 59 cents from 14 analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest U.S. automaker reported earning 84 cents on that basis a year earlier. GM slid 2.3% to $36.54 at 9:41 a.m. New York time.

While GM took a one-time charge of $400 million for the victim compensation program, the automaker said it may rise to $600 million. Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens reiterated that Kenneth Feinberg, an outside lawyer who's managed similar funds for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the BP Plc oil spill, will ultimately decide the cost of the program. GM won't cap how much money the program pays, Feinberg has said.