** Consumer lender Ally Financial's ALLY.N shares rise 6.5% to $40.65 premarket
** ALLY posts Q4 adjusted profit of 78 cents/share, beating Wall Street expectations of 57 cents/share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG
** Q4 net financing revenue rose $7 mln to $1.51 bln, driven by lower funding costs
** CEO Michael Rhodes expresses optimism on strong momentum across ALLY's business as the company enters 2025, driven by an improved outlook on credit
** ALLY also announced a raft of actions taken in Q4 to simplify and streamline the company
** Co has agreed to sell its credit card business to credit and payments company CardWorks
** ALLY is also ceasing new mortgage loan applications from Jan. 31 and said it paid $22 mln in severance pay to laid off workers
** ALLY stock rose 3.1% in 2024
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))