Results tagged “Ford” from Economic Alert

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. reported a first-quarter loss of $1.4 billion Friday and said it burned through less money while restructuring without government aid during a severe auto sales downturn.

The nation's second-largest automaker spent $3.7 billion more than it took in during the first three months of the year, far less than the $7.2 billion it spent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Ford shares surged 76 cents, or 17 percent, to $5.25 in premarket trading.

The loss compares with a $70 million profit a year earlier. On a per share basis, Ford lost 60 cents, compared with earnings of 3 cents a share for the comparable quarter a year ago.

Revenue was $24.8 billion, down nearly 37 percent from $39.2 billion in the same quarter of last year, as U.S. sales declined 43 percent in the quarter.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the company is confident that it will reduce its cash burn even further this year, and he said Ford will make it through 2009 without needing government aid. He would not speculate, however, about 2010.

"This is a very, very difficult environment," Booth said. "We're comfortable we'll get through this year."

Ford drew the last $10.1 billion from its revolving line of credit during the quarter and said it had $21.3 billion in cash as of March 31. That's down from $28.7 billion in the same period last year.

Booth said the company narrowed its loss from roughly $6 billion last quarter primarily due to cost cuts and better pricing for its vehicles. He said he expects continued improvement for the remainder of the year.

On a pretax basis, Ford lost 75 cents a share, beating analysts estimates. Eleven analysts polled Thomson Reuters expected a $1.23 per share loss on revenue of $22 billion.

Special items improved earnings by $362 million, including a $1.1 billion on gain on its March debt exchange. That gain was offset by a $664 million impairment charge due to a reduction in the book value of its Swedish Volvo unit. Ford classified Volvo as "held for sale," meaning that it's likely the unit will be sold in the next 12 months.

DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales fell 48 percent in February, a sign that the new car market could hit the lowest point in more than 27 years as huge rebates and low-interest financing fail to spur fearful consumers to make a major purchase.

Ford, the first automaker to report sales Tuesday, said it sold 99,060 vehicles last month, compared with the 192,248 it sold in February 2008.

The drop is another indication that mass layoffs, the stock market decline and sliding home values are prompting people to hold on to their cars longer. Those who are buying are more often opting for a used car or truck.

It also casts further doubt on the financial viability of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, making it difficult for them to sell cars and generate critical cash to supplement the $17.4 billion in government loans that are keeping them in business.

Industry analysts say when all the numbers are tallied, February sales could be worse than January's total of 656,976 light vehicles. That was the lowest monthly total since the industry sold 656,310 vehicles in December 1981, according to Autodata Corp. and Ward's AutoInfoBank.

The trough is likely even though automakers spent more on rebates, low-interest financing and other incentives in an effort to bring out buyers. But despite the fantastic deals, sales continued to slump.

"If it wasn't for the generous level of incentives now, we probably would be seeing even lower sales, if you can believe it," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for the auto Web site Edmunds.com. "It seems it can't get lower, but it could."

Toprak said there's little automakers can do to spur sales, which are likely to drop for every major automaker.

"You can spend money on marketing or incentives. That's all you can do," he said. "Neither is having a big impact a big impact on sales. That tells us it's really consumer confidence and the general negative state of the economy overall causing consumers to postpone making purchase decisions."