Ford quarterly loss narrows; forecasts 2008 loss
By Jui Chakravorty Das and David Bailey
DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a sharply narrower fourth-quarter loss on Thursday after cutting costs but forecast a net loss for the full year 2008 amid fears of a weakening U.S. economy.
The nation’s No. 3 automaker, which has struggled with declining sales and sliding market share in the United States, said it would take further cost-cutting actions on its home turf, including offering buyouts to all of its unionized workers.
Ford was surpassed by Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) as the second-largest automaker in the United States last year as it grappled with a slowing economy, a slumping housing market and tighter credit markets that pinched less credit-worthy borrowers.
Ford reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $2.75 billion, or $1.30 per share, compared with a loss of $5.63 billion, or $2.98 per share, a year earlier.
The loss from continuing operations, excluding one-time items, was 20 cents a share. On that basis, analysts expected a loss of 19 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Ford shares were down 12 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $6.15 in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
“With macro uncertainty dominating, we expect little about (the fourth quarter) to change investor views on either the near-term prospects or the longer-term turnaround,” Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said in a research note.
U.S. auto sales fell for the second consecutive year in 2007, and the consensus view among Wall Street analysts and high-profile investors points to a further decline this year. Continued…
Tags: Auto, Auto Sales, automaker, economy, Ford, ford motor, ford motor co, fourth quarter, lehman brothers, lehman brothers analyst, reuters, Toyota, toyota motor
