Ford Surprises With Profit
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Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street with a $100 million profit in the first quarter as strong results from Europe and South America helped offset the impact of a slumping U.S. economy that cut car and truck sales in its main market.
The company also said Thursday its latest round of early retirement and buyout offers netted 4,200 hourly workers, fewer than Ford had targeted.
Ford says it earned 5 cents per share compared to a loss of 15 cents a share in the same period last year.
Excluding special items, the company said it made $525 million after taxes, or 20 cents per share. That beat Wall Street’s expectations. The profit came despite a $45 million pretax loss in Ford’s core North American automotive market.
It was Ford’s first profitable quarter since the second quarter of 2007 when it made $750 million. Ford reported a full-year loss of $2.7 billion last year, and it cautioned that the rest of this year will be tough. Ford also lowered its industrywide U.S. vehicle sales forecast for the full year.
