Ford Posts 6th Straight Profitable Quarter - 3rd quarter 2010, $1.7 billion.

[janddbone]

DEARBORN, Mich. — The Ford Motor Company said on Tuesday that it earned $1.7 billion in the third quarter and that it expected to have zero net debt by the end of December, one year ahead of forecast.
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It was the sixth consecutive profitable quarter and the best third quarter in more than 20 years for Ford, which has been gaining momentum because of popular new cars and crossover vehicles, even as the overall market and the economy remain relatively weak.

Ford, the only one of the three Detroit automakers to avoid bankruptcy and not accept government bailout assistance, has earned about $6.4 billion so far in 2010, just two years since a $14.6 billion annual loss that was the biggest in its history.

Its third-quarter profit was equal to 43 cents a share, compared to 29 cents a share a year earlier, when it earned $997 million.

On an operating basis, excluding taxes and special items, Ford earned $2.1 billion, or 48 cents a share, up from $1 billion, or 26 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2009. On that basis, analysts had expected earnings of 38 cents.

“This was another strong quarter and we continue to gain momentum with our One Ford plan,” the chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said in a statement. “Delivering world-class products and aggressively restructuring our business has enabled us to profitably grow even at low industry volumes in key regions.”

Ford earned $1.6 billion in North America in the quarter, compared with $314 million in the period a year ago. Automotive operations lost $196 million in Europe but were profitable in other regions.

Revenue declined $1.3 billion to $29 billion, reflecting the sale earlier this year of the company’s Swedish brand, Volvo. Excluding Volvo, now owned by the Chinese carmaker Geely, third-quarter revenue was up $1.7 billion.

Ford executives said all of the company’s business units would be profitable in the fourth quarter and in 2011.

Ford said it paid off $2 billion in debt in September and that it planned to pay its remaining obligation to the United Automobile Workers union’s retiree health care trust — $3.6 billion — on Friday, in cash. Ford had not been required to satisfy its debt to the union trust until 2022.

In all, the company expects to save about $800 million a year in interest as a result of the debt-reduction actions it has competed or announced this year, including a securities conversion offer that it is starting Tuesday.

Ford had $26.4 billion in debt at the end of the quarter, down from $33.6 billion at the end of 2009. Its net debt stood at $2.6 billion, compared to $8.7 billion in December.

The chief financial officer, Lewis W. K. Booth, said debt reduction would continue to be a priority because a return to an investment-grade credit rating would allow Ford to reduce its borrowing costs.

“We’re working really hard on improving the balance sheet,” Mr. Booth said. Automotive operating-related cash flow was $900 million positive in the quarter. Ford has projected continued positive cash flow and solid profit for the rest of 2010 and in 2011.

Three months ago, Ford said it would eliminate its net debt by the end of 2011. Its high debt load has been a concern to many analysts. The last time Ford had more cash than debt was in mid-2008, before the recession began and auto sales collapsed.

Mr. Booth said Ford did not plan to eliminate all of its debt but that it had “some way to go yet” to reach its ideal debt level, though he would not reveal a specific target.

He said Ford has been able to accelerate its turnaround, without much help from the economy, by not only selling more vehicles but increasing the average price buyers pay.

"Every time we launch a new product, we can see that happening," he said.

Ford’s sales in the United States are up 21 percent this year through September, double the average percentage gain for the industry. Its share of the market rose to 15.9 percent in the third quarter, from 14.6 percent a year earlier.

“Ford sales continue to surge due to a stronger product lineup and improved consumer image,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insight at TrueCar.com. “Their retail sales are strong and transaction prices have been increasing this year, contributing to an improved bottom-line for the automaker.”

On Monday, Ford said it would create as many as 1,200 engineering and manufacturing jobs by spending $850 million to upgrade at least four Michigan plants through 2013.


By NICK BUNKLEY
Published: October 26, 2010

NEW YORK TIMES

[Scott]

Great news and a great read.

[jpd80]

Official Ford Press Release

Highlights:

* Ford reports third quarter net income of $1.7 billion, or 43 cents per share, a $690 million improvement from third quarter 2009. Pre-tax operating profit totaled $2.1 billion, or 48 cents per share, a $1.1 billion improvement from third quarter 2009++
* Ford is announcing further actions to reduce Automotive debt and strengthen its balance sheet, including further paying down its revolving credit line by $2 billion; plans to use cash to fully prepay the remaining $3.6 billion of debt owed to the VEBA retiree health care trust; and conversion offers on two convertible debt securities
* Ford now expects its Automotive cash to be about equal to its debt by year end, earlier than previously expected. This will be an improvement of $8 billion to $9 billion from the end of last year
* Ford ended the quarter with $23.8 billion of Automotive gross cash and total liquidity of $29.4 billion. Automotive operating-related cash flow was $900 million positive
* Revenue for the quarter totaled $29 billion, a decline of $1.3 billion from third quarter 2009; excluding Volvo revenue from 2009, revenue increased $1.7 billion ++
* Ford Automotive operations posted a third quarter pre-tax operating profit of $1.3 billion, a $953 million improvement from third quarter 2009++
* Ford North America reported third quarter pre-tax operating profit of $1.6 billion, a $1.3 billion improvement from third quarter 2009
* Ford Credit reported third quarter pre-tax operating profit of $766 million, an $89 million improvement from third quarter 2009, and provided Ford with a $1 billion distribution during the quarter
* Ford will deliver solid profits in 2010 with positive Automotive operating-related cash flow, and continued improvement in 2011




For the third quarter of 2010, Ford’s worldwide Automotive sector reported a pre-tax operating profit of $1.3 billion, compared with a profit of $341 million a year ago. The improvement primarily reflects favorable volume and mix, net pricing and exchange, offset partially by higher costs, including higher structural costs to support volume and growth of product plans and higher commodity costs.

Compared with a profit of $2.1 billion in the second quarter of 2010, Automotive sector pre-tax operating profit decreased by $800 million, explained primarily by lower volume and unfavorable exchange, offset partially by favorable net pricing and lower net interest expense as a result of Ford's debt reduction actions.

Total vehicle wholesales in the third quarter were 1.3 million units. Excluding Volvo from 2009, the wholesale increase was 91,000 units. Worldwide Automotive revenue in the third quarter was $26.7 billion, down from $27.3 billion a year ago. Excluding Volvo from 2009, Automotive revenue increased by $2.4 billion.

North America: For the third quarter, Ford North America reported a pre-tax operating profit of $1.6 billion, compared with a profit of $314 million a year ago. The year-over-year increase was explained primarily by favorable volume and mix and net pricing. Third quarter revenue was $16.2 billion, up from $13.4 billion a year ago.

South America: For the third quarter, Ford South America reported a pre-tax operating profit of $241 million, compared with a profit of $247 million a year ago. The year-over-year decrease was explained primarily by higher commodity costs, offset partially by favorable net pricing. Third quarter revenue was $2.5 billion, up from $2.1 billion a year ago.

Europe: For the third quarter, Ford Europe reported a pre-tax operating loss of $196 million, compared with a profit of $131 million a year ago. The year-over-year decline primarily reflects lower industry volume and market share and higher costs, including structural costs to support product launch and engineering spending and higher commodity costs. Third quarter revenue was $6.2 billion, down from $7.3 billion a year ago.

Asia Pacific Africa: For the third quarter, Ford Asia Pacific Africa reported a pre-tax operating profit of $30 million, compared with a profit of $22 million a year ago. The year-over-year increase is explained primarily by higher industry volume and material cost reductions, offset partially by higher structural costs to support investment in Ford’s product and growth plans and market mix shifts from mature to emerging markets. Third quarter revenue was $1.8 billion, up from $1.5 billion a year ago.

Other Automotive: Other Automotive consists primarily of interest and financing-related costs, and resulted in a third quarter pre-tax loss of $369 million, explained primarily by net interest expense of $346 million.

FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR

For the third quarter, the Financial Services sector reported a pre-tax operating profit of $761 million, compared with a profit of $661 million a year ago.

Ford Motor Credit Company: For the third quarter, Ford Credit reported a pre-tax operating profit of $766 million, compared with a profit of $677 million a year ago. The year-over-year increase primarily reflects a lower provision for credit losses and lower depreciation expense for leased vehicles, offset partially by lower volume and the non-recurrence of prior-year net gains related to unhedged currency exposures.

OUTLOOK
Ford said it continues to make progress on all four pillars of its plan:

* Aggressively restructuring to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix
* Accelerating the development of new products that customers want and value
* Financing the plan and improving the balance sheet
* Working together effectively as one team, leveraging Ford’s global assets

Ford expects fourth quarter 2010 production to be up 27,000 units compared with year-ago levels. Fourth quarter production will be up 89,000 units compared to third quarter 2010 production, reflecting the normal seasonal increase following summer shutdowns, as well as new product launches and projected industry growth as economic conditions improve. Overall, Ford’s production plans are consistent with its strategy to match supply to demand.

Ford expects full-year 2010 U.S. industry volume to be 11.6 million units. In the 19 markets Ford tracks in Europe, full-year industry volume is expected to be 15 million units.

Each of Ford’s regions is on track to improve quality compared with a year ago, based on the latest Global Quality Research System surveys.

In the first nine months of 2010, Automotive structural costs were $700 million higher than a year ago, and commodity costs were $750 million higher. Ford expects full-year Automotive structural and commodity costs each to be about $1 billion higher than a year ago. The higher Automotive structural costs support volume and growth of Ford’s product plans. As a percentage of revenue, Ford’s cost structure continues to improve.

Ford expects both its full-year U.S. market share and share of the U.S. retail market to improve compared with a year ago. Europe market share is expected to be down compared to a year ago and Ford expects full-year market share to be consistent with year-to-date performance of 8.6 percent.

Capital expenditures were $2.8 billion in the first nine months. Ford now expects full-year spending to be about $4 billion as the company continues to realize efficiencies from its global product development processes while keeping its product plans on track.

Ford expects to continue to deliver solid results in the fourth quarter with each of its operations being profitable and expects fourth quarter Automotive operating-related cash flow to be positive.

Ford Credit’s full-year 2010 profits will be higher than 2009, although the company expects its fourth quarter profits to be lower compared with recent quarters because of smaller expected improvements in the provision for credit losses and depreciation expense for leased vehicles.

Overall, Ford will deliver solid profits and positive Automotive operating-related cash flow for 2010, providing a solid foundation for continuing growth.

[Road Games]

Originally Posted by GTP006

Great news and a great read.

Agreed

[Iggypoppin']

HA HA HA. Who's laughing now. We are. Go ford! This is GREAT news.

[dylancox]

Go Ford.. Are Genetically Modified Motors and Fridge Makers On Wheels Inc, still down in the dirt?

[HSVKILLA]

It really amazes me with how much people have negativity against the Ford brand yet there is like a secret society out there that just keeps on buying Ford and have kept it going for the last 107 years.Everytime i read this kind of positive good news i start remembering all the faces of the people that say such stupid things and imagine a nice fat tomato splattering over their faces.This direction Ford is going makes up for any bathurst loss as we will still be racing there for another 100 years with this happening. .

[Wretched]

Well done Ford.
It is a big improvement. Now to keep the momentum up into the future.

[DJM83]

Good news indeed

[fordv8!]

super news Ford all with no government handouts like the other bludgers GO FORD

[vztrt]

Blue Oval in the black

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2577C9000A5134

Ford wipes debt as Mulally’s grand plan comes together at record pace
27 October 2010
By RON HAMMERTON
A RECORD third-quarter profit has put Ford Motor Company on track to effectively wipe its debt by the end of the year, with mounting cash reserves expected to equal its shrinking debt that currently stands at $US26.4 billion ($A26.8b).

Fuelled by strong global demand for hot-selling cars such as the Fiesta, Ford today reported a net profit of $US1.7 billion ($A1.72b) for the September quarter – a $US690 million ($A700m) improvement over the same quarter last year.

This eclipses the company’s previous highest third-quarter profit of $US1.13 billion ($A1.15b) 13 years ago.

Ford said its cash reserves had allowed it to pay out $2 billion of its line-of-credit debt in the quarter, and it was now set to repay another $3.6 billion owed to its retiree health fund this Friday.

So far this year, Ford has cut its debt by $10.8 billion, slicing its annual interest bill by about $800 million.

Ford borrowed heavily to put its house in order before the global financial crisis – a move that gave it the cash reserves and necessary pace of reform to avoid the bankruptcy fate of cross-town rivals General Motors and Chrysler.

At the same time, Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally introduced a ‘One Ford’ policy to slash the number and cost of vehicle platforms around the world and strengthen the model line-up with more fuel-efficient and sharply styled vehicles, especially for North America.

Announcing the quarterly result, Mr Mulally said the One Ford plan was continuing to gain momentum.

“Delivering world class products and aggressively restructuring our business has enabled us to profitably grow even at low industry volumes in key regions,” he said.

“The key drivers for improvement in 2011 will be our growing product strength, a gradually strengthening economy and an unrelenting focus on improving the competitiveness of all our operations.”

Globally, Ford sold 1.3 million cars for the quarter – up 91,000 units if Volvo is excluded from the 2009 tally.

Ford says its sales performance in North America would have been stronger except for delays in deliveries of its Mexican-made Fiesta due to a strike and bad weather.

The Fiesta has only just been introduced into the US where its has been an instant hit alongside the latest F-Series truck range, Taurus and Edge.

Sales in the US were up nine per cent, helping Ford to increase its market share by 1.3 percentage points – the second such gain in two years.

In the Asia Pacific Africa region, which includes Australia, sales were up 28 per cent. This included a massive 190 per cent increase in Blue Oval sales in India, where the Ford Australia-designed, Fiesta-based Figo has been a massive hit.

Regional profit was $30 million compared with $22 million a year ago on revnue of $1.8 billion – up from $1.5 billion last year.

One black spot for Ford in its latest results was Europe, where the company reported a pre-tax operating loss of $196 million against last year’s quarterly profit of $131 million. Revenue was also down, from $7.3 billion to $6.2 billion.

Ford’s global revenue for the quarter actually declined by $1.3 billion to $29 billion compared with last year, but if Volvo revenue is excluded from 2009 figures, Ford’s revenue showed an increase of $1.7 billion.

Ford sold the Swedish car-maker this year to Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

The Ford Automotive cash tin was holding $23.8 billion by the end of September – up $1.9 billion – giving the company access to almost $30 billion when including available credit lines.

Ford Credit – the Blue Oval finance company – contributed to its parent company’s success by paying a $1 billion distribution during the quarter after recording a pre-tax operating profit of $766 million, up $89 million.

Ford predicts continued improvement in its global operations in 2011, with the arrival of the new-generation Ford Focus in key markets, including North America, one of the driving forces.

According to US analysts, having hot-selling models with much improved customer appeal is helping Ford to maximise profit by minimising incentives compared with its rivals.

Edmunds estimates that Ford is paying an average of just $148 in incentives on a Fiesta, compared with Toyota’s $2114 on a Corolla.

[vztrt]

Not surprised at all, Ford was able to make a profit deep in the GFC as things are slowly picking up they should be able to keep the profitable quarters going.

[Quicksand]

Very well done Ford, you are making us proud.

[MAD]

Now to just get rid of the remaining debt.

I wonder what sort of debt the other manufacturers have hovering over their heads.

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/26/f...rterly-profit/

Ford posts sixth consecutive quarterly profit

by Zach Bowman (RSS feed) on Oct 26th 2010 at 9:27AM

Ford has posted its sixth consecutive quarterly profit with a net income of $1.7 billion. That figure marks the largest third-quarter earnings for the company since 1990, sailing well above the $997 million Ford earned during the third quarter of 2009.

As a result of its earnings, the automaker said it will move to pay down its substantial debt sooner than anticipated and step up production for the fourth quarter by 20,000 units. Originally, Ford had said that it aimed to have zero net debt by the end of 2011. Now the Blue Oval is aiming for the same goal by the end of this year. That means that the company will have the same amount of debt as it has funds to pay it.

Of course, those numbers all hinge on excluding Volvo from the picture. Total revenue for the third quarter of 2010 was $29 billion, which is around $1.3 billion less than the same period of 2009. If you nix Volvo revenue from the picture, however, the Ford bottom line increases by the $1.7 billion mentioned above. Hit the jump for the full press release.

[Sources: Ford, Automotive News, The Detroit Bureau | Image: AP/Paul Sakuma]

[dannyhilton]

And with all the new products being developed now? That's amazing!

But will Europe suffer as Ford US improves? The Euros didn't warm to the new Focus like the Americans did, there is a lot of ho har over the car. The Focus and Fiesta are their bread and butter in Europe. The Fiesta remains strong, but butter without bread? Ford US however looks great, fantastic news about their cash/debt position too. They'll be back in the black in no time at all.

[JG34JA]

Slower sales in Europe could also be due to the 'austerity' method of tackling the GFC there...

Overall these are fantastic results. Keep up the good work.

[tex]

Kudos to management, staff and patrons of the product. All deserve a big pat on the back.

[Ohio XB]

Part of slower sales in Europe hinge on the ending of their cash for clunkers program.


In early 2009 Ford stated they expected to be profitable in 2011. Then an odd thing happened......they made profit in 3rd quarter 2009 and again in the fourth quarter. In 1st quarter 2010 Ford saw profit again, good profit, and during the 2nd quarter announced (Mulally) Ford would be solidly profitable in 2010. Third quarter 2010 Ford posts it's highest profit in its 107 year history for the quarter. Things only look like they will get better, and then the thing that they were expecting to happen to make Ford solidly profitable in 2011 will happen next spring (US spring), the launch of the 2012 Focus and 2012 Explorer. Profits should soar at that point.

In the years to come their debt will be down to their desireable level. Right now they are reducing their amount of interest as well. When all this comes about Ford should be making money hand over fist.

In a depressed economy (GFC) and a slow car market (dropped from 17 million to 11-12 million), Ford is making serious profit, and has made profit 6 quarters in a row. What an astounding achievement! Yet, in NO Ford announcement does FORD mention that this quarter's profit was an all time record. Why not?

At the Paris Auto Show in September ....... The company is ahead of its plan on fixing its balance sheet and returning to an investment-grade credit rating, Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said.

''We're ahead of plan in repairing our balance sheet and getting back to investment grade,'' Mulally told Bloomberg Television.

Even more great news. But what did CFO Lewis Booth say at the Paris Auto Show? Ford will be going after more concessions from the UAW!!!



If your company were doing as well as Ford after you gave up tons in concessions already, would you believe you should give up more?


Steve

[vztrt]

Ohio, they don't have the bargaining power they had when their 'back were against the wall' so to speak. Now it'll be up to see how your union performs in negotiations.

[Ohio XB]

I fairly sure the membership will have an across the board "Hell No!"

After seeing the GM workers get stomped for giving up their right to strike it only re-inforces the automatic reaction to oppose this.

Also, with Ford's business model bringing in the money, the balance sheet getting whittled down, and a bright outlook, Ford has little justification for saying they need more from us. Add on top of that Alan Mulally announcing in March of 2009 that "Ford has everything we need from the Union and our creditors." That's not to say they didn't come back in October 2009 asking for more!

We are all very excited how Ford is performing now, about the exciting products coming out, as well as the most recent to hit the streets, and feel very optimistic about the company's future.


Steve

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

I fairly sure the membership will have an across the board "Hell No!"

After seeing the GM workers get stomped for giving up their right to strike it only re-inforces the automatic reaction to oppose this.

Also, with Ford's business model bringing in the money, the balance sheet getting whittled down, and a bright outlook, Ford has little justification for saying they need more from us. Add on top of that Alan Mulally announcing in March of 2009 that "Ford has everything we need from the Union and our creditors." That's not to say they didn't come back in October 2009 asking for more!

We are all very excited how Ford is performing now, about the exciting products coming out, as well as the most recent to hit the streets, and feel very optimistic about the company's future.


Steve

Good post Steve,

Ford has maintained that good working relationship with the UAW and I know that UAW made a suggestion to Ford to use money earmarked for the UAW to allow building more new products in the USA.

It is also to both parties' credit that instead of forcing US workers on to $14/hour, the low cost Fiesta gets built in Mexico in the former F Truck plant there and that Mexican plant's F Truck production gets returned to UAW Ford plants in the USA - I see that as a big tactical win.

One area where Ford is being "smart" is ceasing panther and Ranger production, closing the plants and substituting other products/platforms in existing plants. Even if they lose like 50% of those existing Panther and Ranger sales, the consolidation move saves them a bunch in internal costs but sadly, means another 2,000 or 3,000 jobs lost from those plants. my hope is that the improving economy will allow most of those employees to be transferred o other plants in their regions or some relocation allowance provisions made rather than redundancy payments...

One thing is for sure, Ford will have most of its plant rationalizations done before the
first bargaining rounds begin. I might be wrong but UAW looks at Ford, GM and Chrysler
as completely different cases and pattern bargaining as we know it is just about dead.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

I fairly sure the membership will have an across the board "Hell No!"

After seeing the GM workers get stomped for giving up their right to strike it only re-inforces the automatic reaction to oppose this.

Also, with Ford's business model bringing in the money, the balance sheet getting whittled down, and a bright outlook, Ford has little justification for saying they need more from us. Add on top of that Alan Mulally announcing in March of 2009 that "Ford has everything we need from the Union and our creditors." That's not to say they didn't come back in October 2009 asking for more!

We are all very excited how Ford is performing now, about the exciting products coming out, as well as the most recent to hit the streets, and feel very optimistic about the company's future.


Steve

Given Fords position now largely due to Alan Mulally's direction and you guys ( the workers ) playing ball I would hate to see you get screwed over more than you have already . I do not believe Ford have any moral justification to ask you guys to bear anymore pain . Sincerely hope you dont have to M8 . that aside though things could be much worse , you could work for G.M. or Chrysler .