Releasing second quarterly results on Thursday, Ford Motor Company ( NYSE : F, F message board ) beat analyst estimates and returned to profitability, dispelling speculation that they would be forced to issue more equity in order to further reduce debt. Helped by one-time gains, reduced costs and fresh products, the only major U.S. Automaker to decline a government bail-out or avoid bankruptcy filing stated that while the recovery may take months yet - the market has finally bottomed out.
Ford reported a second quarter net income of $2.3 billion, or 69 cents per share, ( compared to the $8.7 billion loss in the year-ago-period ) against analyst expectations of a 50 cent per share loss. The company state that they remain on track to achieve their 2011 financial targets, with plans to move focus further still from prior years big sellers, SUV and Trucks, which have had substantial sales drops in recent months.
Ford sales were still down 10.9% in the U.S., but they fared far better than competitors, with GM sales falling 33%, and Chrysler sales falling 42%. Revenue fell to $27.2 billion, and Ford still reported a operating loss (excluding a one-time item net gain of $2.8 billion) but Ford CEO and President Allan Mulally states that Ford have more than enough cash to ''finance our entire transformation'' ; the company having paid back more than $10 billion in debt since the beginning of the year, and continuing to enact operating-cost reducing strategies.
Mulally went on to state that ''While the business environment remained extremely challenging around the world, we made significant progress on our transformation plan...Our underlying business is growing progressively stronger as we introduce great new products that customers want and value, while continuing to aggressively restructure our business and strengthen our balance sheet.''
Ending the quarter with an automotive gross cash improvement of $2.1 billion; analysts such as Mike Ward from Soleil Securities stating that Fords ''cost position is in good shape'' - and the first profitable quarter for Ford after four consecutive quarterly losses; the company, whose shares have almost tripled since the beginning of the year - have had a more than 10% increase in pre-market trading.
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