FORD, the No.2 US carmaker, has made a profit of $502.4m in the second
quarter, the latest sign of Detroit's improving fortunes after a grim
period.
The healthy gain was bolstered by stronger US sales and a record
performance by its financial services operations. The strong profit news
came a day after third-ranked Chrysler reported healthy profits for the
quarter.
Ford's US automotive operations were deep in the red last year.
Chairman Harold Poling, while expressing satisfaction with the latest
results, cautioned that ''the rest of 1992 will remain challenging.''
''The US economy, while improving, is still fragile, as are the
economies in many of Ford's key overseas markets,'' Poling said. ''It
will continue to be difficult to achieve healthy results in today's
environment.''
The latest performance was Ford's best in two years, exceeding its
first-quarter earnings of $338m.
The profit, equal to 93 cents a share, reversed a loss of $323.5m, or
68 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Revenues in the latest
quarter were $26.8 billion, up from $23.8 billion in the second quarter
of 1991.
On Tuesday, Wall Street boosted its expectations for Ford's
second-quarter profits after Chrysler raced past analysts' estimates and
reported a second-quarter profit of $178m.
Ford has been free of the massive restructuring problems faced by
industry leader General Motors and the heavy pension liabilities and
junk debt ratings that burden Chrysler.
Ford said its Financial Services Group, led by record profits at Ford
Credit and The Associates, made a profit of $289m in the period, up from
$243m a year ago. It cited lower credit losses and higher interest
margins.
Poling said Ford's earnings benefited from an improvement in US car
and truck market share, along with gradually increasing industry sales,
which led to higher vehicle production and reduced marketing costs.
Ford's worldwide automotive operations were in profit by $213m in the
second quarter, compared with a loss of $567m a year ago. Its US
automotive business made a profit of $148m in the period, versus a
massive $565m loss.
Viewed as the low-cost North American producer, Ford has been the
first of the Big Three Detroit companies to benefit from the increased
US vehicle demand this year -- Reuter.
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