Financial Results Summary |
Third Quarter |
First Nine Months |
||
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
|
Wholesales (000) ++ |
1,174 |
(313) |
4,266 |
(644) |
Revenue (Bils.) ++ |
$ 32.1 |
$ (9.0) |
$ 110.1 |
$ (18.2) |
|
||||
Continuing Operations ++ |
||||
Automotive Results (Mils.) |
$ (2,906) |
$ (2,544) |
$ (2,924) |
$ (2,715) |
Financial Services (Mils.) |
159 |
(397) |
( 111) |
(1,066) |
Pre-Tax Results (Mils.) |
$ (2,747) |
$ (2,941) |
$ (3,035) |
$ (3,781) |
|
|
|
|
|
After-Tax Results (Mils.) |
(2,977) |
(2,953) |
(3,846) |
(3,909) |
Earnings Per Share ++++ |
(1.31) |
(1.30) |
(1.72) |
(1.75) |
Special Items Pre-Tax (Mils.) |
$ 2,207 |
$ 2,557 |
$ (6,219) |
$ (6,199) |
Net Income |
||||
After-Tax Results (Mils.) |
$ (129) |
$ 251 |
$ (8,696) |
$ (8,784) |
Earnings Per Share |
(0.06) |
0.13 |
(3.89) |
(3.94) |
Automotive Gross Cash (Bils.) +++ |
$ 18.9 |
$ (16.7) |
$ 18.9 |
$ (16.7) |
See end notes on page 9.
DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 7, 2008 – Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] today reported a third quarter net loss of $129 million, or 6 cents per share. This compares with a net loss of $380 million, or 19 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007. Ford’s third quarter pre-tax operating loss from continuing operations, excluding special items, was $2.7 billion, down from a $194 million profit a year ago.
The company also today announced additional actions to reduce costs and improve Automotive gross cash to enable Ford to continue to implement its product-led transformation plan despite the continued weakness in the global automotive market and economic environment.
Improvement actions include: an additional 10 percent reduction in North American salaried personnel-related costs; a reduction in capital spending enabled by efficiencies in Ford’s global engineering and product development; a reduction in manufacturing, information technology, and advertising costs due to the company’s “One Ford” global operations; and a reduction of inventories globally. Ford also said it would continue to explore divestitures of non-core assets and utilize equity-for-debt swaps and other incremental sources of financing to strengthen the company’s balance sheet.
At the same time, Ford reiterated its continued investment in the smaller, more fuel-efficient, high-quality products that will result in a more balanced global portfolio. Ford confirmed that nearly all planned product programs remain on track and on time – aside from a few select vehicles that will be deferred until industry volumes recover. Ford will, however, reduce spending for large vehicles in declining segments.
“We continue to take fast and decisive action implementing our plan and responding to the rapidly changing business environment,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. “We have a strategy that is broad and specific enough to handle the dramatic changes in today’s environment. We will continue to assess the rapidly changing business environment and modify implementation of our plan accordingly.”
THIRD QUARTER 2008 RESULTS
On an after-tax basis, Ford’s third quarter operating loss from continuing operations, excluding special items, was about $3 billion, or $1.31 per share, compared with a loss of $24 million, or 1 cent per share, a year ago.
Ford’s third quarter revenue was $32.1 billion, down from $41.1 billion a year ago. The decline reflects lower volume, the sale of Jaguar Land Rover, changing product mix and lower net pricing, partly offset by favorable changes in currency exchange rates.
Special items improved pre-tax results by $2.2 billion in the third quarter, or $1.25 per share, which is primarily due to the retiree health care curtailment gain in excess of $2 billion related to the approval of the retiree health care settlement agreement with the United Auto Workers.
Automotive gross cash, including cash and cash equivalents, net marketable securities and loaned securities, was $18.9 billion on Sept. 30, down from $26.6 billion at the end of the second quarter. The decrease primarily reflects Automotive pre-tax operating losses, changes in working capital and other timing differences, and upfront subvention payments to Ford Credit.
Ford’s Automotive cash flow during the third quarter was significantly affected by a number of unique factors during the quarter, including the decision to reduce truck production to allow for an orderly sell-down of dealer inventories to make way for new models. Overall, Ford’s global third quarter production levels were more than 100,000 units below retail sales and nearly 500,000 units below the second quarter levels. This had a substantial impact on profits, and the decline in production resulted in about a $3 billion reduction in payables during the quarter.
“Strengthening our balance sheet has been and remains a core element of our transformation plan,” said Lewis Booth, Ford executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We were fortunate to have gone to the markets at the right time two years ago to obtain significant liquidity to implement our plan and invest in the new products that will secure our future. We will continue to aggressively reduce costs and manage our cash with absolute discipline to ensure we have the resources to fund our plan going forward.”
In addition, Ford said it will continue working with a number of governments around the world to maximize the availability of funding to provide further protection against the uncertain economic environment that the entire automotive industry is facing.
THIRD QUARTER 2008 HIGHLIGHTS
AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR
Automotive Sector* |
Third Quarter |
First Nine Months |
||
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
|
Wholesales (000) |
1,174 |
(313) |
4,266 |
(644) |
Revenue (Bils.) |
$ 27.8 |
$ (8.5) |
$ 96.9 |
$ (18.1) |
Pre-Tax Results (Mils.) |
$ (2,906) |
$ (2,544) |
$ (2,924) |
$ (2,715) |
*excludes special items |
For the third quarter of 2008, Ford’s worldwide Automotive sector reported a pre-tax loss of $2.9 billion, compared with a pre-tax loss of $362 million during the same period a year ago.
The deterioration was due to lower volume and unfavorable mix, particularly for North America and Volvo, unfavorable net interest expense and related fair-market value adjustments, and lower net pricing, partly offset by favorable cost changes.
Worldwide Automotive revenue in the third quarter was $27.8 billion, down from $36.3 billion a year ago. The decline reflected lower volume, the sale of Jaguar Land Rover, unfavorable product mix and lower net pricing, partly offset by favorable changes in currency exchange rates.
Total vehicle wholesales in the third quarter were 1,174,000, compared with 1,487,000 units a year ago.
North America: For the third quarter, Ford North America reported a pre-tax loss of $2.6 billion, compared with a loss of $1 billion a year ago. The decline reflected unfavorable volume and mix, and unfavorable net pricing, partly offset by cost changes. Unfavorable volume and mix primarily reflected a decline in the U.S. industry volumes, changing product mix, lower dealer stocks and lower market share. Third quarter revenue was $10.8 billion, down from $16.7 billion a year ago.
South America: For the third quarter, Ford South America reported a pre-tax profit of $480 million, compared with $386 million a year ago. The increase reflected higher net pricing, favorable volume and mix, and favorable changes in currency exchange rates, partly offset by higher net product costs. Third quarter revenue was $2.7 billion, up from $2.1 billion a year ago.
Europe: For the third quarter, Ford Europe reported a pre-tax profit of $69 million, compared with $293 million a year ago. The decline was primarily due to unfavorable cost changes (unfavorable mark-to-market adjustments for commodity hedges) and currency exchange, partly offset by net pricing. Third quarter revenue was $9.7 billion, up from $8.3 billion a year ago.
Volvo: For the third quarter, Volvo reported a pre-tax loss of $458 million, compared with a loss of $167 million a year ago. The decline was due to unfavorable volume and mix. Third quarter revenue was $2.9 billion, down from $3.8 billion a year ago. As part of its restructuring, Volvo plans a total reduction of 6,000 employees worldwide, including 1,200 agency employees.
Asia Pacific and Africa: For the third quarter, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa’s pre-tax profit of $4 million compares with $30 million a year ago. The decline was due to unfavorable volume and mix, partly offset by favorable net pricing. Third quarter revenue was $1.7 billion, down from $1.8 billion a year ago.
Mazda: Ford lost $1 million from its investment in Mazda and associated operations in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $14 million a year ago.
Other Automotive: Other Automotive, which consists primarily of interest and financing-related costs, reported a third quarter pre-tax loss of $411 million. This included net interest expense of $440 million.
FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
Financial Services Sector* |
Third Quarter |
First Nine Months |
||
(in millions) |
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
2008 |
O/(U) 2007 |
Ford Credit Pre-Tax Results |
$ 161 |
$ (385) |
$ (100) |
$ (1,053) |
Other Financial Services |
( 2) |
(12) |
(11) |
(13) |
Financial Services Pre-Tax Results |
$ 159 |
$ (397) |
$ ( 111) |
$ (1,066) |
*excludes special items |
For the third quarter, the Financial Services sector reported a pre-tax profit of $159 million, compared with $556 million a year ago.
Ford Motor Credit Company: Ford Credit reported a pre-tax profit of $161 million in the third quarter, compared with $546 million a year ago. The decline primarily reflected the non-recurrence of net gains related to market valuation adjustments from derivatives, a higher provision for credit losses, and lower volume, partly offset by a higher financing margin.
OUTLOOK
Ford said it is more focused than ever on implementing its transformation plan to respond to the significant challenges presented by the continued global economic downturn. Ford’s plan includes:
“These are challenging and historic times for the global automotive industry, but I am more convinced than ever that Ford has the right plan to see us through,” Mulally said. “Ford remains well positioned to take advantage of our global scale and global product strengths worldwide, and we will continue to take the decisive steps necessary to operate through the current downturn and be in a position to begin to grow profitably again as the global economy rebounds.”
Ford said its plan to deliver more of the safe, affordable, high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles that consumers want and value remains solidly in place. The plan includes:
To support new product investments and offset continued industry weakness, Ford is implementing actions to improve Automotive cash by a total of $14 billion to $17 billion through 2010.
The actions include:
Ford’s actions are based on the expectation that the global auto industry downturn will be deeper, broader and longer than was previously assumed. Industry volumes next year are expected to decline compared with 2008 levels. Ford said it will continue to adjust its production in line with the lower demand.
Ford’s 2008 planning assumptions regarding the industry, operating metrics and profit outlook are as follows:
Planning Assumptions |
Full-Year Plan |
|
First Nine Months |
|
Full-Year Outlook |
Industry Volume (SAAR): |
|||||
–U.S. (million units)* |
16.0 |
14.4 |
13.7 |
||
–Europe (million units)** |
17.6 |
17.2 |
16.7 |
||
Operational Metrics |
|
|
|
|
|
Compared with 2007: |
|||||
. --Quality |
Improve |
Improved |
On Track |
||
--Automotive Costs*** |
Improve by about $3 Billion |
$3 Billion |
About $4 Billion |
||
Absolute Amount: |
|||||
. --U.S. Market Share (Ford Lincoln Mercury) |
Low End of 14% - 15% Range |
14% |
High 13% |
||
. --Operating-Related Cash Flow |
Negative |
$(12.3) Billion**** |
Greater Outflow |
||
. --Capital Spending |
About $6 Billion |
$4.7 Billion |
On Track |
||
2008 Operating and Overall Results Will be Worse Than 2007 |
|||||
* Includes medium and heavy trucks |
|||||
** European 19 markets that we track |
|||||
*** At constant volume, mix and exchange; excludes special items |
|||||
**** See tables at end for reconciliation to GAAP |
Ford’s production volumes are shown below:
2008 Production Volumes |
Actual |
Forecast |
||
Third Quarter |
Fourth Quarter |
|||
Units |
O/(U) |
Units |
O/(U) |
|
|
|
|
||
Ford North America |
418 |
(219) |
430 |
(211) |
Ford Europe |
394 |
(22) |
400 |
(89) |
Volvo |
72 |
(21) |
77 |
(40) |
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] releases its third quarter 2008 financial results at 7 a.m. EST today. The following briefings will be conducted after the announcement:
At 9 a.m. EST, Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer, and Lewis Booth, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will host a call for the investment community and news media to discuss third quarter results.
At 11 a.m. EST, Peter Daniel, Ford senior vice president and controller, Neil Schloss, Ford vice president and treasurer, and K.R. Kent, Ford Motor Credit Company vice chairman and chief financial officer, will host a conference call for fixed income analysts and investors.
The presentations (listen-only) and supporting materials will be available on the Internet at www.shareholder.ford.com. Representatives of the news media and the investment community participating by teleconference will have the opportunity to ask questions following the presentations.
Access Information – Friday, Nov. 7
Toll Free: 800-573-4754
International: 617-224-4325
Earnings Call: 9 a.m. EST
Earnings Passcode: “Ford Earnings”
Fixed Income: 11 a.m. EST
Fixed Income Passcode: “Ford Fixed Income”
Replays – Available after 2 p.m. the day of the event through Friday, Nov. 14.
www.shareholder.ford.com
Toll Free: 888-286-8010
International: 617-801-6888
Passcodes:
Earnings: 29481628
Fixed Income: 55865600
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 224,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
# # #
+ The financial results discussed herein are presented on a preliminary basis; final data will be included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.
++ Excluding special items. See tables following “Safe Harbor/Risk Factors” for the nature and amount of these special items and reconciliation to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”).
+++ See fifth table following “Safe Harbor/Risk Factors” for a reconciliation of Automotive gross cash to GAAP.
++++ Earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding special items, is calculated on a basis that includes pre-tax profit and provision for taxes and minority interest. See tables following “Safe Harbor/Risk Factors” for the nature and amount of these special items and reconciliation to GAAP.
Safe Harbor/Risk Factors
Statements included herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, forecasts and assumptions by our management and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated, including, without limitation:
We cannot be certain that any expectation, forecast or assumption made by management in preparing forward-looking statements will prove accurate, or that any projection will be realized. It is to be expected that there may be differences between projected and actual results. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of their initial issuance, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For additional discussion of these risks, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our 2007 Form 10-K Report and subsequent Form 10-Q Reports.