Post by officergroyman on Jan 25, 2007 19:49:26 GMT -1
What a way for Ford Motor to kick off a year.
The struggling U.S. automaker today reported that its fourth-quarter 2006 loss totaled $5.8 billion -- yes, that's billion. That translates to a loss of $3.05 per share, worse than the $74 million loss, or 4 cent per-share loss, Ford reported in the same quarter a year ago.
Excluding special items -- mostly from buying out its workers, Ford said its loss would have been $1.10 per share; analysts were expecting a loss of $1.01 per share.
Ford's shares were rising today, however, as the company pledged to narrow losses by the end of 2007. By late morning the stock was up more than 2% at $8.39.
A Mustang a minute
The full-year loss totaled $12.75 billion, the worst in the company's 103-year history. Broken down, the annual losses amount to a loss of a brand-new Ford Mustang convertible (MSRP: $24,100) every single minute.
In fact, any way you look at it, the loss breakdown is pretty ugly:
$34,795,000 per day
$1,450,000 per hour
$24,100 per minute
Previously, Ford's worst loss had been in 1992, when the automaker reported a yearly loss of $7.39 billion.
As of yesterday's close, shares of Ford were down 3% for the year -- although today's gains erased much of the loss. Ford blamed plummeting truck sales, a billion-dollar charge for employee buyouts and a 24% reduction in North American production.
No improvement soon
Ford said it does not expect to see an improvement in the first half of 2007 but did say it expects losses to narrow later in the year.
The struggling U.S. automaker today reported that its fourth-quarter 2006 loss totaled $5.8 billion -- yes, that's billion. That translates to a loss of $3.05 per share, worse than the $74 million loss, or 4 cent per-share loss, Ford reported in the same quarter a year ago.
Excluding special items -- mostly from buying out its workers, Ford said its loss would have been $1.10 per share; analysts were expecting a loss of $1.01 per share.
Ford's shares were rising today, however, as the company pledged to narrow losses by the end of 2007. By late morning the stock was up more than 2% at $8.39.
A Mustang a minute
The full-year loss totaled $12.75 billion, the worst in the company's 103-year history. Broken down, the annual losses amount to a loss of a brand-new Ford Mustang convertible (MSRP: $24,100) every single minute.
In fact, any way you look at it, the loss breakdown is pretty ugly:
$34,795,000 per day
$1,450,000 per hour
$24,100 per minute
Previously, Ford's worst loss had been in 1992, when the automaker reported a yearly loss of $7.39 billion.
As of yesterday's close, shares of Ford were down 3% for the year -- although today's gains erased much of the loss. Ford blamed plummeting truck sales, a billion-dollar charge for employee buyouts and a 24% reduction in North American production.
No improvement soon
Ford said it does not expect to see an improvement in the first half of 2007 but did say it expects losses to narrow later in the year.
