Ford Motors today reported its biggest quarterly loss in over four years as it took $2.5 billion in pre-tax charges for jobs cuts and plant closings at the start of a massive restructuring effort.
Ford, which is closing 14 plants and cutting up to 30,000 factory jobs in North America, posted a first-quarter net loss of $1.19 billion, or 64 cents per share, compared with a profit of $1.21 billion, or 60 cents per share, a year ago.
The loss was Ford's largest since the fourth quarter of 2001, when it posted a $5 billion loss on charges for an earlier restructuring when chief executive Bill Ford Jr. began his tenure at the helm of the company his great grandfather founded.
Revenue from auto sales fell 6 per cent, reflecting incentives and discounts to lure customers to show rooms and lower-margin sales to commercial fleets and car rental companies. Shares fell 3 per cent in pre-market trading.
Shares of Ford slipped to $7.85 in trading before the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, down from a Thursday close of $7.95.
Earnings from continuing operations were 24 cents per share.
One-time charges reduced earnings by 88 cents per share in the first quarter, or $1.65 billion on an after-tax basis.
Revenue fell 9 per cent to $41.1 billion from $45.1 billion. The quarterly results were Ford's first since the automaker announced its restructuring plan, which is designed to restore profitability in Ford's core North American automotive operations by 2008.