It is the first good news for the "Corporate America" for two years. The surprise, the American manufacturer Ford yesterday released positive operating income of $ 1.1 billion and a net profit of 997 million for the third quarter (against a net loss of 161 million dollars a year earlier). In addition, he announced his intention to raise at least 3 billion, through an increase in capital up to 1 billion and a bond of at least $ 2 billion.
It is the first time since the first quarter of 2008 as the constructor in the blue oval, the only one of the "big three" to avoid temporary bankruptcy proceedings, makes a profit before tax and especially the first time in four years that it has a positive margin (357 million dollars) in North America. Even if it is an encouraging signal for the constructor of Dearborn (Michigan), it is however still far from having overcome all difficulties in view of its cumulative debt of 26.9 billion dollars and its increasingly tense relations with trade unions.
"Our third quarter results show that Ford made considerable progress despite a crisis of the global economy", said Ford's CEO Alan Mulally yesterday.The Group yesterday announced an operating income of 26 cents per share (excluding exceptional items), against a forecast of loss of 12 cents per share forecast by analysts. In the second quarter, Ford had already recorded an exceptional result positive for $ 2.3 billion, but essentially linked to the restructuring of its debt. Despite a decline in quarterly sales $ 800 million, Ford reported a positive cash flow for the first time since the second quarter of 2007 and yesterday revised upward its annual results for 2011 forecasts when it provided until then to reach equilibrium.
The "more reliable" constructor
"We now anticipate a return to a solid result and a positive cash flow for 2011", said the Financial Director of Ford, Lewis Booth."Feat" significant to the constructor of Detroit who had cumulative loss cumulative three-year $ 30 billion.
Behind the rally of the Ford results, there are purely situational factors, but also the fruits of a positioning differentiated from its major rivals GM and Chrysler. The Group clearly benefited in full from the U.S. program of premium case, which has spiked sales by 17 in August and has particularly benefited the Focus and Escape models. But the manufacturer also won an operating profit of $ 193 million in Europe, an increase of 180 over a year, despite a decline of 22 of its sales. A priori, Ford has "psychological benefit" status of single constructor American to have escaped the collective Chapter 11 proceedings. According to a recent survey of the magazine "Consumer Reports", Ford is now considered the "most reliable" constructor, some of its models like the Ford Fusion or the Mercury Milan with superior performance to those of Toyota and Honda models. According to CNW Marketing Research, Ford would thus gained 5 points of market share in the third quarter, while GM and Chrysler are still in decline.
Despite these encouraging signals, unlike its competitors, Ford remains handicapped by the weight of its debt, which increased again $ 800 million in the last quarter. In addition, the constructor came under a failure, this weekend, in attempting to obtain his workers of concessions similar to those available to GM and Chrysler.
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