Ford Motor Company reported its seventh straight quarterly profit and reported 2010 net income of $6.6 billion, or $1.66 per share, an increase of $3.8 billion, or 80 cents per share, from 2009. According to Ford’s press release, this was the company's highest net income in more than 10 years, as strong products and new investments fueled improvements in all of the company’s business operations around the world.
Overall, Ford’s financial performance for the year is good, but expectations are key when communicating with financial analysts. The $6.6 billion number fell short of some analysts’ projections. Fourth quarter net income was $190 million, which is down from $886 million for the same period the previous year. And the company posted an unexpected fourth quarter loss in Europe. In the fourth quarter, Europe reported a pre-tax operating loss of $51 million, compared with a profit of $253 million a year ago.
The company’s stock price dropped approximately 10 percent by mid Friday afternoon following the year-end financial results.
Ford Motor Credit Company reported a pre-tax operating profit for 2010 of $3.1 billion, compared with a profit of $2 billion a year ago.
Production plans and profit sharing
Ford also announced they are raising first quarter 2011 production plans by 15,000 vehicles. Ford is preparing to pay profit sharing to 46,000 eligible hourly employees in March. The average payout could be $5,000.00. Salaried employees will also receive a profit sharing payout, based on a separate formula keyed to financial and other metrics.
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