Ford Posts Pre-Tax Profits of $6.3 Billion

[ANTAUS]

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2015/01/29/ford-reports-earnings/22513955/

[akirby]

Damned impressive given the number of new product launches and the problems in Europe plus the recalls.

[Biker16]

Hopefully 2015 will be better.

 

Lincoln needs to go Global in 10 years if Ford hope to make sustainable profit anywhere other than North America.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Biker16

[Edstock]

per year

Hopefully 2015 will be better.

 

Lincoln needs to go Global in 10 years if Ford hope to make sustainable profit anywhere other than North America.

 

Currently, about 100,000 Lincolns are sold per year outside the US. Kinda global already.

[akirby]

You don't think Ford can be profitable in China?

[AlRozzi]

"The automaker made a record $589 million in Asia Pacific last year, including $95 million in the fourth quarter, driven by a record 3.5 percent market share there."

 

How much from China?

[theoldwizard]

Damned impressive given the number of new product launches and the problems in Europe plus the recalls.

When Alan Mulally announced cuts in EU a couple of years ago (resulting closing Genk), he said if EU did NOT become profitable by the end of 2015 there will be more cuts. He also said. the "bean counters" would know if this goal was going to be meet in 3Q15 or 4Q15 and that actions, if required, would be announce before the end of the year.

 

It is now up to Mark Fields to follow through.

 

 

RELATED : Don't expect any major changes in Germany for 2 reasons. 1) The German government backs the German unions and they actually believe in "lifetime" employment. 2) The Ford Germany unions gave up a HUGE bonus early in 2014, which make FoE profitable for one quarter last year.

Edited January 30, 2015 by theoldwizard

[theoldwizard]

This other fact will be hard to quantify.

 

Ford pretty much had a US white collar hiring freeze from 2006 through the end of 2013. During that period they lost well over 1/3 of their white collar work force.

 

The flood gates opened in mid/late 2014 and a large number of white collar were hired. I think that there will be more hiring in 2015 This HAS to make an impact on profitability.

Edited January 30, 2015 by theoldwizard

[Biker16]

GM reports higher-than-expected profit despite recall costs

By Bernie Woodall 3 hours ago

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Wednesday posted fourth-quarter earnings far above analysts' expectations as strong sales of high-margin SUVs and trucks in North America helped offset record recall costs there, and its shares rose more than 4 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens told reporters that profitability would improve in all geographic markets in 2015 and that the company was "very much on the path to 10 percent margins (in North America) in 2016."

North American profit margins for 2014 were 6.5 percent. Excluding the additional costs for a record vehicle recall, they would have been 8.9 percent, GM said.

GM said it planned to raise its dividend by 20 percent, a move many shareholders have been pushing the company to do.

Stevens told Reuters that further return of capital to investors could happen later this year, as soon as the company resolves legal issues involving the recall of a defective ignition switch linked to at least 51 deaths.

Excluding special items, the largest U.S. automaker earned $1.19 per share in the quarter, compared with the analysts' average estimate of 83 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income rose to $1.1 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $900 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier.

Without the recall costs, 2014 operating profit of $6.5 billion would have been $2.8 billion higher and net income per share of $1.65 would have been $1.07 higher, GM said.

Once again, North America accounted for almost all of quarterly earnings, which Stevens credited to increased sales of full-sized SUVs and pickup trucks. Profit on these larger vehicles dwarf those of smaller cars.

Operating profit was $2.2 billion for North America, compared with $2.4 billion companywide.

GM will pay annual bonuses of up to $9,000 to each of its U.S.-based United Auto Workers union employees, up from $7,500 a year ago. The 2014 bonus is the highest ever given by the company.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell to $39.6 billion from $40.5 billion and missed analysts' estimates of $40.12 billion.

GM posted a quarterly operating loss of $400 million in Europe, unchanged from a year earlier. Its annual loss in Europe widened to $1.4 billion from $900 million in 2013.

Stevens affirmed GM's expectations of posting a profit in Europe in 2016.

Shares of GM were up 4.2 percent at $35.40 in premarket trading.

(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

[Biker16]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c27a60a-ac51-11e4-9d32-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3QngcdkTK

Toyota heads for record profit on cost-cutting and yen weakness

Andy Sharman in London and Kana Inagaki in Tokyo

Toyota has raised its target for full-year earnings after surging demand in the US eclipsed flagging sales in three of its main operating regions — Japan, Asia and Europe.

The Japanese group, which last week retained its title as the world’s bestselling carmaker, on Wednesday said it expected to generate a record Y2.13tn ($18.1bn) in net profit in the year to the end of this March.

That performance, compared with previous company guidance for net earnings of Y2tn in 2014-15, would mark a second consecutive annual record.

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The bullish forecast came alongside Toyota’s third-quarter results, in which it lowered its fiscal year sales target by 50,000 units to 9m vehicles after trimming forecasts for Europe, Japan and other Asian countries.

Toyota officials said the weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts would help to offset lower sales. The company expects the yen to trade at Y109 per US dollar during 2014-15, compared with its previous assumed rate of Y104.

“We made efforts during the strong-yen era to firmly cut costs and improve per-vehicle profitability,” said Toyota managing officer Takuo Sasaki. “As a result, we have built a leaner structure that does not rely on sales increase and the currency.”

The yen’s retreat versus other currencies, prompted by the Abe administration’s attempts to boost the Japanese economy, has been a boon to the country’s exporting carmakers. Sales in dollars, for instance, translate into more yen earnings.

Fuji Heavy Industries, owner of the Subaru brand, on Wednesday also raised its full-year profit forecast on the back of strong US sales and the weaker yen. Movements in the Japanese currency also helped Mazda offset a plunge in the Russian rouble and keep its profit forecast unchanged.

But Toyota, more reliant on exports than local rivals Honda and Nissan, is particularly well-placed in the rampant US car market. The company’s January sales, for instance, rose 15.6 per cent. The RAV4 and Lexus RX remain two of the most popular compact sport utility vehicles in the American market and Toyota is ramping up production to meet demand.

For the third quarter, Toyota’s net profit rose 14 per cent to Y600bn compared with the same period in 2013, on revenue up 9 per cent to Y7.1tn.

Despite lacklustre sales in Japan and Europe and a comparatively weak position in China, Toyota has maintained healthy operating profit margins, partly because of cost-cutting.

George Galliers, analyst at Evercore ISI, said: “Once more, Toyota continues to demonstrate that it is possible for mass market [manufacturers] to make healthy margins across regions with the correct strategy and approach, plus a little help from FX.”

Additional reporting by Nobuko Juji in Tokyo