Ford’s second-quarter earnings have beaten analyst expectations, helped by strong truck sales in North America.
Second quarter net income was US$2.0bn, US$100m above the same quarter last year. Total revenue was US$39.9bn (US$0.4bn ahead of last year).
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North America drove profits for the automotive business, though Europe and Asia Pacific regions were also profitable, the company said.
However, Ford said that lower adjusted pre-tax profit reflected higher commodity costs, mainly steel, and unfavourable exchange rates.
Once again, strong results in North America underpinned Ford’s bottom line with pre-tax profit at US$2.2bn. Ford said model mix helped in the US, where the F-Series had its best quarter since 2001, 7% up compared to last year. Transaction prices were also up.
Europe was profitable in the quarter, but profit of US$88m was US$379m down on last year as Ford was hit by Brexit exchange rate effects and launch of the new Fiesta. Ford said it expects Europe to continue to stay profitable, although below 2016 levels.
There was also more sign of turnaround in South America in the second quarter. While Ford posted a loss of US$185m, that result was an US$80m improvement on the same quarter of last year.
In a statement, Jim Hackett, Ford President & CEO, suggested that Ford is focused on improving the business in the future.
“This quarter shows the underlying health of our company with strong products like F-Series and commercial vehicles around the world, but we have opportunity to deliver even more. The entire team is focused on improving the fitness of the business and smartly deploying our capital to improve both the top and bottom lines in the quarters ahead,” he said.
Ford raised its annual profit forecast on the expectation of a lower tax rate.
