A WSJ.COM News Roundup
DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co. reported a 20% drop in
third-quarter net income as it absorbed the impact of the massive recall
of Firestone tires.
The auto maker on Wednesday posted net
income of $888 million, or 53 cents a share,
compared with $1.11 billion, or 90 cents a
share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose
7.5% to $40.06 billion from $37.28 billion in the
third quarter of last year.
Net from Ford's automotive operations dropped 27% in the latest
quarter to $391 million, taking a hit from the recall of 6.5 million
Firestone tires -- which mainly affected the Ford Explorer sport-utility
vehicle -- and the effects of production cuts related to the recall.
The quarterly results also reflect the spinoff of the company's Visteon
Corp. unit in June. Ford's net for the third quarter of 1999 included
$155 million, or 12 cents a share, from Visteon. Adjusting for Visteon
and Ford's "value-enhancement plan," the company said its earnings in
the latest third quarter were 50 cents a share, matching the
expectations of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.
"Getting our customers onto good tires has been, and continues to be,
more important than short-term profits," Jac Nasser, Ford's president
and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. "This was a difficult
quarter for our customers, our employees, our dealers and our
shareholders, and we are committed to quickly completing the Firestone
tire recall."
World-wide vehicle sales totaled 1.7 million, up 6.3% from 1.6 million
in
the third quarter of 1999. World-wide automotive revenues totaled $33
billion, up $2 billion from the year-earlier period.