Ford Motor Co. records its worst quarter ever

$8.67 billion loss steers plans for small vehicles

Rocky Staff And Wire Reports

Published July 24, 2008 at 11:48 a.m.
Updated July 24, 2008 at 10:15 p.m.

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Brian Bohannon / Associated Press

Ford Explorers and Sport Trac SUVs roll off a Louisville, Ky., assembly line.

Ford Motor Co. posted the worst quarterly performance in its history Thursday, losing $8.67 billion in the second quarter.

The company also said it will retool two more North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants to build small, fuel- efficient vehicles, and it announced plans to bring six new small vehicles to North America from Europe by the end of 2012.

The net loss includes $8.03 billion of write-offs because of a decline in the value of North American assets and Ford Motor Credit Co.'s lease portfolio. Even excluding those items, Ford lost 62 cents per share, worse than Wall Street expected. Analysts expected a 27-cent loss per share.

Including the write-downs, Ford lost $3.88 per share in the April-June quarter, compared with net profit of $750 million, or 31 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

The second-quarter loss surpassed Ford's previous record quarterly loss, $6.7 billion in the first quarter of 1992.

Second-quarter revenue was $38.6 billion, down $5.6 billion from the year-ago period. Analysts expected $34.6 billion.

NEWMONT MINING CORP., one of the world's largest gold producers, said it turned a profit in the second quarter as it sold more gold at higher prices.

* Net income: $277 million, or 61 cents a share, vs. a net loss of $2.06 billion, or $4.57 a share, a year earlier, when Newmont incurred $2.1 billion of one-time charges on the elimination of its merchant banking business and forward sales contracts.

* Revenue: $1.52 billion, up 19 percent from $1.28 billion a year earlier.

Analysts expected 47 cents a share on revenue of $1.5 billion.

Newmont benefited from a 35 percent increase in the average realized price of gold to $900 an ounce in the most recent quarter from $667 an ounce a year ago.

BALL CORP., the Broomfield-based plastic and metal packaging company, reported its second-quarter profit fell 5.6 percent due in part to higher costs.

* Net income: $100 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with $105.9 million, or $1.03, a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.10, excluding one-time charges of 8 cents each, fell 2 cents a share shy of analyst estimates.

* Revenue: $2.08 billion. Analysts expected $2.09 billion.

JANUS CAPITAL GROUP INC. said second-quarter profit rose 36 percent as investors poured $5 billion into the Denver-based money manager's funds, the most in about eight years, driving up assets and fees.

* Net income: $66.3 million, or 41 cents a share, up 36 percent from $48.8 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a 6-cent gain from a change in Colorado state income taxes, the company beat analyst estimates of 29 cents.

* Revenue: $304.2 million, up 11 percent. Investment management fees increased 8.7 percent to $239.8 million. Operating expenses climbed 11 percent to $199.1 million, driven by higher asset- based distribution costs.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. earned a profit in the second quarter and beat Wall Street expectations by continuing to rely on financial deals that lowered its fuel costs.

But in a nod to high fuel costs and other problems facing the airline industry, growth-oriented Southwest said it might not grow at all next year.

* Net income: $321 million, or 44 cents a share, up 15 percent from a year ago, when the airline earned $278 million, or 36 cents a share. Excluding special items, Dallas- based Southwest said it would have earned $121 million, or 16 cents per share. That beat analyst estimates of 12 cents per share.

* Revenue: $2.87 billion, up 11.2 percent, from $2.58 billion a year earlier.

RAYTHEON CO., the Waltham, Mass.- based defense contractor, said its second-quarter earnings fell sharply because of a big one-time gain the company recorded last year. But it said earnings from continuing operations grew 20 percent on higher sales.

* Net income: $426 million, or $1 a share, down from $1.33 billion, or $2.97 a share, a year earlier. Analysts projected 93 cents a share.

* Revenue: $5.87 billion, up 11 percent from $5.28 billion last year.

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