Ford has performed better than expected in the 1st quarter

New York (awp/afp) – US carmaker Ford posted mixed first-quarter results on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations and its earnings per share, their favorite measure.

“I think it’s a very strong quarter,” commented John Lawler, the group’s finance director, to reporters, highlighting the strong performance of Ford Blue (electric vehicles and hybrids) and Ford Pro (utility vehicles).

On the other hand, Ford Model e (electric cars) experienced a loss in the quarter “due to the drop in prices in the sector”, he explained.

Between January and March, the Dearborn (Michigan) group achieved sales of $42.8 billion (+3% year-on-year) despite a “slight” decrease in the number of vehicles shipped.

It has continued “over the last three years and we plan to do the same in fiscal year 2024,” he said.

Quarterly net profit fell 0.4% to $1.3 billion (1.2 billion Swiss francs today), below the FactSet analyst consensus of $1.77 billion.

But, reported per share and excluding special items, it outperformed at 49 cents, compared to the 43 cents that was expected.

In electronic trading after the New York Stock Exchange closed, Ford shares rose 2.32%.

“With car stocks at record highs and the prevailing high interest rate environment, we believe new car prices will remain under pressure and that promotions and other discounts will increase”, CFRA analysts commented, in hint. , welcoming “conclusive results”.

Fork up

In 2024, the group maintained its pre-tax profit forecast excluding exceptional items of between $10 and $12 billion, noting that it expected to arrive “at the top of the range”.

On the other hand, he was more enthusiastic about the available liquidity flow on a comparable basis: he now counts 6.5 to 7.5 billion dollars, compared to the 6 to 7 billion previously targeted.

The group said it remains confident in its $2 billion cost-cutting plan (raw materials, transportation, production), which should be reflected in the accounts in the second half, executives said during a conference call with analysts.

Ford’s Pro division generated $18 billion in sales, a 36% jump due to higher production of the Super Duty supercharger.

But Ford Blue had an interesting quarter, with a drop in its sales (-13.14% to 21.8 billion dollars) and a drop in sales to dealers, due to the increased production of the 2024 model of the star image F-150. .

Sales of hybrid vehicles increased by 36%, in line with the target of 40% growth for the full year.

Ford Model e branch sales reached just $100 million in the quarter, compared to $700 million a year earlier. It had risen to 1.8 billion in the second and third quarters, before falling slightly to 1.6 billion in the fourth quarter.

It posted a pre-tax loss of $1.3 billion for the quarter.

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