- Ford expects a pretax loss of about $600 million, excluding $300 million in special items.
- Total revenue for the first quarter is expected to be about $34 billion, down 15.7% from a year ago.
Jim Hackett of Ford Motor speaks at an event during the 2018 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Jan. 14, 2018.Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ford Motor expects to report an adjusted pretax loss of about $600 million for the first quarter as the coronavirus depresses sales and production.
The automaker said Monday that it couldn't yet provide an accurate estimate of its total earnings, but told investors the pretax estimate excludes $300 million in special items.
Ford said total revenue for the first quarter is expected to be about $34 billion, down 15.7% from $40.3 billion a year ago.
Ford shares were down more than 5% during Monday morning trading to $5.10. Shares of the automaker, which last month had its credit rating cut to junk status by credit rating agency S&P Global, are down 44% this year.
As of Thursday, Ford sad it had about $30 billion in cash on its balance sheet, including $15.4 billion of proceeds from borrowings last month against two existing credit lines.
VIDEO3:3203:32Ford issues preliminary first quarter numbers, has 'sufficient cash' on handSquawk on the Street
Ford's first-quarter vehicle wholesales were down 21% compared with a year ago, "largely as a result of lower production and demand related to the coronavirus," according to the company. Currently, only Ford's operations in China, where coronavirus risks developed earlier and are now moderating, are producing and wholesaling vehicles.
"We continue to opportunistically assess all funding options to further strengthen our balance sheet and increase liquidity to optimize our financial flexibility," Ford CFO Tim Stone said in a release. "We also are identifying additional operating actions to enhance our cash position."
Ford is scheduled to report first-quarter results on April 28.
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Source: cnbc.com
