Ford's Fourth-Quarter Profit Jumps 88%

Ford Motor Co. reports net income in last year's fourth quarter of $3 billion compared with $1.6 billion for the same period in 2012, as favorable tax special items made up for lower operating results.

The company's pretax profit fell 24% to $1.3 billion, hurt by a 27% decline to $924 million in pretax results for its automotive operations.

Revenue in October-December grew 4% to $37.6 billion. Worldwide vehicle sales climbed to 1.6 million units from 1.5 million in 2012's fourth quarter on higher industry volume in all regions.

In North America, Ford's quarterly revenue advanced 2% to $22.5 billion. Pretax profit fell 9% to $1.7 billion. Unit volume grew less than 1% to 760,000 vehicles.

In Europe, the company narrowed its fourth-quarter pretax loss to $571 million from $732 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 9% to $7.1 billion, and unit sales declined nearly 3% to 318,000 vehicles.

Ford's results were mixed in other regions. South America posted a pretax loss of $126 million compared with a year-earlier profit of $145 million on higher costs and lower volume. Revenue fell 13% to $2.7 billion, and unit sales dropped 6% to 135,000 units.

The company's Asia-Pacific Africa region's pretax profit more than doubled to $106 million in the fourth quarter. Revenue surged 18% to $3.3 billion, and unit sales jumped 29% to 397,000.

Ford Motor Credit's quarterly pretax profit fell 11% to $368 million because of lower auction values and financing margin and credit loss reserve changes.

For the full year, Ford's earnings climbed 26% to $7.2 billion. Pretax earnings rose 8% to $8.6 billion, one of the company's best years ever. Revenue increased 10% to $146.9 billion.

Ford's automotive pretax earnings jumped 10% to $6.9 billion last year, as vehicle sales increased 12% to 6.3 million units worldwide.

North America pretax profit rose 5.2% to $8.8 billion in 2013. Europe's full-year loss narrowed to $1.6 billion from $1.8 billion. South America posted a $34 million loss compared with a 2012 profit of $213 million. Asia-Pacific Africa recorded a $415 million profit from a 2012 loss of $77 million.

Ford forecasts 2014 industrywide sales volume of 16 million-17 million units in the U.S., 13.5 million-14.5 million in Europe and 22.5 million-24.5 million in China.