Ford Earns Record $1.16 Billion in Last Quarter, Beats GM

Ford Motor Co. said today that it earned a record $1.16 billion during the final three months of last year and an industry record $5.3 billion for all of 1988, out-earning much larger General Motors Corp. for the third-straight year.

Ford’s record fourth-quarter earnings extended to 11 the number of three-month periods that Ford has had record quarterly profits.

The quarterly earnings were up 24.2% from 1987’s fourth quarter. Annual earnings for the nation’s No. 2 auto maker rose 14.5% over the $4.63 billion Ford earned in 1987.

General Motors Corp. reported Tuesday that it earned $4.86 billion in 1988, and Chrysler reported earlier that it made $1.05 billion last year. Ford’s earnings pushed 1988 profits for the Big Three to $11.21 billion, breaking the companies’ combined annual earnings record of $9.79 billion set in 1984.

Ford’s fourth-quarter earnings, which worked out to $2.42 a share, came on sales of $23.91 billion. During the same period last year, Ford earned $932 million, or $1.87 a share, on sales of $20.99 billion.

For the year, earnings came to $10.96 a share, compared with $9.05 a share on profits of $4.63 billion in 1987.

Ford said its overseas operations earned a record $2.1 billion in 1988, compared with earnings of $1 billion in 1987.

But its U.S. automotive profits fell to $2.5 billion from $2.75 billion in 1987. Earnings also declined at Ford’s financial services unit, which had a net profit of $691 million, versus $857 million in 1987.

The auto maker said its U.S. automotive profits declined because of higher product and marketing costs, as well as a less favorable product mix. However, Ford said it improved its U.S. market share in 1988 and continued to increase its manufacturing efficiency.

Ford in 1988 saw its share of the U.S. car market increase to 21.7%, the highest for the auto maker in 10 years, and 1.5 percentage points up from 1987. Ford’s truck share gained only slightly, but its F-series truck was the highest-selling vehicle--car or truck--in the United States.

Ford said profit-sharing figures, which are based on its performance in the United States, will be announced Friday. Last year, the company issued $635 million in profit-sharing checks, about $3,700 per employee.

Ford’s board of directors in January announced a 25% increase in the auto maker’s dividend from 60 cents to 75 cents a share.