Ford Projects 3rd-Quarter Loss, Bigger Stock Offer

Ford Motor Co., the nation’s second-largest auto company, disclosed Thursday that it expects to lose about $174 million in the third quarter and warned that the red ink may stretch into the fourth quarter.

The No. 2 auto maker made the estimate, which was in line with analysts’ expectations, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington. In the filing, Ford increased the size of a future offering of preferred stock.

The market shrugged off the news, however, and Ford’s stock rose 25 cents to $39 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The projected loss is narrower than the $574 million that Ford lost in the third quarter of 1991. The earnings would amount to a loss of 36 cents a share versus a loss of $1.20 last year.

Ford also reiterated that losses could extend into the fourth quarter, resulting in a partial offset to first-half earnings of $840.3 million, or $1.53 a share.

The auto industry has been mired in a deep slump, with only third-ranked Chrysler Corp. managing to book a profit in the quarter.

General Motors Corp., the biggest auto maker in the world, said last week that it would lose $845 million in the third quarter, prompting questions about whether its leader, Chairman Robert Stempel, would remain at the helm.

In its filing, Ford said it plans to expand the preferred stock offering to $1.15 billion from $1 billion.

Ford said in a revised prospectus for the offering that it intends to offer 40 million depositary shares at $25 each.