F Ford Motor Company

By Christina Rogers 

Ford Motor Co. swung to a net loss of $800 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, as special charges related to its pension plans and the cancellation of a plant in Mexico overshadowed strong operating results in North America and improving profitability in Europe.

Revenue for the just-ended quarter fell 4% to $38.7 billion on lower global wholesales, including in North America where U.S. sales declined 2% during the period.

Ford on Thursday reported fourth-quarter operating profits of $2.1 billion, down 20% from the same period in 2015.

Adjusted earnings per share was 30 cents in the fourth quarter, a 1-cent miss from Wall Street expectations of 31 cents a share.

Full-year operating results were $10.4 billion in 2016, slightly ahead of guidance and the auto maker's second best pretax profit in history.

Company executives had hoped to deliver another record year in 2016, but in September, Ford cut full-year guidance after announcing it would take a $600 million charge related to an expanded safety recall.

Ford's full-year net income of $4.6 billion, down 60% over the prior-year, was dented by a hefty $3 billion special-item charge booked in the fourth-quarter related to a remeasurement of the assets and obligations in the Ford's retiree-benefit plans. Ford took another $200 million charge in the same quarter on the cancellation of its assembly plant in Mexico, which it started constructing this summer.

Write to Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2017 08:31 ET (13:31 GMT)

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