Ford reports smaller loss of $380 million for 3rd-quarter, adjusted results beat Wall Street expectation

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. posted a third-quarter loss of $380 million on Thursday, a vast improvement over its $5.2 billion loss a year earlier.

The latest results beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose more than 3 percent in premarket trading.

But it was a worse performance than the $750 million profit Ford reported for its second quarter, its first profitable quarter in two years.

The overall net loss amounted to 19 cents per share for the July-September period in contrast to a loss of $2.79 per share in the third quarter of last year.

Much of the loss was attributed to $350 million in special items, including an offer to exchange preferred securities and personnel reduction costs in Europe and with its Premier Automotive Group, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo.

The struggling automaker also reported a $1 billion pretax loss on its home turf, North America, but that was an improvement over the $2.1 billion it lost in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose to $41.1 billion from $37.1 bilion a year earlier.

Ford also said it expects to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover units early next year, and it said it has completed a review of Volvo and plans to improve its financial performance.

Without special items, the company lost $24 million, or 1 cent per share, for the quarter. That far surpassed Wall Street's expectations. Fifteen analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to lose 46 cents per share excluding special items.

Its shares rose 30 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $8.52 in premarket trading.

Ford said it has shed 33,600 hourly workers and 10,600 salaried workers since the end of 2005 as part of its restructuring plan. The reductions include factories in a holding company awaiting sale or closure and came mainly from buyouts and early retirement offers. Excluding the holding company, Ford said it is ahead of its plan to reduce the size of its work force.

"Our third-quarter performance is very encouraging," President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally said in a statement. "We can see our plan taking hold with significant improvement continuing in our core automotive operations."

Ford's financial services arm and operations in South America and Europe reported strong performances, helping to offset losses in North America and in the Premier Automotive Group.