Ford loss widens to 5.8 billion dollars

Ford Motor Co. said on Monday its net loss widened to 5.8 billion U.S. dollars, or 3.08 dollars per share, in the third quarter, the largest quarterly loss in more than 14 years.

Ford's net loss for the July-September period was much larger than the loss of 284 million dollars, or 15 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The company's revenue fell to 36.7 billion dollars in the third quarter, down 10 percent from the same period a year ago.

Excluding restructuring costs, the automaker lost 1.2 billion dollars, or 62 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared to a loss of 191 million dollars, or 10 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The loss including restructuring costs was Ford's largest quarterly loss since a loss of 6.7 billion dollars registered in the first quarter of 1992.

Meanwhile, Ford also said that it plans to restate its earnings for 2001 due to accounting errors involving derivative transactions. The restatement is expected to affect financial results from 2001 until the third quarter of this year.

Source: Xinhua