Ford posts $1.1B surprise quarterly profit thanks to VW

Ford on Thursday posted a quarterly income thanks to Volkswagen AG’s investment decision in Ford’s self-driving Argo AI device, which offset a manufacturing shutdown compelled by the coronavirus pandemic as the No. two U.S. automaker said it however expects to post a decline for the comprehensive 12 months.

Excluding the windfall from the investment decision in Pittsburgh-based mostly Argo, Ford posted a decline that was reduced than Wall Road analysts had forecast.

German automaker VW closed its $two.6 billion investment decision in Argo past month.

Ford said it expects a pre-tax income of in between $five hundred million and $1.5 billion for the 3rd quarter and a decline for the fourth quarter, which features a few significant product launches delayed by the coronavirus shutdown before this 12 months.

Ford said on July 27 it repaid $7.7 billion of an superb $fifteen.4 billion on its revolving credit score services, and also extended $4.8 billion of its a few-12 months revolving credit score traces.

The automaker said it has virtually $forty billion in income, and really should be capable to preserve or exceed its focus on income stability of $20 billion for the rest of 2020, even if international auto need falls or if COVID-19 forces an additional key wave of plant closures.

Ford described internet income in the 2nd quarter of $1.1 billion, or 28 cents a share, in contrast with a income of $one hundred million, or 4 cents a share, a 12 months before.

Excluding goods, Ford posted a 2nd-quarter working decline of $1.9 billion, or 35 cents a share. Analysts had envisioned a decline for the quarter of $1.seventeen for each share.