Ford Motor Co.’s share price down, posts a 39% decline in its first-quarter net income

The second-biggest auto-manufacturer in the U.S. – Ford Motor Co. – made an official statement on Friday, announcing that its net income for the first quarter of the current financial year declined by 39% to 989 million dollars in comparison to the results posted for the same period in 2013.

According to the companys statement, its revenue increased from 35.6 to 35.9 billion dollars, and its wholesale deliveries rose by 6% and reached 1.6 million dollars. The first-quarter pretax profit of Ford Motor Co. was reported to have decreased by 36% and reached 1.38 billion dollars, which is a lower result than the analysts initial forecasts.

The company reported that its sales in China rose by 45% during the first quarter. The pretax profit of Ford in the Asian region was 291 million dollars. The results are due to the increased and stable demand for its pickup trucks in the region. The company also managed to narrow its losses on the European market, reducing it from 425 to 194 million dollars. However, its pretax losses in South America rose from 218 to 510 million dollars.

As reported by Bloomberg, the Ford Motor Co. said in its statement: “It is unusual for items like these to occur in this magnitude in the same quarter.”

Currently, the company has focused on launching a number of new models worldwide. It is reported to be introducing 16 models in North America and 23 new vehicles in the rest of the world. Moreover, motivated by its investors concerns on the profit decline, Ford Motor Co. has promised to post improved earnings in 2015.

As reported by Bloomberg, one of the fund managers, who work for Oppenheimer Funds Inc. – Mr. Michael Levine commented the situation: “We’re a little surprised at the magnitude of the hit in 2014 from all the product transitions going on, but when you look out at 2015, they’re very well positioned. We’re very excited about the future, but clearly the next few quarters could be messy.”

Ford Motor Co. lost 3.31% up to close at 15.78 dollars per share on Friday, marking a one-year change of +15.44%. According to the information posted on CNN Money, the 16 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Ford Motor Co. have a median target of 18.00, with a high estimate of 22.00 and a low estimate of 12.00. The median estimate represents a +10.29% increase from the last price of 16.32.