Boston, MA 12/20/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s shares continued their downward march on Thursday also. The shares declined by 2.24% to close at $15.30.
Weak 2014 Guidance
The company has said that pretax earnings could decrease in 2014. There are several reasons for these. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is planning new launches of at least 16 versions in 2014 for the North American market. This could impact the top-line as well as bottom lin. Revenues could be hurt as older models are sold at a discount to liquidate inventories. Higher spending will be required for the new launches. The positive impact will be seen only in 2015, as per the company’s expectations.
The weak European and South American markets are also a cause of worry. Europe has seen a very lean season with volumes so low that they were last seen decades ago. Ford does not expect the situation to improve drastically in 2014 also. South America, particularly Venezuela, also are facing difficult macroeconomic conditions, these are expected to continue in 2014. A weaker Yen has made imports of small cars and sports utility vehicles from Japan very competitive. Ford is already accelerating restructuring as a means to reduce costs. It is increasing spending in North America by increasing workers by 5,000 but cutting down on expenses elsewhere.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) expects to report pretax profits of $7-8 billion for the fiscal 2014 as against $8.5 billion expected for the current fiscal 2013.
Ford to exit Australian manufacturing
An important decision taken by Ford is to close down its manufacturing facilities in Australia. Volumes and a very competitive atmosphere in Australia are main reasons. The market leader is Toyota with a 19% market share but General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) with more than 10% market share only manages to sell 82,000 units here. Manufacturing in Australia does not make economic sense on account of such low numbers, in spite of a generous incentive program by the Australian government. General Motors is also following the path of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and closing down its manufacturing activities here.
