Ford Motor Co. reported $572 million in first-quarter earnings Wednesday, with record income in financial services pacing the automaker’s best period since the second quarter of 1990.
Modestly improving U.S. car and truck sales helped the total results, but profits amounted to less than 1 percent of the company’s $26.8 billion in worldwide sales. Ford said it won’t be satisfied until that ratio is 4 to 5 percent. Sales were up $2.2 billion, or 9 percent, from last year.
The $1.02-a-share performance exceeded even the highest of analyst guesses of 80 cents a share.
The performance also was Ford’s best since the second quarter of 1990, when the automaker made $771 million, or $1.67 per share. Recession then led to six consecutive quarterly losses.
At mid-session, investors drove Ford’s stock price up $1.50 to $54.12. Ford Motor Credit, the automaker’s financing arm, earned $315 million, thanks to lower costs for borrowing and because it collected on a greater percentage of bad loans.
“Financial services was obviously the biggest part of the upside surprise,” said Lehman Brothers analyst Joseph Phillippi.
Ford posted a huge turnaround in North American car and truck sales, earning $113 million in the United States, compared with a loss of $59 million in the year-ago quarter. Outside the United States, Ford’s automotive operations earned $63 million, compared with $33 million last year.
