Reuters reports Ford fourth-quarter loss

Reuters is reporting that Ford Motor Co posted a sharply narrower fourth-quarter loss on Thursday after cutting costs and boosting margins on vehicles and said it expects a net loss for the full year 2008.
Ford, which has struggled with declining sales and sliding market share in the United States, said it would take further cost-cutting actions, including offering buyouts to all of its unionized work force.
Ford reported a fourth-quarter net loss of US$2.75 billion, or US$1.30 per share, compared with a loss of US$5.63 billion, or US$2.98 per share, a year earlier.
The loss from continuing operations, excluding one-time items, was 20 cents a share. On that basis, analysts expected a loss of 19 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Fourth-quarter revenue came in at US$44.1 billion, up from US$40.3 billion a year earlier.
“Although our automotive operations are improving on a year-over-year basis, the U.S. economy is slowing and the outlook for the auto industry remains challenging,” Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said in a statement.
U.S. auto sales fell for the second consecutive year in 2007 and the consensus view among Wall Street analysts and high-profile investors points to a further decline this year.