Ford results top estimates, points to strong cash position

NEW YORK: Ford reported better-than-expected results Thursday despite the hit from COVID-19 and the carmaker said it had enough cash on hand to survive the coronavirus crisis.

The US auto giant, which shuttered some factories due to the pandemic and saw overall car sales fall sharply, reported an operational loss of $1.9 billion in the second quarter, much lower than the $5 billion loss projected in April.

Even though factories were idled for six weeks, Ford said it picked up retail market share in North America for its top-selling F-150 pickup trucks as well as a strong performance from other large vehicles.

Ford reported net profits of $148 million boosted by a one-time gain of $3.5 billion following Volkswagen's investment in an autonomous vehicle joint venture, called Argo AI.

Revenues fell about 50 percent to $19.4 billion.

Ford also amassed almost $40 billion in liquidity following a large bond offering in the second quarter. That should allow the car company to maintain $20 billion in cash "even if global demand declines or there is another major wave of pandemic-related closures," the company said.

Shares in the automaker rose 2.2 percent to $6.90 in after-hours trading.