News In Brief
| Dearborn, Mich.
'83 profit at Ford called biggest US turnaround
Ford Motor Company announced Monday it made $1.87 billion in 1983, its first annual profit after three straight years of losses totaling $3 billion. The profit amounts to $10.29 a share, reflecting the 3-for-2 stock split in the fourth quarter, and compares with a $658 million loss, or $3.64 a share, in 1982.
''Ford's 1983 profit improvement of $2.5 billion represents the largest one-year turnaround from a loss position in US corporate history,'' said Philip Caldwell, Ford's president and chief executive officer.
''This achievement was made possible by a combination of higher industry sales, a strong reception of our new cars and trucks, and the cumulative effect of several years of productivity improvements and restructuring actions.''
In the fourth quarter of 1983, Ford's profit was $781 million, or $4.28 a share, an improvement of $1 billion from a loss of $236 million, or $1.30 a share, in the same period a year earlier.
