Ford surprises with quarterly profit

The only major US automaker that avoided bankruptcy this year has surprised Wall Street with a quarterly profit.

Ford has also raised its outlook to what it calls “solidly profitable”.

On the opening of Wall Street, the good news sent Ford shares up by 10 percent in premarket trading, but settled back to a rise of just under six percent.

The automaker reported a net profit of 997 million dollars, or 29 cents per share, for the third quarter.

This is compared to a net loss of 161 million dollars, or seven cents a share, the year before.

Ford says the results can be attributed to cost-cutting, improved credit results and increased market share in North America and other key areas.

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tags: Car industry in crisis, Cars, USA