Ford posts $2 billion loss in the first quarter

Ford has posted a $2 billion first-quarter net loss and worryingly its second-quarter loss could be more than double to over $5 billion as the coronavirus pandemic depresses sales and production.

With most of its factories shut down, the carmaker said its revenue from January through March fell nearly 15 per cent to $34.3 billion.

The company lost 23 cents per share and its stock fell about 4.5 per cent in after-market trading.

As of April 24 the company had $35 billion in cash, enough to sustain operations through the end of the year, according to Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone who added they are working with the United Auto Workers union to get factories back up and running.

Before taxes, Ford lost $632 million for the quarter, but had it not been for the virus it would have posted a pretax profit of $1.4 billion or more.