Word: fording
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...many years, Ford Motor Co. was considered the sickest of Detroit's car manufacturers. But conventional wisdom was stood on its head last fall when Ford parted company with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC by forgoing federal help during the most perilous times for automakers...
...that crisis, GM and Chrysler had received a total of $64 billion, while Ford got nothing - though like other automakers, it is receiving federal aid to develop green technologies. (Read "Ford Family Values: Why the Automaker Wants to Go It Alone...
...nine months later, Ford appears to be well along on the road to recovery and in many ways is in a stronger position than its longtime rival GM. While Ford's senior executives say the company won't reach sustained profitability until 2011, the company surprised analysts by posting net income of $2.3 billion in the second quarter and followed that with healthy sales increases in July and August thanks to an assist from the federal cash-for-clunkers program. For its next sales boost, Ford is counting on a marketing blitz, which will be well in evidence...
Wall Street is growing more optimistic: Moody's Investor Services recently raised the company's credit rating two notches, to Caa1, its first upgrade in 14 years. "The rating actions reflect Moody's belief that after a period of intensive restructuring of its operations and balance sheet, Ford's business viability has significantly improved," Moody's report notes...
...Conway, a turnaround expert with the firm Conway and McKenzie in Birmingham, Mich., says Ford's $26 billion debt could still prove troublesome, and hefty interest payments will cut into the company's ongoing profitability. But one antidote to heavy debt is a healthy stock price, which Ford increasingly enjoys. The stock is up from about a buck last November to a recent price of $7.30 per share, and in May, Ford was able to raise $1.6 billion through a common-stock offering of 345 million shares. GM, by contrast, is hoping to do an IPO next year. (Read "Despite...