福特三季度盈利10亿美元

　　Ford yesterday offered a rare ray of hope for a car industry in the doldrums by reporting that it had made a $1bn profit in the third quarter.
　　福特(Ford)昨天宣布，第三季度盈利10亿美元。这一消息为低迷的汽车行业带来了一缕罕见的希望之光。

　　The carmaker also reported its North American arm returning to profitability after four-and-a-half years and raised its official view on its outlook, saying it was on course to be “solidly profitable” by 2011.
　　这家汽车制造商同时还宣布，其北美业务在四年半之后再度实现盈利，同时上调了前景预测，宣称到2011年公司将“实现稳健赢利”。

　　Ford, the only one of the US's “big three” carmakers to avoid bankruptcy this year, was boosted by cost-cutting, increased market share and government-sponsored incentives such as the “cash for clunkers” programme in the US.
　　福特是今年美国汽车制造商“三巨头”中唯一一家避免了破产命运的公司，其业绩受到了多重因素推动，比如削减成本、市场份额增加和各国政府实施的激励政策——如美国的“旧车换现金计划”(cash for clunkers)。

　　Ford's net income in the quarter was $997m or 29 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $161m or 7 cents per share in the same period last year. Analysts had expected on average that the company would post a loss of 13 cents per share.
　　福特本季度净利润9.97亿美元，合每股盈利29美分，而去年同期为净亏损1.61亿美元，合每股亏损7美分。此前分析师的平均预测为该公司将每股亏损13美分。

　　It reported its first pre-tax operating profit – $1.1bn – since the first quarter of 2008. That was largely driven by the performance of Ford North America, which posted its first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2005, with a pre-tax operating profit of $357m, compared with a loss of $2.6bn a year ago.
　　福特宣布，当季税前营业利润为11亿美元，这是自2008年第一季度以来首次盈利。在很大程度上这要归功于北美福特的业绩，后者自2005年第一季度以来首次实现季度盈利，税前营业利润达到3.57亿美元，而去年同期为亏损26亿美元。

　　Ford's expectation that it would be “solidly profitable” by 2011 upgraded its prior statement that it would “break even or better” by that year. However, Alan Mulally, president and chief executive, said the outlook for next year was much more doubtful. “We're just not sure about the strength of the recovery,” he said.
　　福特预计到2011年公司将“实现稳健赢利”，而之前公司的预期则是“盈亏持平或略有盈利”。但福特总裁兼首席执行官艾伦•穆拉利(Alan Mulally)表示，明年公司的前景比较值得怀疑。“我们完全无法肯定经济复苏的力度有多大，”他说。
　　
　　译者/功文