Ford posts $8.7 billion loss

By David Bailey and Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford posted a $8.7 billion (4.4 billion pounds) quarterly loss on Thursday as it wrote down the value of truck and SUV operations and cautioned that it did not expect to see a U.S. economic turnaround until 2010.

The loss was deeper than analysts had forecast and sent Ford shares down by 7 percent in premarket trading.

Ford also announced a sweeping realignment of its North American operations intended to reduce its reliance on trucks and SUVs by rolling out a range of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles and converting three truck plants to make cars.

Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair said he was confident Ford had the cash needed to ride out the U.S. downturn. "We're confident that we have enough liquidity to get through," Leclair told reporters.

Ford said it had assumed the U.S. economy would begin to recover by early 2010 despite oil prices that will remain "volatile and high".

Ford's net loss amounted to $3.88 per share, in the second quarter, compared with net income of $750 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding $8 billion of one-time charges, Ford reported a loss of 62 cents per share from continuing operations. Analysts on average expected Ford to report a loss of 25 cents per share excluding one-time items, according to Reuters Estimates.

The items included pre-tax impairment charges of $5.3 billion for Ford North America and $2.1 billion for Ford Motor Credit due to deteriorating economic conditions, primarily due to the shift from large trucks and SUVs.