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Ford has warned of a profit hit of up to $2bn from a fire at an aluminium supplier’s plant in New York, prompting a downgrade in its annual guidance.
The September 16 fire at the plant operated by Novelis has shut down production of aluminium sheets that are widely used by the car industry in the US, including by Ford and Stellantis.
On Thursday, Ford said it expects an adjusted operating profit of $6bn-$6.5bn for the full year, compared with its earlier target range of $6.5bn-$7.5bn. The downgraded forecast included up to $1bn in net tariff impact, which was smaller than the $2bn net hit it projected in July.
Chief financial officer Sherry House said the company would have raised its guidance if not for the cost impact from the Novelis plant fire.
The carmaker said it would add 1,000 jobs across plants in Michigan and Kentucky to increase output of F-series trucks by more than 50,000 vehicles next year to recover production losses caused by the fire.
For the September quarter, Ford reported net income of $2.4bn on a 9 per cent increase in revenue to a record $50.5bn.
Ford’s adjusted earnings of $2.6bn before interest and tax was flat year-on-year, but higher than the average analyst estimate for $2bn, according to Visible Alpha. For the quarter, it booked a tariff impact of $700mn.