Ford's 2015 profit jumps on stronger sales

Improving sales in most of the world helped Ford Motor Co. achieve a record pre-tax profit in 2015, and the company says the numbers could go even higher this year. Full-year pretax profit jumped 48 per cent to $US10.8 billion ($A15.33 billion) as its global sales and market share grew.

Ford's US sales reached their highest level in a decade, and its F-Series pickup remained the best-selling vehicle in the US for the 34th straight year. A change in the way Ford accounts for its pension costs also boosted pretax results.

Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer, said 2015 was the 'breakthrough year' Ford promised after it spent heavily in 2014 to build new plants in Asia and bring a new, aluminium-sided F-150 pickup to market in the US. Ford expects this year's pretax profit to be equal or higher.

Last year's results will mean a record profit-sharing cheque of $US9300 ($A13,200) for each of Ford's 53,000 US hourly workers. North America drove Ford's results, with a pretax profit of $US9.3 billion ($A13.2 billion).

But Ford also achieved its highest-ever pretax profit of $US765 million ($A1.09 billion) in its Asia Pacific region and returned to profitability in Europe for the first time since 2011. South America remained weak, but Shanks noted that even in that volatile region, Ford managed to command higher prices.

'We really started to see the international operations start to come forward,' Shanks said. 'That is the real opportunity for Ford going forward.'

Ford's full-year net income jumped to $US7.4 billion ($A10.5 billion). Excluding one-time items, such as $US600 million in employee separation payments, Ford earned $US1.93 per share, beating Wall Street's forecast. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting full-year earnings of $US1.73 per share.

Ford's revenue rose 4 per cent to $US149.6 billion for the year, also beating forecasts. Global sales rose 5 per cent to 6.6 million for the year. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 12 per cent to $US40.3 billion, also beating analysts' expectations.

Ford launched 16 vehicles worldwide last year, down from 24 the year before. New products, like the three-row Edge SUV, helped it achieve record sales of 1.1 million in China.

Fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled to $US1.9 billion. After one-time items, Ford earned 58 cents per share for the quarter, beating Wall Street's forecast of 50 cents.