Ford shares ended up little-changed after the auto maker reporteda $5.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring costs.
For the year, the automaker had a loss of $12.7 billion, the largest in its 103-year history.
The annual loss reported Thursday surpassed its previous record for a year of $7.39 billion set in 1992. The 2006 loss amounted to of $6.79 per share versus a profit of $1.44 billion, or 77 cents a share, in 2005.
Ford, which is in the early stages of a turnaround plan that includes closing 16 plants and cutting up to 45,000 jobs in North America, recorded a net loss of $3.05 a share during
the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $74 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago.
The loss from continuing operations was $1.10 cents a share, which was deeper than the average Wall Street analyst expectations of a loss of $1.01 a share, according to Thomson Financial.
The Dearborn-based company expects more losses for this year. It expects to burn up $10 billion in cash on automotive operations through 2009 and spend another $7 billion to invest in new products.