Ford Motor Co. late Thursday reported a $2 billion loss for the year and mixed quarterly results, blaming “deeply entrenched” shortcomings around costs and systems that put the brakes on its transformation. “I’ll start by addressing the obvious. Our fourth-quarter and full-year financial performance last year fell short of our potential,” Chief Executive Jim Farley said in a post-results conference call. “To say I’m frustrated is an understatement, because the year could have been so much more for us at Ford.”
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earned $1.3 billion, or 32 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $12.3 billion, or $3.03 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 51 cents a share. Revenue rose 17% to $44 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Ford to report adjusted earnings of 62 cents a share on sales of $41.4 billion. Ford stock fell more than 6% in extended trading after the results. It ended the regular trading day up 3.8%. “We have deeply entrenched issues in our industrial system that have proven tough to root out,” Farley said. Ford announced its reorganization last March, also setting up businesses for its legacy conventionally-powered vehicles and for its vans and other commercial vehicles. As wit …