Ford Motor Co. is moving work across the border – to the United States from Mexico. The No. 2 automaker announced Thursday that it was consolidating North American production of its Focus subcompacts at its Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant. Most Focus models have been assembled at the suburban Detroit plant since the car’s debut in 2000. Starting in 2005, Ford said, the ZX3 and ZX5 models now built in Hermosillo, Mexico, also will be built at Wayne. Ford will spend $240 million over the next four years to install new tooling and make other accommodations for Focus production at the 51-year-old plant, whose past products have included the Edsel and Ford Granada.
The surging euro set another all-time high against the U.S. dollar Friday for the sixth day in a row, hitting $1.2169 as the shared European currency extended a sharp rally that has seen it rise more than 15 percent against the greenback this year. The euro passed the old all-time high of $1.2158 from Thursday after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data led to more dollar selling. It was the sixth straight business-day trading session in which a new high was reached, going back to Nov. 28.
Kmart Holding Corp.’s third-quarter loss narrowed to $23 million, but sales fell sharply for the retailer, which has struggled since emerging from bankruptcy in May. Kmart said Friday it lost 26 cents a share in the quarter ended Oct. 29. Its predecessor company, Kmart Corp., lost $383 million, or 76 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Sales tumbled 21.2 percent to $5 billion from $6.45 billion a year earlier. On a same-store basis, which compares results from stores open at least a year and is considered the best measure of a retailer’s health, sales fell 8.6 percent. Kmart attributed the decrease in same-store sales to several companywide promotional events held in the third quarter of 2002 and the reduction of midweek advertising circulars this year.
Albertsons Inc. reported a 51 percent decline in third-quarter profit on Friday as the strike by Southern California grocery workers siphoned an estimated $132 million from revenue in just the last 19 days of October. The nation’s second-largest food and drug retailer said net income totaled $92 million, or 25 cents a share in the three months ended Oct. 30, compared with $188 million, or 47 cents a share, in the same period in 2002. Sales rose to $8.8 billion from $8.66 billion for the same period a year ago. The performance fell far below expectations on Wall Street, where analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call anticipated earnings of 37 cents a share.
From Herald news services
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