F Ford Motor Company

By Joshua Jamerson 

Ford Motor Co., coming off one of its most profitable periods in history thanks to higher demand in the U.S., said earnings will take a hit this year as it continues to pour money into new projects such as fully-driverless cars.

The No. 2 U.S. auto maker said Thursday it expects adjusted pretax profit to be about $9 billion in 2017, down from $10.4 billion in 2016. The decrease would be "driven by our planned investments in emerging opportunities," but those investments would help the bottom line improve in 2018, the company said. Ford isn't planning to share annual guidance for net income on a non-adjusted basis.

The company made the disclosure in a securities filing Thursday ahead of a talk hosted by Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer.

Ford also expects per-share earnings of 30 to 35 cents for the first quarter, compared with the 68 cents it earned in the 2016 period. Fluctuations in commodity prices, lower sales volumes and foreign exchange headwinds, in addition to the business investments, are expected to dent earnings. Analysts, polled by Thomson Reuters, expected 47 cents a share in earnings for the quarter.

Ford stock edged down 1.4% to $11.59 in early trading Thursday.

Benefiting from two consecutive years of record U.S. car and truck demand, company executives had signaled that 2017 will be a year of transition, marked by a heavy investment in new technologies that will help the company expand beyond its core auto-making business and enter new transportation-related services.

Ford wants to release a fully driverless car for ride-sharing, without a steering wheel or pedals, in 2021.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)

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