Posted by meb at May 21st, 2008

Ford Otomotiv, Ford Motor’s Turkish joint venture, said first-quarter profit more than doubled as exports surged. Net income rose to YTL 167.9 million ($136 million) from YTL 80.8 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 28 percent to YTL 2.02 billion.

Ford Otomotiv, which exports more than 78 percent of its vehicles, benefited from the YTL’s 12 percent loss against the dollar in the quarter as manufacturing costs declined.

The company exported 72,435 vehicles, 32 percent more than a year earlier, and sold 20,000 cars in Turkey, up 28 percent.

“Coupled with strong exports, recovery in domestic sales helped the company better utilize its capacity and sustain an impressive Ebitda margin of 12.9 percent,” Ayşe Çolak, an analyst at Tera Brokers in Istanbul, said in an investors note.Still, Ekpres Invest downgraded Ford Otosan to “market perform” from “market out-perform,” saying domestic sales may fall due to rising interest rates and the YTL’s strength against the euro in the second quarter may hurt exports.
source: Turkish Daily News