Ford says it's still poised to end losses in 2011

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co.'s restructuring is on track to be completed without the automaker seeking emergency government bridge loans and to bring a profit as soon as 2011, executives told stockholders today.

Ford shareholders also approved the company's funding plan for a healthcare trust for UAW retirees and knocked down shareholder requests to change the voting structure and allow a smaller percentage of stockholders to call for special meetings.

The annual meeting here came just two weeks after Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy protection and amid industrywide concerns that rival General Motors could follow Chrysler into court within weeks.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said the industry environment was the toughest he had seen in his three decades in the business, but he remains confident of the automaker's restructuring plan.

"Much of the tremendous progress we have made has been overshadowed by the economic crisis of historic proportions that began last year," he told shareholders. "We are undergoing the most rapid and far-ranging transformation in our history."

CEO Alan Mulally said Ford remained committed to matching capacity worldwide to demand and would continue a multiyear program of dealership consolidations in urban areas.

"We are confident that we will not only survive this downturn, but that we will emerge as a lean, globally integrated company poised for long-term profitable growth," Mulally said, adding that the automaker was on track to be at or above break-even in 2011 excluding special items.

Ford is the only U.S. automaker not operating under U.S. government emergency loans and expects to be able to steer clear of the industry collapse now swallowing GM and Chrysler as long as that process is orderly.

The automaker's stock was up 36 cents, or 7.3 percent, at $5.32 on Thursday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

The annual meeting attracted 98 Ford shareholders, up from 56 last year, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson said he was concerned about U.S. trade policies and their impact on the reindustrialization of the nation.

"I raise these concerns because I have a trembling fear that Chrysler has gone bankrupt incentivized by policies and GM appears next," Jackson said at the meeting. "We cannot afford to lose a manufacturing base and maintain our security."

Bill Ford said he agreed with Jackson on many of his concerns and said the automaker has been investing heavily in the United States, pointing to the conversion of a truck plant in Michigan to build the new Ford Focus compact.

"It is hard to imagine an America without an industrial base," Bill Ford said.

An advisory vote requesting that the automaker eliminate its preferred voting structure that has given the Ford family control of the company since it went public in 1956 failed for a fifth consecutive year.

Under that structure, Ford family members hold a 40 percent voting interest through 70.9 million Class B shares, while the automaker had more than 2.3 billion common shares outstanding as of March 18, according to its proxy statement.

The motion received 25.05 percent support when it was brought in 2005. It had received more than 27 percent support the past two years, but received 19.5 percent today.

Ford posted a company record net loss of $14.7 billion in 2008 and losses totaled $30 billion over the last three full years. It posted a first-quarter net loss of $1.43 billion.

Still, analysts see the Ford debt restructuring, the union agreements and the automaker's ability to issue more stock as signs that it could make it through the industry downturn and out the other side without seeking government emergency loans.

The automaker has completed a debt restructuring, raised $1.6 billion in cash from a stock offering and reached a deal with the UAW to cut labor costs and reduce Ford's cash obligations to a union retiree healthcare trust.

Those actions helped Ford keep pace with the government-mandated restructurings at GM and Chrysler, which have moved slower on all fronts.