Ford to record $3 billion loss for remeasurement of pension, OPEB plans

Ford Motor Co. disclosed Friday that it will record a pre-tax $3 billion loss in 2016 related to remeasurement of its pensions plans and other postretirement benefit (OPEB) plans, as lower discount rates offset asset gains. Of the total, $900 million of the loss is associated with its U.S. pension plans, $1.9 billion is with pension plans outside of the U.S and $200 million is with OPEB plans globally. Including the remeasurement loss, the auto maker expects its the underfunded status of its pension plans to increase to $8.9 billion a year-end 2016 from $8.2 billion in 2015, and of its OPEB plans to rise to $5.9 billion from $5.7 billion. Ford said the loss will cut its 2016 after-tax net income by about $2 billion, but it still expects to meet its guidance of $10.2 billion in adjusted pre-tax profit. The stock, which was unchanged in premarket trade, has gained 4.5% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has rallied 22%.

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