Motor giant Ford said it has cut its quarterly dividend rate to 15 cents per share from 30 cents, effective in the fourth quarter.
The dividend is payable on the company's Class B and common stock.
"The dividend reduction is a difficult but necessary action," said president and chief executive Mr Jacques Nasser.
"A number of factors have converged in the last six months to dramatically impact our company and our operating results. The tragic events of September 11th have compounded those difficulties by weakening consumer confidence in an already weak global economy.
"Recognising there are challenging days ahead, we are taking aggressive actions to address the issues that face our company," Mr Nasser said.
Fourth-quarter dividends are payable on December 3rd, 2001, to shareholders of record on November 2nd, 2001.
AFP
