Ford to take $800M 4Q charge on Venezuelan currency woes; still expects $6B 2014 pretax profit

Ford says it will take an $800 million charge in the fourth quarter because of exchange rate problems between the Venezuelan bolivar and the U.S. dollar.

The company says the charge will cut fourth-quarter net income by $700 million, after deferred tax benefits. But the automaker still expects a full-year pretax profit of $6 billion when it reports 2014 earnings Thursday.

In October, Ford cut its full-year pretax profit forecast to $6 billion. That's down from $8.6 billion in 2013.

Ford says in a regulatory filing that the company can no longer exchange bolivars to dollars due to Venezuelan currency exchange controls. The company says the controls have limited auto parts availability and have cut into normal production. But Ford says it will continue operations there for the foreseeable future.