Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) Has No Surprise Yet In board meeting

New CEO’s name not announced in Ford’s board meeting

Ford Motor Company(NYSE:F)’s meeting of Board of Directors ended on Thursday without any announcement about the successor to current CEO, 67-year-old Alan Mullaly. Earlier this week, they were rumors that the board would name the next CEO. Jay Cooney, Ford spokesman, issued a statement that there would be no announcement yesterday. Board members refused to comment on the issue. Another board meeting is scheduled next month.

Mullaly hasn’t disclosed his retirement date yet. But when he does, many expect Mark Fields, President of Ford’s Americas to be appointed to the post. Fields is 51-years-old and has been in Ford for a long time, and has even helped lead the Detroit based company’s recent restructuring.

Mullaly will launch the new ‘Fusion’, a midsize sedan in New York on Tuesday.

Limited loss for Neiman Marcus in 4Q

High-end department store Neiman Marcus has been able to limit its fiscal fourth quarter loss thanks to improved sales and also the fact that it did not have any debt related expense like last year. The Dallas based company is privately held and runs Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Last Call stores, and websites and catalogs as well.

Although retail stores are facing the brunt of the slow economic recovery, Neiman Marcus is not much affected as its customers are mainly wealthy shoppers who splurge on luxury goods.

On Thursday, the company declared a loss of $11.1 million for the quarter ended July 28. In the corresponding quarter last year, it had posted a loss of $61.4 million of which $42.7 million was a one-time interest expense. Excluding this item, the loss in the previous year’s fourth quarter was $18.7 million. Revenues improved by 9 percent from $919.7 million to $1 billion.

For the full fiscal year ended July, profits rose from $31.6 million to $140.1 million and revenues were up from $4 billion to $4.35 billion.