New York - US giant automaker Ford Motor Company announced Monday a net income of 997 million US dollars in the third quarter, surprising many analysts as weak economic conditions continue worldwide.

This marks the company's first operating profit since the first quarter of 2008, the company said in a statement. It added that the profit represented a 1.2-billion-dollar increase over the same quarter last year.

Our third quarter results clearly show that Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged slump in the global economy," said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. While we still face a challenging road ahead, our One Ford transformation plan is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger."

Ford reduced its automotive structural costs by 1 billion dollars in the third quarter, driven by lower manufacturing and engineering costs, bringing the total reduction in costs to 4.6 billion dollars through the first nine months of 2009. That exceeded its full-year target of a 4-billion-dollar decrease

In August, Ford announced it will work with 850 partners by the end of 2009 - down from 1,700 at the beginning of the year - as well as cutting the number of global suppliers to 750 as part of its long- standing restructuring plans.

Ford now expects to be solidly profitable in 2011, excluding special items, with positive operating related cash flow," Monday's statement added.

Ford's sales of light vehicles rose by 2.4 per cent in July, the first such gain in more than 20 months as the automotive market has seen some improvements. (dpa)