(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co posted a lower third-quarter profit after taking a hit from plunging metals prices and sustaining losses in its European and Asian operations.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker also cut its full-year forecast for automotive operating profit margins, suggesting a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter. It cited slowing growth in China, pricing pressure in Europe and provided no timetable for when it might resume paying a long-anticipated dividend.

Ford shares fell as much as 7 percent on Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

Investors and analysts had been looking to the earnings report as a turning point where the automaker could detail plans to pay its first dividend since it slid into crisis in 2006. Ford has posted profits for 10 straight quarters.

But Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said Ford would not address the timing of a dividend before seeing more improvement in its core business. He said growth in North America remained on a slow upward trend, but acknowledged demand in China had slowed.

Analysts gave the quarter lukewarm reviews with J.P. Morgan calling it "so-so" and Citi describing the results as "a bit messier than expected."

Revenue rose 14 percent to $33.1 billion. But net income slipped to $1.65 billion, or 41 cents per share, down from $1.69 billion or 43 cents per share a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Ford earned 46 cents per share. On average, analysts had forecast 44 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Ford expects a full-year automotive operating margin of 5.7 percent, down from 6.5 percent through the first three quarters. Last year, Ford's margin was 6.1 percent and it had previously forecast it would match or beat that level.

J.P. Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel said Ford's margin outlook implied a fourth-quarter profit of 23 cents a share. Analysts were expecting 32 cents.

Another disappointment for investors was the lack of news about a dividend, Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said. Ford last paid a dividend in September 2006.

Booth refused to be drawn into specifics on a payout. "We're on record as saying we'd like to pay a dividend sooner rather than later."

LOSSES IN EUROPE, ASIA

While Ford posted a pretax profit of $1.55 billion in North America as U.S. auto sales steadied over the summer and avoided the renewed slump some analysts had feared, losses were reported for Asia and Europe.

In Asia and Africa, the pretax operating loss was $43 million, compared with a $30 million profit last year. Ford said slowing growth in China contributed to the shortfall.

In Europe, Ford saw its loss widen to $306 million from $196 million a year ago. Booth said the caution for Ford's outlook partly reflected the risk of a competitive crunch in a region where automakers sacrifice margin by offering deeper discounts and by turning to lower-margin sales to fleet operators like rental agencies.

"The pressure is really on margins in Europe," he said. "We could be in a period of very slow growth as the sovereign debt crisis gets resolved and we see the fiscal austerity programs working their way through the economies."

The third quarter included a noncash charge of about $350 million to write down the value of hedges the company had taken out to offset the risk of rising raw material costs, including aluminum, copper and precious metals. However, those costs fell sharply in late September as concerns about weaker global growth mounted.

The company said the charge will either reverse if commodity prices rise or be offset by lower parts costs over the next 18 months.

Booth reiterated Ford could restart a dividend before it regains an investment-grade credit rating.

After last week's agreement between Ford and the United Auto Workers union on a new four-year labor contract, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor's both raised the company's credit rating to within one notch of investment grade. Ford was last at investment grade in 2005.

Costs related to the contract ratification by Ford's 41,000 unionized U.S. factory workers were not reflected in the third-quarter results. Those costs will be reflected in fourth-quarter results, Booth said.

Ford lowered its automotive debt by $1.3 billion in the quarter, to $12.7 billion. That will save about $1 billion in interest payments in 2011 compared with 2010 because of its debt-reduction efforts.

Ford shares were down 6 percent at $11.68 on Wednesday morning, off an earlier low at $11.55.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall and Ben Klayman, writing by Kevin Krolicki; editing by John Wallace and Matthew Lewis)

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