DEARBORN, Mich. — Despite a $77 million net income decrease from the first quarter of last year, Ford Motor Credit's top executive declared Tuesday that the captive continues "to execute the fundamentals of our business well."

Ford's financial arm revealed that its first quarter net income came in at $451 million. On a pre-tax basis, Ford Credit stated it earned $713 million in the first quarter, compared with $828 million in the previous year.

Officials emphasized the decrease in pre-tax earnings is "more than explained by lower market valuation adjustments to derivatives and lower receivables volume."

Ford Credit chairman and chief executive officer Mike Bannister went on to say, "We had a solid first quarter supported by strong auction values and credit loss performance. We continue to execute the fundamentals of our business well."

As of March 31, Ford Credit indicated its on-balance sheet net receivables totaled $83 billion, compared with $81 billion at the close of last year. The company also noted managed receivables were $85 billion on March 31, up from $83 billion on Dec. 31.

Ford Credit pointed out that the higher receivables were primarily due to changes in currency exchange rates.

At the end of the first quarter, Ford Credit determined its managed leverage was 7.0 to 1. Also in the first quarter, Ford Credit mentioned that it distributed $900 million to its parent company.

For full-year 2011, Ford Credit stressed that it expects to be solidly profitable but at a lower level than in 2010, reflecting the non-recurrence of lower lease depreciation expenses and credit-loss reserve reductions of the same magnitude as 2010.

At year-end, managed receivables are anticipated to be in the range of $82 billion to $87 billion. Ford Credit also expects to pay distributions to its parent of about $3 billion.