Avis, Hertz Earnings Down, Dollar Thrifty Raises Profit

Recent car rental earnings reports showed a loss for Avis Budget and a more than 90 percent plummet for Hertz' profits, while Dollar Thrifty managed to raise its year-over-year profits.

Avis Budget Group chairman and CEO Ronald Nelson on Tuesday said demand dropped sharply in the quarter, though rental volumes did begin to stabilize. Revenues were down 17 percent year-over-year, contributing to a loss of $2 million for the quarter. The company, however, has maintained virtually all its commercial accounts, he said.

"We also made significant progress in several other areas," Nelson said in a statement. "Our cost-saving initiatives continued to deliver substantial benefits, and our ancillary revenues continue to benefit from our sales training initiative, increasing over 1 percent on a per day basis."

Hertz Global Holdings last week reported that its worldwide car revenues were down 19.4 percent for the quarter. Decreases in both volume and pricing contributed to that fall, the company said. While car rental income was down only slightly, overall profit for the company was down 92 percent.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, meanwhile, reported on Tuesday that efforts to raise rates had stuck, boosting its second-quarter profit 15 percent year-over-year. Revenue for the more leisure-focused Dollar Thrifty was down about 10 percent, largely because of a more than 20 percent decrease in rental days. Revenue per day, however, was up 12.1 percent.

"Our focus for 2009 and beyond is on improving the quality of our revenue by concentrating on enhancing rate per day and, at times, sacrificing transaction days as necessary to achieve the optimal revenue mix," Dollar Thrifty president an CEO Scott Thompson said in a statement.