Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) reported its fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Monday. The company said it had $0.05 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.41 billion in revenue. That compares to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.04 in EPS on revenue of $2.52 billion. The same period from last year had a net loss of $0.34 per share on $2.56 billion in revenue.
Worldwide revenue per available car day (RACD) increased by 1%, as the improvement in fleet efficiency mitigated a 3% decrease in total revenue per transaction day compared to the same period from last year.
At the same time, effective fleet management also drove a three percentage point year-over-year increase in worldwide car rental fleet efficiency to 78%. In the United States, car rental fleet efficiency rose to 79%, an increase of four percentage points, driven by reduced out-of-service levels and better utilization or matching of demand to cars available to rent. In the International segment, Car Rental fleet efficiency was 73%, a decrease of one percentage point from last year.
In terms of guidance, the company expects to have RAC revenue growth in the range of 1.5% to 2.5% in the 2016 full year. The consensus estimates call for $0.76 in EPS on $10.64 billion in revenue for the year.
John Tague, president and CEO of Hertz, commented on earnings:
By fundamentally improving our fleet management and reducing costs throughout the business, we delivered on our expected outcome for the fourth quarter and the full year, despite a highly competitive pricing environment. We are encouraged by rising customer satisfaction across our major brands, which reached record levels in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, as well as the pace of improvement in our cost structure.
He continued:
Looking ahead, we continue to see soft pricing in the U.S. rental car market in the first quarter 2016 as well as continued weakness in upstream oil and gas markets affecting equipment rental, both of which are reflected in our outlook for 2016. In this environment, we will continue to focus internally on improving cost and quality as part of our commitment to our three-to-five year margin improvement plan.
Shares of Hertz closed Monday at $8.50, with a consensus analyst price target of $19.81 and a 52-week trading range of $6.95 to $23.62.
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