Avis Budget Group reported a first-quarter loss of $113
million on revenue of nearly $2.6 billion compared with a gain of $312 million
a year prior on similar reported revenue, according to a U.S. Securities and
Exchange filing.
“To accurately portray the business this quarter and
beyond, we need to bifurcate the impacts of non-reoccurring fleet gains, higher
vehicles interest and decisions made to right-size our fleet … versus
comparisons with a healthy overall revenue environment and our ongoing earnings
potential,” Avis Budget CEO Joe Ferraro said Thursday on a first-quarter
earnings call.
The company sold a record number of vehicles during the
quarter “to allow for increased
utilization and flexibility,” Ferraro added, “and we saw sequential
improvement to our [revenue per day] throughout the months in the first
quarter, with March finishing down 3 percent, with stronger exit trends, which
we believe is a positive sign of future pricing.”
First-quarter revenue for the Americas segment was nearly $2
billion, down about 1.1 percent year over year. Still, Ferraro said that
“our sales team has been busy with renewing key partnerships that continue
to add to the rental day growth while contributing to improved margins.”
“In general, we’ve seen growth in the aerospace,
professional and tech industries, as well as our commercial customers
continuing to support leisure activity, a combination of a business trip with
other leisure activity,” Ferraro added. “Our commercial customer
retention rate is nearly 100 percent, demonstrating the trust and loyalty our
partners have in our company.”
Our commercial customer retention rate is nearly 100 percent, demonstrating the trust and loyalty our partners have in our company.”
Avis Budget Group’s Joe Ferraro
Europe, the Middle East and Africa revenue was up 4 percent
to $382 million, while Asia and Australasia revenue declined 1.1 percent from a
year prior to $176 million.
Overall, Avis Budget reported a 5 percent year over year
increase in volume offset by a 5 percent decrease in RPD. Its average rental
fleet for the quarter in the Americas was about 497,300, up 10 percent versus
Q1 2023, while RPD for the region was down 6 percent to $67.12.
International average rental fleet was nearly 170,100, up 1
percent year over year, with an RPD of $63.69, down about 5 percent from a year
prior.
