Photo via Wikimedia.

Photo via Wikimedia.

Avis Budget Group Inc. has reported revenue of $8.5 billion for full-year 2015, an increase of 5% compared with 2014 in constant currency, according to the company. Adjusted earnings for 2015 were the highest total in Avis Budget’s history, rising 3% to $903 million. Net income had a 7% year-over-year increase and hit $333 million, says the company.

For its fourth quarter 2015, Avis reported revenue of $1.9 billion, a 1% increase compared to fourth quarter 2014, primarily due to a 8% increase in rental days.

The company reported its adjusted net income as $18 million while adjusted earnings declined 1% to $128 million — and increased 5% in constant currency — in Q4 2015. The results were partially offset by reduced pricing and a negative impact from currency movements. The company reported a GAAP net loss of $5 million for the quarter.

For North America, revenue increased 1% primarily due to a 3% increase in volume and a 3% increase in ancillary revenue per rental day, says the company. Adjusted earnings increased 17% in Q4, driven by increased rental volumes, lower per-unit fleet costs, and higher fleet utilization.

For 2016, Avis Budget expects its worldwide revenue to increase 2% to 4% to $8.7 to $8.85 billion, according to the company, with negative impacts from currency exchange rates.

In North America, rental days are predicted to increase 2% to 4% in 2016. Per-unit fleet costs are expected to be approximately $305 to $313 per month in 2016, an increase of 3% to 5% from $297 in 2015, says the company. For total company fleet costs, Avis Budget expects $280 to $290 per month in 2016, compared to $277 in 2015.

Regarding ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft, Avis reported that its volume of one-day rentals, the segment most susceptible to taxi and ride-hailing, increased in 2015. In ride-hailing’s biggest cities — Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Washington — the company’s rental day volumes increased 2%, consistent with volume growth in the U.S.

“Another way of looking at this is that 97% of our renters drive our cars more than 50 miles over the course of a transaction, making substitution with a ride-hailing service prohibitively expensive,” said David Wyshner, Avis Budget's president and CFO.

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