Avis Budget Attributes Revenue Growth to Summer Demand
Avis Budget Group has reported revenue of $2.8 billion for its third quarter 2017, a company record. Due to the impact of the hurricanes, the company lowered its full-year earnings forecast.

Photo via Raysonho/Wikimedia

Photo via Raysonho/Wikimedia
Avis Budget Group has reported revenue of $2.8 billion, a company record, for its third quarter 2017, a 4% growth compared to Q3 2016. This is primarily due to a 5% increase in overall rental days from summer demand.
In the third quarter, Avis Budget reported adjusted earnings of $482 million, a 3% growth compared to the prior year, and an adjusted net income of $260 million, an increase of 15%, according to the company.
For the Americas (North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean), revenue growth resulted from a 1% increase in volume and a 2% increase in time and mileage revenue per day — partially offset by lower ancillary revenue, according to the company. Per-unit fleet costs increased 5% in the quarter, which was partially offset by a 1% improvement in utilization.
In the Americas, adjusted earnings decreased 1% in third quarter. Avis Budget estimates that the hurricanes negatively impacted revenue by $5 million and adjusted earnings by about $15 million due to the loss of revenue from business disruption and property damage, according to the company.
"We had a record third quarter with both pricing and utilization improving in the Americas, strong volume growth partially offset by lower pricing in our international segment, and a relentless focus on cost reduction globally," said Larry De Shon, Avis Budget Group’s president and CEO.
"During the quarter, hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria caused massive devastation across large parts of the United States and Puerto Rico, and I am proud of our teams who worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of our employees and their families, as well as their work to move vehicles to the affected areas to support our customers and the relief agencies,” added De Shon. “As a consequence of the hurricanes, we have updated our full year outlook to reflect the impact of the operational disruption we faced during the quarter."
For the full-year 2017, Avis Budget expects that full-year revenue will increase $8.8 billion to $8.9 billion. Adjusted earnings are predicted to be $725 million to $745 million, according to the company.
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