Avis Europe plc continued its good volume growth with pricing to be on improving trend, although remaining below the prior period according to the interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007 released by the…
Avis Europe plc continued its good volume growth with pricing to be on improving trend, although remaining below the prior period according to the interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007 released by the car rental company.
Other Operating Highlights are:
- Higher fleet costs, mitigated by improved utilisation
- Continued benefits from restructuring programme
- Further strong result from the Avis licensee network
- Continuation of Budget turnaround
- Network optimisation with developments in Greece, Spain and Germany
- New website roll-out; internet reservations improved to 31% of reservations
Financial Highlights:
- Revenue excluding discontinued operation up 4.7% to €604 million
- Underlying[1] loss before tax excluding discontinued operation of €1.9 million (2006: €4.5 million loss)
- Net exceptional pre-tax charge excluding discontinued operation of €7.6 million – primarily goodwill write-off
- Total loss before tax excluding discontinued operation of €7.9 million (2006: €13.2 million loss)
- Total loss after tax of €12.8 million (2006: €8.6 million loss)
- Total loss per share of 1.4 euro cents (2006: 0.9 euro cents loss)
- Overall expectations for full year 2007 remain unchanged
[1] Underlying (see Basis of Preparation) excludes exceptional charges of €7.6 million, certain net re-measurement gains of €2.8 million and economic hedging losses of €1.2 million. Underlying is not a defined term under IFRS, and is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures of profit.
Murray Hennessy, Group Chief Executive, said: First half trading saw further good volume growth and utilisation improvements, higher licensee fee income, and the continued Budget turnaround. However, overall pricing was lower, but with some improvement since Easter, partially driven by revenue management actions. In addition, cost pressures continued, particularly relating to fleet and interest costs.
In line with our strategy to improve margins and returns, recent actions to optimise the structure of the Group`s network include the disposal and licensing of operations in Greece, the licensing of the operation in the Canary Islands and the acquisition of a strategically important licensee in Germany. The net capital released from these transactions, which in aggregate amounts to approximately €200 million, will be progressively re-deployed into higher return areas of the business.
In July and August to date, part of the key summer trading period, revenues remained strong as planned, with both good volume and continued improving pricing trends. The Group`s expectations for the underlying result for the full year outcome remain unchanged.
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