Avis Budget Group Q2 Profit Tops Estimate

(RTTNews) - Car rental company Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR) reported net income for the second quarter of $143 million, or $1.34 per share, compared to $26 million or $0.24 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the second quarter was $90 million or $0.84 per share, compared to $74 million or $0.68 per share in the prior year quarter.

Revenue for the second quarter fell 1% to $2.17 billion from $2.19 billion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.68 per share on revenue of $2.24 billion for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Avis Budget Group also said that its Board of Directors has increased the company's share repurchase authorization by $250 million, which gives the company $420 million of available repurchase authorization from July 1 going forward.

For the full year 2015, the company now forecasts revenue of $8.6 to $8.7 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.15 to $3.45 per share. Previously, the company forecast revenue of about $8.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.15 to $3.75 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $3.40 per share on revenue of $8.76 billion for the full year 2015.