Heading into 2009, it looked as if Avis Budget Group Inc. was doomed to wind up in bankruptcy court. Not only did the car renter avoid that sad fate, it ended the year as far and away the best-performing stock in the New York area.
Heading into 2009, it looked as if Avis Budget Group Inc. was doomed to wind up in bankruptcy court. Not only did the car renter avoid that sad fate, it ended the year as far and away the best-performing stock in the New York area.
After sinking to as little as 36 cents a share in early March, Avis Budget's stock staged amazing rally, jumping to about $13.50 a share. For the year, it is up 1,800%. Indeed, stocks in car renters proved to be this year's version of stock-market lottery tickets. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group rose about 2,300% and Hertz Global Holdings rose nearly 140%, as investors re-embraced an industry they had left for dead.
Under Chief Executive Ronald Nelson, Avis steered away from the abyss by aggressively shrinking the size of its fleet by 14%, or 1,000 cars. It also cut its workforce by 1,200 through the first nine months of the year. The moves helped keep Avis on track as revenues continued to decline due to weak demand from business and leisure travelers. Lower production from General Motors and other car makers also meant Avis didn't have to buy as many new automobiles, and it was able to sell older ones in a strengthening market for used cars.
Over the nine months ending Sept. 30, the company posted net income of $2 million on revenue of $4 billion, a vast improvement over the year-earlier period's $1 billion net loss on $4.7 billion in revenue. The company, on track to avoid losing money for the first time since 2004, also paid down about $1.5 billion in debt.
Avis Budget was part of Cendant, a travel and real estate conglomerate assembled by investment banker Henry Silverman in the mid-1990s before it was broken up in 2006. Mr. Nelson was a movie executive prior to joining Avis, having served as co-chief operating officer at Dreamworks SKG. He owns about 155,000 shares in the car renter, according to a regulatory filing, a stake that over the past 12 months has gone from being worth as little as $56,000 to more than $20 million nowadays.
Better things may lie ahead for Avis. Earnings are expected to quintuple next year, according to Thomson Reuters estimates, to 80 cents a share. GimmeCredit, an independent debt analysis firm, last week rated Avis's debt “outperform.”
