Dollar Thrifty reports fourth quarter in line with expectations

The Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group has released preliminary results for its fourth quarter that indicate it ended the year with over $210 million in its unrestricted cash balance, which is nearly the same amount as it reported at the end of the previous quarter.

Operating losses and changes to its working capital in the final quarter were offset by a cash dividend of $100 million paid by the company’s vehicle finance arm in November.

“These are uncertain times in the overall economy and particularly in the automobile and travel industries, noted Scott L. Thompson, the company’s president and CEO. “Ending the quarter with estimated unrestricted cash of over $210 million and tangible net worth provides us with financial capacity to continue to execute our strategic plans over the coming months as we, and the entire rental car industry, deal with a less robust overall economy and a difficult used vehicle market.”

Thompson went on to explain: “As anticipated, the fourth quarter was extremely challenging due to current economic conditions. Based on preliminary data, our results were negatively impacted in the areas of utilization, rate per day and vehicle depreciation costs. Although we will end the quarter with a loss, our results were in line with expectations. The management team’s focus is cash flow and we have made good progress in that area while also reducing our overall cost structure to position the Company for the anticipated challenges of 2009.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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