Hertz posts 4Q loss of more than one billion dollars

Hertz Global Holdings has posted a loss of $1.21 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008, with a significant write-down, increased costs for restructuring and a decline in rental demand and prices cited as contributing factors.

Shares in the rental car company fell by 37 percent after the announcement on Monday – a drop of 10.6 per cent, down to $3.13 per share. Over the past 52 weeks, the company’s stock has traded in the $1.55 to $14.70 range.

For the three-month period ended December 31, 2008, Hertz lost $3.76 per share, as compared with $80.7 million in profits, or a gain of 25 cents per share, during the same period in 2007.

Excluding an impairment charge of $985.2 million and other one-time charges, the rental car giant reported a loss of $73 million, or 22 cents per share, for the period, as compared with $93.9 million in earnings, or 29 cents per share, one year previously.

The company’s revenue for the quarter fell by 16 percent, down to $1.79 billion, from $2.14 billion the year before.

“Hertz experienced unprecedented volume, pricing and residual value contraction across all of its businesses in the fourth quarter of 2008,” chairman and chief executive Mark Frissora noted in a statement. “Although there was an adjusted pretax loss for the quarter, we made significant progress towards achieving our objective of right-sizing the business to economic conditions.”

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