Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Reports Third Quarter Earnings
Company achieves record revenue; net income increases 17 percent
TULSA, Okla., Oct. 27 -- Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. today reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004. Total revenue for the 2004 third quarter was a record $421.1 million, a 14 percent increase over the 2003 third quarter. Pretax income was $40.5 million, up 16 percent from last year's third quarter. Net income for the quarter was $25.0 million, or $.96 per diluted share. For the comparable 2003 quarter, net income was $21.4 million, or $.84 per diluted share.
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For the nine months ended September 30, 2004, total revenue was $1.1 billion, a 16 percent increase over the comparable period in 2003. Net income for the nine months was $49.4 million, or $1.88 per diluted share, including the $.14 per share favorable effect of a cumulative change in accounting principle, compared to $28.3 million, or $1.12 per diluted share, for the comparable nine months of 2003.
Vehicle rental revenue was a record $378 million for the third quarter of 2004, a 22 percent increase over the 2003 third quarter. This growth was driven by a 26 percent increase in rental days of which 19 percent was generated from franchise acquisitions and greenfield locations and 7 percent was generated from stores operated in both years. Vehicle leasing revenue declined from last year's third quarter due to fewer vehicles leased to franchisees resulting primarily from franchise acquisitions and to lower lease rates.
"We are very pleased with our strong third quarter performance, particularly considering the negative impact of the four hurricanes which hit Florida, a state that provides approximately 30 percent of our total rental revenue," Gary L. Paxton, President and Chief Executive Officer, said. "Based on year over year trends, reduced travel into Florida during September combined with damage to our facilities and vehicles, lowered third quarter earnings by an estimated $.11 to $.12 per share. I am extremely proud of our Florida employees who went the extra mile to ensure the needs of our customers were met. We believe the impact of the hurricanes on the fourth quarter will be minimal as we have seen a recovery in travel to Florida in October.
"During the third quarter we achieved both strong same store growth and increased revenue from our franchise acquisitions. We continued to operate with very high vehicle utilization during the quarter and were able to achieve lower vehicle costs. Also, we enjoyed continued momentum on our two branded Web sites, http://www.dollar.com/ and http://www.thrifty.com/ , as customers seek value on the Internet. For the third quarter, 59 percent of total retail reservations were generated from the Internet including those made on our two Web sites."
During the third quarter, the Company acquired the Thrifty Car Rental franchise operation in Chicago, which includes both the O'Hare and Midway airports. The Company also announced the acquisition of the Thrifty franchise operation in Corpus Christi, Texas, effective October 15; the acquisition of the Thrifty franchise operations in Southern California, serving Los Angeles International Airport and San Diego International Airport, effective on November 1; and the acquisition of the Thrifty franchise operation serving the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, effective on November 16. During 2004 the Company has acquired or announced the acquisition of 13 franchise operations and a fleet of approximately 11,000 vehicles. Since unveiling its growth strategy in 2002, the Company has acquired or announced the acquisition of 35 key U.S. and Canadian markets and opened eight new Dollar or Thrifty locations, adding approximately 26,000 vehicles on an annualized basis to the Company's rental fleet. The Company anticipates completing more franchise acquisitions to drive additional growth.
During the third quarter DTG purchased 170,900 shares at a total cost of $4.1 million under its two-year $30 million share repurchase program. Since announcing the program, DTG has purchased 697,300 shares at a cost of $17.5 million.
Outlook
"Looking ahead, we believe DTG will continue to benefit as travelers seek value from our two brands," Paxton said. "We also expect continued strong growth from our franchise acquisition strategy and are striving for continued operating efficiencies from our consolidated operating model. Regarding our earnings outlook, we are adjusting our previous 2004 earnings per share guidance range of $1.75 to $2.00 to a range of $1.75 to $1.85, primarily due to the third quarter impact of the hurricanes. This guidance excludes the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle which was previously announced and included in first quarter results. For the fourth quarter, we expect same store rental day growth in a range of 9 to 10 percent and for revenue per day to be down about 2 percent from last year's fourth quarter."
The Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. third quarter 2004 earnings release conference call will be held on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. (central time). Those interested in listening to the conference call live may access the call via Web cast at the corporate Web site, http://www.dtag.com/ , or by dialing 888-395-2045 (domestic) or 210-234-8004 (international), using the pass code "Dollar Thrifty." An audio replay of the conference call will be available through November 10, 2004, by calling 888- 562-6879 (domestic) or 402-220-6534 (international). The replay will also be available via the corporate Web site for one year.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Driven by the mission "Value Every Time," the Company's brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, serve value-conscious travelers in approximately 70 countries. Dollar and Thrifty have approximately 800 corporate and franchised locations in the United States and Canada, and they have operations at most major airports. The Company's more than 8,000 employees are located mainly in North America, but global service capabilities exist through an expanding international franchise network. For additional information, visit http://www.dtag.com/ .
Some of the statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. believes such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and certain factors could cause results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors include: price and product competition; economic and competitive conditions in markets and countries where the companies' customers reside and where the companies and their franchisees operate; natural hazards or catastrophes; incidents of terrorism; airline travel patterns; changes in capital availability or cost; costs and other terms related to the acquisition and disposition of automobiles; systems or communications failures; costs of conducting business and changes in structure or operations; and certain regulatory and environmental matters and litigation risks. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, among others, materialize, actual results could vary from those estimated, anticipated or projected. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.
Table 1
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Income
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
Unaudited
Three months ended As % of
September 30, Total revenues
2004 2003 2004 2003
Revenues:
Vehicle rentals $377,989 $308,691 89.8% 83.3%
Vehicle leasing 24,688 41,863 5.9% 11.3%
Fees and services 16,384 15,372 3.9% 4.2%
Other 2,085 4,525 0.4% 1.2%
Total revenues 421,146 370,451 100.0% 100.0%
Costs and Expenses:
Direct vehicle and operating 205,832 148,129 48.9% 40.0%
Vehicle depreciation and lease
charges, net 88,033 110,790 20.9% 29.9%
Selling, general and
administrative 60,487 51,694 14.4% 14.0%
Interest expense, net 26,280 24,765 6.2% 6.6%
Total costs and expenses 380,632 335,378 90.4% 90.5%
Income before income taxes 40,514 35,073 9.6% 9.5%
Income tax expense 15,480 13,709 3.7% 3.7%
Net income $25,034 $21,364 5.9% 5.8%
Earnings per share:
Basic $1.00 $0.87
Diluted $0.96 $0.84
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding:
Basic 24,952,426 24,517,960
Diluted 26,195,471 25,496,094
Nine months ended As % of
September 30, Total revenues
2004 2003 2004 2003
Revenues:
Vehicle rentals $960,374 $750,762 89.4% 81.2%
Vehicle leasing 63,165 120,531 5.9% 13.0%
Fees and services 43,467 43,235 4.0% 4.7%
Other 7,788 10,505 0.7% 1.1%
Total revenues 1,074,794 925,033 100.0% 100.0%
Costs and Expenses:
Direct vehicle and operating 542,480 368,152 50.5% 39.8%
Vehicle depreciation and lease
charges, net 222,017 299,891 20.6% 32.4%
Selling, general and
administrative 164,287 141,490 15.3% 15.3%
Interest expense, net 68,527 66,542 6.4% 7.2%
Total costs and expenses 997,311 876,075 92.8% 94.7%
Income before income taxes 77,483 48,958 7.2% 5.3%
Income tax expense 31,784 20,671 2.9% 2.2%
Income before cumulative effect of
a change in accounting principle 45,699 28,287 4.3% 3.1%
Cumulative effect of a change in
accounting
principle 3,730 - 0.3% 0.0%
Net income $49,429 $28,287 4.6% 3.1%
Basic earnings per share:
Income before cumulative effect
of a change in accounting
principle $1.83 $1.16
Cumulative effect of a change in
accounting principle 0.15 -
Net income $1.98 $1.16
Diluted earnings per share:
Income before cumulative effect
of a change in accounting
principle $1.74 $1.12
Cumulative effect of a change in
accounting principle 0.14 -
Net income $1.88 $1.12
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding:
Basic 24,983,528 24,489,428
Diluted 26,265,039 25,244,005
Table 2
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
Selected Operating and Financial Data
Three months ended Nine months ended
September 30, 2004 September 30, 2004
OPERATING DATA:
Vehicle Rental Data:
(includes new stores)
Average number of vehicles operated 118,933 102,578
% change from prior year 26.1% 28.6%
Number of rental days 9,306,217 24,059,740
% change from prior year 25.9% 31.7%
Vehicle utilization 85.1% 85.6%
Percentage points change
from prior year (0.1)p.p. 1.7p.p.
Average revenue per day $40.62 $39.92
% change from prior year (2.8%) (2.9%)
Monthly average revenue per vehicle $1,059 $1,040
% change from prior year (2.9%) (0.6%)
Same Store Vehicle Rental Data:
(excludes new stores)
Average number of vehicles operated 101,307 86,576
% change from prior year 7.4% 8.6%
Number of rental days 7,922,468 20,320,100
% change from prior year 7.2% 11.2%
Vehicle Leasing Data:
Average number of vehicles leased 21,394 18,434
% change from prior year (30.2%) (37.9%)
Monthly average revenue per vehicle $385 $381
% change from prior year (15.4%) (15.5%)
FINANCIAL DATA: (in millions)
(unaudited)
Non-vehicle depreciation and
amortization $6 $17
Non-vehicle capital expenditures
(excludes acquisitions) 7 18
Franchise acquisitions 4 50
Cash paid for income taxes - 2
Selected Balance Sheet Data
(In millions)
September 30, December 31,
2004 2003 2003
(Unaudited)
Cash and cash equivalents $199 $142 $192
Restricted cash and investments 284 411 537
Revenue-earning vehicles, net 2,621 2,400 2,137
Total debt 2,656 2,582 2,442
Stockholders' equity 591 532 533
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