Related Newslog Items
August 8, 2010
Travelers to Boston and Portland, Ore. face the highest "discriminatory" travel taxes in the United States, above $21 per day, according to an NBTA Foundation report examining taxation on
car rentals, hotel stays and meals in the 50 largest U.S. cities. Orange County, Calif. levies the lowest discriminatory tax total on travel services, $2.19 on average per day, followed by eight other California cities. NBTA defines discriminatory taxes as "those imposed specifically on travel services above and beyond general sales taxes," often including "a bewildering combination of charges such as excise, occupancy, transportation, tourism, special, facility and capital improvement taxes, plus a long list of other taxes and fees frequently imposed by overlapping jurisdictions." Sponsored by Concur, the report found that overall daily travel taxes, including both discriminatory and general sales, are highest in Chicago ($38.75), New York ($36.53) and Boston ($36.47), and lowest in Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Meyers, Fla. ($21.22), followed by Portland, Ore., which charges no general sales tax on travel services. To establish comparable figures, general sales taxes are based on daily costs averaged across all cities for hotel rooms ($97.33),
car rentals ($55.22) and meals ($86.74).
August 5, 2010
Avis Budget Group reported second-quarter net income of $29 million, reversing the $2 million loss from a year earlier. U.S domestic
car rental revenue declined 5 percent on 6 percent fewer rental days and marginally lower average daily rates. Non-U.S.
car rental revenue jumped 16 percent on a 13 percent increase in average daily rate. CEO Ron Nelson told analyst that commercial pricing during the quarter was "flat" versus last year. "Large $1 million-plus accounts just aren't getting very significant price increases, if any," he said.
August 4, 2010
Hertz is observing "accelerated" commercial business and anticipates that average contracted rates by year-end would stop declining, according to CEO Mark Frissora. He detailed how commercial pricing in April fell 3.5 percent year over year and improved each month through July, when it was down 0.5 percent. "We have competitors that have been very aggressive in trying to get corporate business and we have not given up any market share," Frissora explained during a Wednesday conference call with analysts. "Whether it be a General Electric or an IBM, big accounts that have airport market share are ripe for competitors to go after if they are trying to gain share. We have about 45 percent-plus share among the
Fortune 500 companies and that is share that we have had to defend. Pricing should start to improve, certainly going into next year, but that is very difficult to predict when you are negotiating 200 contracts every month." He noted that
Hertz's "top 25 accounts" are producing volumes that are up "20 to 25 percent" versus last year. According to company information, total on-airport commercial transaction days increased 14.3 percent during the second quarter.
Hertz Global Holdings reported second-quarter adjusted net income of $58.5 million, up from $49.6 million a year earlier. The company's largest business, U.S.
car rental, achieved "record second quarter" performance.
August 3, 2010
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group reported second quarter net income of $42.3 million, up from $12.4 million a year earlier. Rental days dropped 0.5 percent year over year and average revenue per day rose 0.8 percent. "We are on track to make 2010 the most profitable year in the history of the company," according to CEO Scott Thompson, who noted "pricing improvement in a more challenging and competitive pricing environment."
July 29, 2010
Avis Budget Group proposed to purchase Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for "a higher price" than an offer floated in April by Hertz Global Holdings. According to a letter from Avis Budget CEO Ronald Nelson to
Dollar Thrifty's board of directors, the higher price combined with other more favorable terms make the Avis proposal "a superior one." According to a
Dollar Thrifty statement, the company will review the deal.
Dollar Thrifty already scheduled a Sept. 16 shareholder meeting to vote on
the Hertz proposal.
July 21, 2010
American Express hired Sprint Nextel prepaid group president Daniel Schulman to head its new enterprise growth business unit "to expand alternative mobile and online payment services, form new partnerships and build revenue streams beyond the traditional card and travel businesses." Responsible for the company's business development, mergers and
acquisitions, Revolution Money online payments business and global prepaid business, Schulman will report to Amex chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault. Amex also elected former Revolution Money chairman and retired AOL executive Ted Leonsis to its board of directors and asked him to chair a new innovation and technology committee.
May 27, 2010
Hertz Global Holdings expects to complete its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group "in the near future," but DTAG noted "ongoing" due diligence by Avis Budget Group, which intends to make "a substantially better offer." The companies made these latest comments on potential
car rental industry consolidation in May 26 filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
May 3, 2010
Avis Budget Group "would like to make a substantially higher offer to acquire Dollar Thrifty" than Hertz's $1.17 billion proposal, which it suggested was not the "best possible deal" in a letter sent to
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group's board by Avis Budget CEO Ronald Nelson. Nelson wrote that he was "very surprised" by the offer since there were "several occasions" on which Avis Budget expressed interest in buying
Dollar Thrifty but was denied meetings to engage in such discussions. "At no stage over the last several months did [CEO Scott Thompson] or your financial advisor engage us in any discussions about a transaction or offer to provide us with information so that we might submit a bid," wrote Nelson. "Now that we and our advisors have had access to the terms of the merger agreement, we are astonished that you have compounded these shortcomings by agreeing to aggressive lock-up provisions."
April 26, 2010
Hertz Global Holdings posted a March quarter net loss of $147 million, down from the $160 million net loss a year earlier. The adjusted pre-tax loss was $69 million versus $117 million in the March quarter of 2009. U.S.
car rental revenue increased 10 percent year over year, driven in part by higher pricing, ancillary revenues and "business travel."
April 22, 2010
Visa Inc. agreed to acquire e-payment company CyberSource Corp. for about $2 billion to grow its online payment, mobile payment, fraud and security capabilities. Under the CyberSource and Authorize.Net brands, CyberSource in 2009 processed $120 billion or about 25 percent of all e-commerce transaction dollars in the United States for 295,000 merchants. Visa and CyberSource have partnered for more than a decade and Visa executives said they studied the
acquisition potential for one year. Visa executives said the
acquisition supports its five-year strategic plan and the financial model "assumes the current acquiring business to evolve to more of a referral model ... and Visa Europe will work with CyberSource as a service provider through a reseller agreement." The deal is subject to regulatory review and officials expect to close it by September.
retweet
share
share
share
share
share
share
share
share
share
share
share
