Hertz to Extend Filing of First Quarter 2014 Form 10-Q

NAPLES, Fla., May 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) (the "Company," "Hertz" or "we"), the parent company of The Hertz Corporation, the world's largest general use airport car rental company and a leading equipment rental company in the United States and Canada, today announced that the Company filed a Form 12b-25 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to obtain additional time within which to file its Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2014 (the "Quarterly Report").

The Company is filing a Form 12b-25 because, as previously announced, additional work is required to complete the closing procedures associated with the first quarter of 2014 primarily related to evaluating the Company's conclusions regarding the capitalization and timing of depreciation for certain non-fleet expenditures.  As a result, the Company was unable to complete the Quarterly Report by the prescribed May 12, 2014 due date.  The Company currently expects to file the Quarterly Report within the 5 day extension period, on or before May 19, 2014, however, there can be no assurance that the Company will meet that deadline.

During the course of its preparation of the Quarterly Report, the Company identified certain errors relating to prior periods which may require the Company to restate its previously issued financial statements for 2011.  The Company does not believe that the adjustments to the 2013 and 2012 periods are material and does not expect that these errors will require it to restate its previously issued financial statements for those two years.  For 2011, the Company expects these estimated adjustments, which pertains to charges related to certain non-fleet assets, allowances for doubtful accounts in Brazil as well as other items will be as follows (in millions):

Management is continuing to review these matters to determine if it needs to make any changes to its internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. The Company will  consider the effect of these errors on its prior conclusions regarding the Company's internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures.

In conjunction with filing its Form 10-Q, the Company intends to announce its 2014 first quarter results. The Company will issue a press release detailing the date and time of the associated conference call and webcast.

OUTLOOK

The Company reaffirms its full year 2014 guidance which it issued on March 18, 2014.  In 2014, the Company expects to generate worldwide revenues in the range of $11.40 billion - $11.70 billion, Corporate EBITDA in the range of $2.06 billion - $2.42 billion, adjusted pre-tax income in the range of $1.21 billion - $1.43 billion, adjusted net income in the range of $785 million - $925 million, adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.70 - $2.00 and free cash flow in the range of $550 million to $650 million.

USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Corporate EBITDA represents EBITDA as adjusted for car rental fleet interest, car rental fleet depreciation and certain other items.  EBITDA is defined as net income before net interest expense, income taxes and depreciation (which includes revenue earning equipment lease charges) and amortization. Adjusted pre-tax income is calculated as income before income taxes plus non-cash purchase accounting charges, non-cash debt charges relating to the amortization of debt financing costs and debt discounts and certain one-time charges and non-operational items. Adjusted net income is calculated as adjusted pre-tax income less a provision for income taxes derived utilizing a normalized income tax rate and noncontrolling interest.  Adjusted diluted earnings per share is calculated as adjusted net income divided by the weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the period.  Free cash flow is calculated as net cash provided by operating activities less revenue earning equipment expenditures, net of disposal proceeds and car rental fleet financing, less non-fleet capital expenditures, net of non-fleet disposals.

Management believes that Corporate EBITDA, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share are useful in measuring the comparable results of the Company period-over-period and that free cash flow is important to management and investors as it represents the cash available for share repurchases, acquisitions and the reduction of corporate debt.  The GAAP measures most directly comparable to Corporate EBITDA, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and free cash flow are (i) pre-tax income and cash flows from operating activities, (ii) pre-tax income, (iii) net income, (iv) diluted earnings per share, and (v) net cash provided by operating activities less revenue earning equipment expenditures, respectively.  Because of the forward-looking nature of the Company's forecasted Corporate EBITDA, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and free cash flow, specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile forecasted cash flows from operating activities, pre-tax income, net income, diluted earnings per share and net cash provided by operating activities less revenue earning equipment expenditures are not available.  The Company believes that there is a degree of volatility with respect to certain of the Company's GAAP measures, primarily related to fair value accounting for its financial assets (which includes the Company's derivative financial instruments), its income tax reporting and certain adjustments made to arrive at the relevant non-GAAP measures, which preclude the Company from providing accurate forecasted GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations.  Based on the above, the Company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the non-GAAP Corporate EBITDA, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and net cash provided by operating activities less revenue earning equipment expenditures to forecasted cash flows from operating activities, pre-tax income, net income, diluted earnings per share and free cash flow would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above.

ABOUT THE COMPANY 

Hertz operates its car rental business through the Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly brands from approximately 11,530 corporate and franchisee locations in North America, Europe, Latin and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. Hertz is the largest worldwide airport general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 10,070 corporate and franchisee locations in approximately 145 countries. Our Dollar and Thrifty brands have approximately 1,380 corporate and franchisee locations in approximately 75 countries and our Firefly brand has approximately 80 corporate and franchisee locations in eleven countries. Our Hertz brand name is one of the most recognized in the world, signifying leadership in quality rental services and products. We are one of the only car rental companies that has an extensive network of company-operated rental locations both in the United States and in all major European markets. We believe that we maintain the leading airport car rental brand market share, by overall reported revenues, in the United States and at approximately 130 major airports in Europe where we have company operated locations and where data regarding car rental concessionaire activity is available. We believe that we also maintain the second largest market share, by overall reported revenues, in the off-airport car rental market in the United States. In our equipment rental business segment, we rent equipment through approximately 330 branches in the United States, Canada, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, China and Saudi Arabia, as well as through our international franchisees. We and our predecessors have been in the car rental business since 1918 and in the equipment rental business since 1965. We also own Donlen Corporation, or "Donlen," based in Northbrook, Illinois, which is a leader in providing fleet leasing and management services. We have a diversified revenue base and a highly variable cost structure and are able to dynamically manage fleet capacity, the most significant determinant of our costs.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release and in related comments by our management include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Examples of forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company's outlook, anticipated revenues and results of operations, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact.  These forward-looking statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "project," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may," "would," "should," "could," "forecasts" or similar expressions.  These statements are based on certain assumptions that the Company has made in light of its experience in the industry as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that the Company believes are appropriate in these circumstances.  We believe these judgments are reasonable, but you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, both positive and negative.

Among other items, such factors could include: levels of travel demand, particularly with respect to airline passenger traffic in the United States and in global markets; the effect of our proposed separation of our equipment rental business and ability to obtain the expected benefits of any related transaction; significant changes in the competitive environment, including as a result of industry consolidation, and the effect of competition in our markets, including on our pricing policies or use of incentives; occurrences that disrupt rental activity during our peak periods; our ability to achieve cost savings and efficiencies and realize opportunities to increase productivity and profitability; an increase in our fleet costs as a result of an increase in the cost of new vehicles and/or a decrease in the price at which we dispose of used vehicles either in the used vehicle market or under repurchase or guaranteed depreciation programs; our ability to accurately estimate future levels of rental activity and adjust the size and mix of our fleet accordingly; our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and the availability to us of additional or continued sources of financing for our revenue earning equipment and to refinance our existing indebtedness; our ability to integrate the car rental operations of Dollar Thrifty and realize operational efficiencies from the acquisition; the operational and profitability impact of the divestitures that we agreed to undertake in order to secure regulatory approval for the Dollar Thrifty acquisition; safety recalls by the manufacturers of our vehicles and equipment; a major disruption in our communication or centralized information networks; financial instability of the manufacturers of our vehicles and equipment; any impact on us from the actions of our franchisees, dealers and independent contractors; our ability to maintain profitability during adverse economic cycles and unfavorable external events (including war, terrorist acts, natural disasters and epidemic disease); shortages of fuel and increases or volatility in fuel costs; our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions and complete dispositions; our ability to maintain favorable brand recognition; costs and risks associated with litigation and investigations; risks related to our indebtedness, including our substantial amount of debt, our ability to incur substantially more debt and increases in interest rates or in our borrowing margins; our ability to meet the financial and other covenants contained in our Senior Credit Facilities, our outstanding unsecured Senior Notes and certain asset-backed and asset-based arrangements; changes in accounting principles, or their application or interpretation, and our ability to make accurate estimates and the assumptions underlying the estimates, which could have an effect on earnings; changes in the existing, or the adoption of new laws, regulations, policies or other activities of governments, agencies and similar organizations where such actions may affect our operations, the cost thereof or applicable tax rates; changes to our senior management team; the effect of tangible and intangible asset impairment charges; the impact of our derivative instruments, which can be affected by fluctuations in interest rates and commodity prices; and our exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.  Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

The Company therefore cautions you against relying on these forward-looking statements.  All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.  All such statements speak only as of the date made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE The Hertz Corporation