Fourth-quarter results benefited from stronger commercial rentals and used vehicle sales, partly offset by higher maintenance costs on an aging fleet and customer fleet reductions, the company said.
"Over the longer term, we expect that the substantial pent-up demand for lease fleets, due to a range of factors including new, more expensive EPA-mandated engine technologies, will result in future contractual revenue and earnings growth," Chief Executive Officer Greg Swienton said in a statement.
The Miami-based company forecast operating revenue of $4.63 billion for 2011, up 11 percent from 2010, and adjusted earnings of $2.80 to $2.90 per share.
For the fourth quarter, profit from continuing operations, excluding one-time items, rose to $33.8 million, or 65 cents per share, from $22.2 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average were looking for 63 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue from continuing operations rose 5 percent to $1.31 billion, in line with forecasts.
Including a $1.5 million pension settlement charge, net profit was $37.1 million, up from $8.2 million a year earlier, which included losses from discontinued operations. (Reuters)
