Avis Budget Group, Inc. today announced first quarter 2021 financial results.Despite revenue being down 22% for the first quarter compared to prior year, and net loss of $170 million, we achieved Adjusted EBITDA of $47 million in the first quarter through cost discipline and double digit growth in revenue per day in the Americas. This is our best first quarter Adjusted EBITDA since 2015 and is now our third consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA since the start of the pandemic.
As demand started to recover in the Americas in the back half of the quarter, we optimized our fleet, resulting in higher utilization, and took advantage of pricing opportunities. We finished the quarter with Revenue per Day increasing 12% from prior year in the Americas. A strengthening Revenue per Day environment combined with our continued cost mitigating actions resulted in the Americas achieving a record first quarter Adjusted EBITDA margin.
Our liquidity position at the end of the quarter was approximately $1.2 billion with an additional $4.8 billion of fleet funding capacity. We have well-laddered corporate debt maturities with no meaningful maturities until 2023.
“Our first quarter results show our continued recovery through cost discipline and fleet optimization driving higher utilization, while reducing global per unit fleet costs,” said Joe Ferraro, Avis Budget Group Chief Executive Officer. “The Americas achieved its best first quarter Adjusted EBITDA margin on one of its lowest first quarter revenue bases and continues to prove that our cost saving initiatives are expected to continue to deliver strong results. These accomplishments are a great way to kick off the 75th anniversary of our Avis brand.”
Q1 Highlights
- Revenues recovered sequentially in the quarter with Revenue per Day increasing 12% in the Americas driven by improving demand.
- Due to our cost discipline and the improving demand environment, the Americas generated record first quarter Adjusted EBITDA margins.
- Our Adjusted EBITDA in International was nearly flat compared to first quarter 2020, excluding a $9 million negative currency exchange rate movement, from strong cost mitigating actions to match demand as international recovery continues.
- We completed senior notes offering of $600 million at 5⅜% and $500 million at 4¾%, and used the proceeds to redeem our 10½% senior secured notes and 6⅜% senior notes, and pay off a portion of the 5¼% senior notes. Our interest rate of 4¾% is the lowest rate achieved on an unsecured notes offering in our Company’s history.
- Our contactless rental experience, Avis Quickpass, is now offered at 20 of our top airport locations across the U.S., for our Avis Preferred customers.
Outlook
The global semiconductor shortage is causing uncertainty in fleet supply and resulting in tighter fleets throughout the industry. We have historically navigated through significant vehicle recalls, and believe we have the logistics in place to effectively manage our fleet during this disruption in supply. We continue to get new car deliveries every day and believe we can increase our fleet utilization efficiency to capture increased demand. We look forward to helping people experience their mobility needs in a safe and efficient way.
While we continue to monitor vehicle availability and the roll out of the vaccine and its impact on the demand for the travel industry, we cannot currently predict the volatility associated with the industry. Due to these continued macro uncertainties, we are not providing guidance at this time.
Investor Conference Call
We will host a conference call to discuss first quarter results on May 4, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Investors may access the call at ir.avisbudgetgroup.com or by dialing (877) 407-2991 and a replay will available on our website and at (877) 660-6853 using conference code 13717958.
About Avis Budget Group
Avis Budget Group, Inc. is a leading global provider of mobility solutions, both through its Avis and Budget brands, which have more than 10,000 rental locations in approximately 180 countries around the world, and through its Zipcar brand, which is the world’s leading car sharing network with more than one million members. Avis Budget Group operates most of its car rental offices in North America, Europe and Australasia directly, and operates primarily through licensees in other parts of the world. Avis Budget Group is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at avisbudgetgroup.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements.” Any statements that refer to outlook, expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances or results, including all statements related to our future results, impact from the COVID-19 outbreak, cost-saving actions, the global semiconductor shortage and cash flows are forward-looking statements. Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, the severity and duration of the COVID-19 outbreak, which is expected to continue to have a significant impact on our operations, and resulting economic conditions and related restrictions, the high level of competition in the mobility industry, changes in our fleet costs, including as a result of a change in the cost of new vehicles, manufacturer recalls and/or the value of used vehicles, disruption in the supply of new vehicles, disposition of vehicles not covered by manufacturer repurchase programs, our ability to realize our estimated cost savings on a timely basis, or at all, the financial condition of the manufacturers that supply our rental vehicles, including as a result of the global semiconductor shortage, which could affect their ability to perform their obligations under our repurchase and/or guaranteed depreciation arrangements, the significant decline in travel demand as a result of COVID-19, including the current and any further disruptions in airline passenger traffic, the absence of an improvement in or any further deterioration in economic conditions generally, particularly during our peak season and/or in key market segments, any occurrence or threat of terrorism, the current and any future pandemic diseases or other natural disasters, any changes to the cost or supply of fuel, risks related to acquisitions or integration of acquired businesses, risks associated with litigation, governmental or regulatory inquiries or investigations, risks related to the security of our information technology systems, disruptions in our communication networks, changes in tax or other regulations, a significant increase in interest rates or borrowing costs, our ability to obtain financing for our global operations, including the funding of our vehicle fleet via asset-backed securities markets, any fluctuations related to the mark-to-market of derivatives which hedge our exposure to exchange rates, interest rates and fuel costs, our ability to meet the covenants contained in the agreements governing our indebtedness, and our ability to accurately estimate our future results and implement our cost savings actions. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on the Company’s performance or achievements. Important assumptions and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified in Avis Budget Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in other filings and furnishings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) from time to time. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Key Metrics
This release, including the Outlook section, includes financial measures such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Free Cash Flow, as well as other financial measures that are not considered generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures as defined under SEC rules. Important information regarding such measures is contained in the financial tables to this release and in Appendix I, including the definitions of these measures and reconciliations to the closest comparable GAAP measures. The Company and its management believe that these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors in measuring the comparable results of the Company period-over-period. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Free Cash Flow, Adjusted pretax income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss) and Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share are net income (loss), net cash provided by operating activities, income (loss) before income taxes, net income (loss) and diluted earnings (loss) per share, respectively. Foreign currency translation effects on the Company’s results are quantified by translating the current period’s non-U.S. dollar-denominated results using the currency exchange rates of the prior period of comparison including any related gains and losses on currency hedges. Per-unit fleet costs, which represent vehicle depreciation, lease charges and gain or loss on vehicle sales, divided by average rental fleet, are calculated on a per-month basis.
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