In the 2nd quarter, the net income of Avis dropped by 38%, following the company warning that the car hire business has been suffering. Ronald Nelson, the Chief Executive of the car hire firm, said that the high cost of fuel and the weakening economy started affecting the volume of commercial travelers during the quarter, and with that combined with mileage rates and hiring times being lower than anticipated, their 2nd quarter became a challenging environment to operate in. Avis is cutting levels of their staff and trimming the size of their fleet, as well as looking for other opportunities in their revenue streams, he added.

The results for the quarter were more than the estimates from analysts, which gave Avis a 9.2% boost in shares to 6.79 dollars during after-hours trading. Avis reported a 15 million dollar, or 15 cents per share, net income in comparison to the 24 million dollars from last year’s results. Their revenue increased to 1.58 billion dollars by 4%, and their expenses increased to 1.55 billion dollars by 4.8%. The mean earnings that analysts from Thomson Reuters polled was 6 cents per share on a 1.52 billion dollar revenue. The revenue of Avis in the United States increased by 4%, and their hiring revenue around the globe rose by 14%.

Avis gave a warning last month that the high price of gas, the lower-than-anticipated aircraft passengers, a lower commercial volume, and lower mileage and time rates each day are pummeling their business. In face of these factors, Avis is anticipating that their earnings for the whole year will be less than their results from last year, but they had intended a growth.

Go to www.avis.com to learn more.