PARSIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) today announced financial results for fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022.

We ended 2022 with fourth quarter revenues 8% above prior year and 28% above fourth quarter 2019, at $2.8 billion. Our revenues were driven by increased revenue per day and strong demand from both our commercial business and leisure holiday travel. Net income was $424 million and Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $658 million. Utilization for the quarter was 67.0%, showing that our fleet continues to be well positioned to meet demand.

Full year revenues increased 29% compared to the prior year and 31% compared to 2019, at $12.0 billion. Net income was $2.8 billion and Adjusted EBITDA was $4.1 billion, both full year records for the Company.

Our liquidity position at the end of the quarter was approximately $1.6 billion with an additional $1.9 billion of fleet funding capacity. We have well-laddered corporate debt and no meaningful maturities until 2024.

"Our fourth quarter demand was strong with our commercial business performing well above 2019 levels, and the leisure segment continuing its strong performance, especially over the holiday period. These trends have continued into the first quarter,” said Joe Ferraro, Avis Budget Group Chief Executive Officer. “2022 was a record setting year for our Company, and I want to thank our team, all around the world, for their outstanding efforts and look forward to another successful year in 2023.”

Q4 and Full Year Highlights

• Total Company revenues was $2.8 billion for the fourth quarter and $12.0 billion for the year ended 2022 driven by strong demand and pricing. It is the best full year revenue in the Company's history.
• Adjusted EBITDA in the Americas was $624 million for the fourth quarter and $3.7 billion for the year ended 2022 driven by record demand. It is the best full year Adjusted EBITDA in Americas' history.
• Adjusted EBITDA in International was $63 million for the fourth quarter and $560 million for the year ended 2022 driven by increased pricing and return of demand. It is the best full year Adjusted EBITDA in International's history.
• Our Board of Directors approved a $1 billion increase to our existing share repurchase authorization in February.

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¹  Adjusted EBITDA, as well as certain other measures in this release, is a non-GAAP financial measure. See "Non-GAAP Measures and Key Metrics" and the tables that accompany this release for how we define these measures and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the closest comparable GAAP measures.

Investor Conference Call

We will host a conference call to discuss fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022 results on February 14, 2023, 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 be available on our website and at (877) 660-6853 using conference code 13735409.

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. 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, future demand for our services, and global economic conditions 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, COVID-19, which has had, and 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 achieve and maintain cost savings, 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 volatility in travel demand as a result of COVID-19, 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, including class action lawsuits, governmental or regulatory inquiries or investigations, risks related to the security of our and our business partners' 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. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on the Company’s performance or achievements, such as the potential effects on the world economy and markets, elections and government shutdowns as a result of the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 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, 2021, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 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 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 as supplemental measures in comparing our results period over period. These non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as alternatives to GAAP measures. 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) attributable to Avis Budget Group, Inc. and diluted earnings (loss) per share, respectively. Foreign currency translation effects on our 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.

Contact
Investor Relations Contact:
David Calabria
IR@avisbudget.com

Media Relations Contact:
James Tomlinson
ABGPress@edelman.com

Tables Follow

Table 5

Avis Budget Group, Inc.
DEFINITIONS AND RECONCILIATIONS OF NON-GAAP MEASURES
(In millions, except per share data)

The accompanying press release includes certain non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) financial measures as defined under SEC rules. To the extent not provided in the press release or accompanying tables, we have provided the reasons we present these non-GAAP financial measures and a description of what they represent in Appendix I. For each non-GAAP financial measure a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measure is calculated and presented below with reconciliations of net income (loss), income (loss) before income taxes and diluted earnings (loss) per share to Adjusted EBITDA and our Adjusted earnings measures.

Appendix I

Avis Budget Group, Inc.
DEFINITIONS OF NON-GAAP MEASURES AND KEY METRICS

Adjusted EBITDA
The accompanying press release presents Adjusted EBITDA, which we define as income from continuing operations before non-vehicle related depreciation and amortization; any impairment charges; restructuring and other related charges; early extinguishment of debt costs; non-vehicle related interest; transaction-related costs, net; charges for unprecedented personal-injury and other legal matters, net, which includes amounts recorded in excess of $5 million related to class action lawsuits; non-operational charges related to shareholder activist activity, which includes third party advisory, legal and other professional fees; COVID-19 charges, net; other (income) expense, net; and income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA includes stock-based compensation expense and vehicle related deferred financing fee amortization in the aggregate totaling $13 million and $11 million in fourth quarter 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $49 million and $52 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

We revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA to exclude other (income) expense, net. We did not revise prior years' Adjusted EBITDA because there were no other charges similar in nature. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful as a supplemental measure in evaluating the performance of our operating businesses and in comparing our results from period to period. We also believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it allows them to assess our results of operations and financial condition on the same basis that management uses internally. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other income statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA from net income (loss) recognized under GAAP is provided on Table 5.

Adjusted Earnings Non-GAAP Measures
The accompanying tables present Adjusted pretax income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss) and Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share, which exclude certain items. We believe that these measures referred to above are useful to investors as supplemental measures in evaluating our aggregate performance. We exclude restructuring and other related charges, transaction-related costs, costs related to early extinguishment of debt and certain other items as such items are not representative of the results of operations of our business less a provision for income taxes derived utilizing applicable statutory tax rates for each item. A reconciliation of our Adjusted earnings Non-GAAP measures from the appropriate measures recognized under GAAP is provided on Table 5.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow
Represents Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities adjusted to reflect the cash inflows and outflows relating to capital expenditures, the investing and financing activities of our vehicle programs, asset sales, if any, and to exclude debt extinguishment costs, transaction-related costs, restructuring and other related charges, charges for unprecedented personal-injury and other legal matters, COVID-19 charges, other (income) expense, and non-operational charges related to shareholder activist activity. We believe that Adjusted Free Cash Flow is useful to management and investors in measuring the cash generated that is available to be used to repay debt obligations, repurchase stock, pay dividends and invest in future growth through new business development activities or acquisitions. Adjusted Free Cash Flow should not be construed as a substitute in measuring operating results or liquidity, and our presentation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow to the appropriate measure recognized under GAAP is provided on Table 4.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin
Represents Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues.

Available Rental Days
Defined as Average Rental Fleet times the numbers of days in a given period.

Average Rental Fleet
Represents the average number of vehicles in our fleet during a given period of time.

Currency Exchange Rate Effects
Represents the difference between current-period results as reported and current-period results translated at the prior-period average exchange rates plus any related currency hedges.

Net Corporate Debt
Represents corporate debt minus cash and cash equivalents.

Net Corporate Leverage
Represents Net Corporate Debt divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months prior to the date of calculation.

Per-Unit Fleet Costs
Represents vehicle depreciation, lease charges and gain or loss on vehicles sales, divided by Average Rental Fleet.

Rental Days
Represents the total number of days (or portion thereof) a vehicle was rented during a 24-hour period.

Revenue per Day
Represents revenues divided by Rental Days.

Vehicle Utilization
Represents Rental Days divided by Available Rental Days.