Hertz's 2010 Profit 'Significantly' Beats Company Forecast

Hertz Global Holdings's (HTZ) fourth-quarter profit "significantly beat" the company's earnings guidance, CEO Mark Frissora said in a statement Monday. He didn't disclose the earnings numbers, but attributed the gain to more efficient operations.

Hertz appears to have continued to benefit from a strong used-car market, which helps the company's bottom line because it sells its cars to the public, once its retired them from rental service. The company, which failed in its bid last year to acquire smaller competitor Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (DTG), doubled its third-quarter profit from a year earlier.

Hertz in October said its 2010 adjusted diluted earnings would come to between 47 cents and 48 cents per share, which would have represented about a 64% jump from a year earlier. On Monday, the company said that its 2010 revenue did meet its prior estimate of between $7.5 billion and $7.7 billion, or a 7% increase year over year.

Shares of Hertz rose 3.2% to $14.40 in New York Stock Exchange trading on Monday.