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February 23, 2010
Feb 23 (Reuters) - Car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ.N) posted a narrower quarterly loss, helped by improvements in the U.S. car rental business and cost cuts.
For the fourth quarter, the company reported net loss of $30.9 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.21 billion, or $3.77 a share, a year ago.
Excluding items, it earned 6 cents a share.
Revenue for the quarter fell about 3 percent to $1.74 billion.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 1 cent a share, before special items, on revenue of $1.70 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total expenses dropped by 44 percent to $1.80 billion. It had recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $1.17 billion in the year-ago period.
"In 2010, we expect to take more costs out of our business processes, further develop new revenue sources, and open over 150 new rental locations in the U.S. and internationally," Chief Executive Mark Frissora said in a statement.
Shares of the company closed at $10.52 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Fareha Khan in Bangalore)