Hertz Gets Crushed After Withdrawing Guidance

REUTERS/Rebecca CookHertz rental cars are seen in a rental lot near Detroit Metropolitan airport in Romulus, Michigan.

Hertz shares were down more than 13% in pre-market trade on Wednesday after the company disclosed it was withdrawing its 2014 financial guidance.

In March, the company said it saw 2014 adjusted earnings per share of $1.70-$2.00 on revenue of $11.4-$11.7 billion.

In a filing with the SEC on Tuesday night, Hertz said it expects its results to be "well below" the low-end of this guidance.

Hertz also said it will conduct a review of its financial record for 2011, 2012, and 2013, and asses the impact, if any, on its 2014 results.

Some of the challenges that Hertz said will hamper its results include:

• Record level, industry-wide OEM vehicle recall activity, which has constrained the Company's U.S. fleet available for rent
• Significantly higher-than-expected adjusted direct operating expense in U.S. rental car
• Issues and delays associated with the installation of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and counter systems, which have adversely impacted anticipated synergy capture flowing from the Dollar Thrifty acquisition
• Continued soft demand in the equipment rental business segment.

In addition to withdrawing its guidance, Hertz announced that the lead independent director of its Board, George Tamke, will retire.