12.06.2014

Hertz to restate results

Hertz rental has announced that it will restate 2011 and review two subsequent years of financial results to correct at least $46.3 million worth of errors in its 2011 statements.

The errors it seems relate to the car rental business and not the equipment rental operations. They principally relate to two issues: capitalisation and depreciation for non-fleet assets, and the allowance for doubtful accounts in Brazil. As a result it will restate the 2011 financial statements and review those for 2012 and 2013.

Many market commentators are asking if there was more to the departure last September of chief financial officer Elyse Douglas. At the time she said that she did not wish to relocate to the new company headquarters in Florida.

One result of this affair is to focus attention again on sharp practices within the car rental industry, such as overcharging for damage and retrospectively debiting credit cards for unauthorised charges.