CAR hire giant Avis Europe today said higher prices helped it increase profits last year despite the recession and warned that further hikes could be in the pipeline for customers.
Avis said it would work "towards a further improvement in pricing" amid continuing caution on Europe’s economic recovery this year and predictions of slightly higher volumes.
The firm posted pre-tax profits of 4.5 million euros (£4.1 million) in the year to December 31, compared with 3 million euros (£2.7 million) in 2008, after charges associated with a cost-cutting restructuring drive.
Avis, which cut the average number of vehicles operated by 15% to 100,034 last year, said reported revenue per day improved 0.7% for the full year.
"During the year we placed a daily operational focus on achieving further pricing gains to mitigate lower volumes," the firm said.
"In particular we kept a very tight control over fleet capacity, reducing our fleet more than the fall in volumes, to enable us to increase prices where practicable."
