Dollar Thrifty Shares Gain On 1Q Results

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Shares of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. gained on Wednesday after the rental car company posted a smaller first-quarter loss that beat Wall Street's expectations and said it is reducing its exposure to Chrysler.

Dollar Thrifty shares jumped 52 cents, or 11 percent, to $5.25 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between 60 cents and $15.73 during the past 52 weeks.

For the quarter that ended March 31, Dollar Thrifty booked a loss of $8.9 million, or 42 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $297.9 million, or $14.07 per share, a year ago.

Excluding some one-time items, including hefty impairment charges in the first quarter of 2008, Dollar Thrifty lost 55 cents per share. That's down from an adjusted loss of 77 cents per share in the first quarter of 2008.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items, forecast a wider loss of 66 cents per share.

Dollar Thrifty said rental revenue for the quarter fell nearly 9 percent to $345.3 million during the quarter, as a sharp drop in rental days was somewhat offset by an increase in revenue per day.