Hertz Posts 93% Profit Plunge, Shares Sink

PARK RIDGE, N.J. (TheStreet) -- Consumers aren't shopping, they aren't traveling, so why would they need to rent a car? Well, apparently they don't, as Hertz's second-quarter, 92% plummet in profit would attest.

The massive decline sent shares of the car and equipment rental business down by 2% to $9.20 in after-market trading.

During the quarter, the company earned $3.9 million, or 1 cents a share, compared with $51.2 million, or 16 cents, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, the company would have reported earnings of 12 cents a share, beating Wall Street's expectations' of 3 cents.

Revenue sank 23% to $1.75 billion from $2.28 billion last year.

Looking ahead, the company expects full-year earnings in the range of 12 cents to 15 cents a share.

Rival Avis Budget(CAR Quote)plans to report its second-quarter results on Aug. 4, while United Rental(URI Quote)will release its quarterly numbers on July 30.

--Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.