PARK RIDGE, N.J. -

During the first quarter, Hertz Global Holdings trimmed its losses, improved its balance sheet and its U.S. car rental business and posted its best-ever adjusted pre-tax income. And it appears the rental-car giant may be in store for some more good news later this year, as it upped its 2011 guidance across the board.

Looking at its first-quarter results released Tuesday, Hertz’s adjusted pre-tax losses came in at $16 million, much less severe than the $69.2 million the company lost a year ago.

GAAP pre-tax loss escalated from $157.8 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $158.9 million in the most recent period — the latter of which included $90 million in debt-refinancing expenses. GAAP net loss slowed from $150.4 million ($0.37 per diluted share) to $132.6 million (diluted loss per share of $0.32).

Hertz incurred an adjusted net loss of $14.2 million. In the year-ago period, this sum stood at $49.3 million.

As such, the company’s adjusted diluted loss per share was $0.03, an improvement from $0.12 a year ago. Corporate EBITDA climbed 37.1 percent to $166.4 million.

Meanwhile, worldwide revenues notched a 7.2-percent year-over-year spike to $1.8 billion. The company reported worldwide car-rental revenues of $1.5 billion, which marked a 6.2-percent increase.

Worldwide equipment rental revenue jumped 13.2 percent to $268.2 million.

“We continued to make significant operational progress and balance sheet improvements in the first quarter of 2011. U.S. car rental delivered record first quarter adjusted pre-tax income results despite unusually severe winter weather in January and February, and Europe car rental performed well again despite an unsettled economic environment,” stated Mark Frissora, chairman and chief executive officer.

“Both businesses achieved their highest customer service ratings since we began measuring in 2007. HERC continued to rebound from a three-year recession, generating double digit revenue growth in a quarter for the first time since the last quarter of 2006,” he added. “In addition to almost $6 billion of debt refinancings in 2010, we executed transactions that refinanced over $4 billion of corporate debt in the first quarter.”

Overall, total debt dropped from $11.3 billion to $10.75 billion quarter-over-quarter. Net corporate debt was $3.76 billion, up from $3.36 at the end of the previous quarter.

“Total debt decreased in the first quarter of 2011 primarily due to the redemption of our 10.5% Senior Subordinated Notes and a portion of our 8.875-percent Senior Notes, partly offset by the issuance of $500 million of 6.75-percent Senior Notes in March 2011, which were used during the current quarter to redeem an additional portion of our 8.875-percent Senior Notes, and an increase in fleet debt related to seasonality,” the company explained.

Meanwhile, it noted that: “Net corporate debt increased primarily due to the timing of issuances and redemptions of corporate debt, which had a net impact of decreasing cash and cash equivalents and decreasing corporate debt during the quarter.”

The company had $165.6 million in net cash provided by operating activities at the end of the first quarter. This is down from $284.7 million at the end of the previous quarter. Officials attributed this drop to “the premiums paid to redeem debt in 2011, timing of interest payments, the increased cost of gasoline and parts inventory and, in 2010, a reimbursement received from a fleet supplier which was not repeated this year.”

Looking forward, Hertz provided data regarding its revised guidances for full-year 2011, as follows (with prior guidances in parenthesis):

Category                                                               
—Revenues: $8.1 to $8.2 billion ($7.95 to $8.1 billion)
—Corporate EBITDA: $1.32 to $1.36 billion ($1.265 to $1.305 billion)
—Adjusted Pre-Tax Income: $595 to $625 million ($525 to $565 million)
—Adjusted Net Income: $375 to $395 million ($330 to $355 million)
—Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share: $0.85 to $0.90 (N/A)

“Looking ahead, we are encouraged by a currently favorable outlook for the peak summer travel season in our major car rental markets, by increases in used car residual values, and by general improvement in overall macro conditions which bodes well for HERC’s ongoing recovery,” Frissora stated.