Avis 2014 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Global Expansion: We expanded our presence in our existing markets, adding more than 150 new Budget locations
in Germany alone and new Avis locations from Argentina to Singapore. Our Apex Car Rentals brand expanded
its network with openings in the Cayman Islands and Costa Rica, and Zipcar launched new operations in Dallas,
Houston, Madrid and Paris, and at 16 major airports and 44 university campuses in North America. We also grew
our Payless brand significantly, adding more than Ƞ0 new locations in North America and more than doubling its
revenue.
We used our Free Cash Flow to acquire licensees in certain markets that offer compelling synergies. Foremost
among these was our acquisition of our Budget licensee for Southern California and Las Vegas, a region that
includes a number of major airports and international business and leisure travel destinations. Among other
benefits, this enabled us to open 60 new Budget locations in the region by dual-branding our existing Avis stores.
In addition, we acquired our Budget licensee in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and assumed direct operation of
Budget in Portugal. At the end of the year, we announced an agreement to acquire the Avis and Budget licensee for
Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which closed in early 2015. Earlier this month, we announced that we have agreed
to acquire Maggiore Group, Italy’s fourth-largest vehicle rental business. Each of these transactions provides us with
compelling growth opportunities and is expected to generate an attractive return on our investment.
Efficiency, Process Improvement and Cost Control: A key to our ability to generate record levels of Adjusted
EBITDA is our relentless focus on leveraging technology, best practices and proven tools to improve our systems and
operations, enhance our customer experience, and lower our global cost base. We continue to derive incremental
benefits from our Performance Excellence process-improvement initiative, now in its eighth year. And in 2014, we
launched another initiative designed to further ensure that we are maximizing our efficiency by standardizing and
consolidating certain functions and shared support services on a global basis.
Engaged, Service-Driven Employees: At the end of the day, we owe our success to our global workforce of
dedicated, hard-working employees, who embrace our core values of commitment, responsibility and integrity, and go
above and beyond to serve our customers and achieve our objectives. We have made a significant effort to improve
our Company as a place to work and inspire our people to be more engaged in fulfilling our common purpose.
The purpose of our business has never changed. We believe that the face-to-face and personal connections and
experiences that travel provides will always be an essential aspect of the human experience, no matter how
far technology-enabled connections advance. And by providing the mobility solutions that meet the evolving
preferences and requirements of travelers worldwide, we ensure that our customers can connect with what is
important to them. On behalf of our 30,000 employees who fulfill this purpose every day, thank you for your
continued support.
Yours Sincerely,
Ronald L. Nelson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
1 A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and net income, excluding certain items, to the most comparable financial measures calculated and
presented in accordance with GAAP can be found in our earnings release issued on February 18, 2015 and on our website at avisbudgetgroup.com.
This letter contains forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such statements. Important assumptions and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements are specified in our 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K including under headings such as “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”