FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — NationsRent reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $83.2 million, including $66.5 million in restructuring and other charges. Excluding charges, the company had a fourth-quarter net loss of $16.7 million, compared with net earnings of $11.1 million in the same 1999 period.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose slightly to $171.8 million from $170.9 million a year ago. For the year, NationsRent reported total revenue of $669 million, including $546.4 million in rental revenue, up 20 percent and 31 percent, respectively, over 1999.

NationsRent, which recently denied rumors of bankruptcy protection filing, said it is reducing annual operating costs by about $30 million, including cutting 546 jobs. The company is also selling and repositioning underutilized fleet.

“Our business experienced internal growth of 15.9 percent for the full year of 2000; however, we planned our costs and fleet for significantly higher growth,” said chairman and CEO James Kirk. “As a result, we experienced a significant mismatch among revenue, costs and fleet in the second half of 2000.”

NationsRent anticipates continued losses in the first quarter, but expects “to return to profitability in the second quarter,” Kirk said. “For the full year, we are planning to slow our internal rental revenue growth to a range of 8 to 10 percent.”

‘We experienced a significant mismatch among revenue, costs and fleet in the second half of 2000… For the full year, we are planning to slow our internal rental revenue growth to a range of 8 to 10 percent.’
— James Kirk
CEO NationsRent

Kirk added that the company expects to have 40 rental centers in selected Lowe's home-improvement locations by the end of the year. It currently has rental departments in 14 Lowe's facilities.