Hertz Global Holdings, which owns Hertz Car Rental as well as Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., said it will be late in filing its second quarter earnings as it continues reviewing accounts from the past three years because of accounting errors. Hertz said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would not meet its Aug. 11 deadline or its five-day extension.
Hertz encountered errors earlier this year while preparing its first quarter results, leading to a late filing of its first quarter numbers. The company concluded it could not trust its 2011 financial statements and that it would need to correct 2012 and 2013 statements as well as a result. The accounting issues led Hertz to suspend an employee stock-purchase program and could also impact Hertz’ planned spin-off of the equipment rental business into a separate company.
“As a result of the ongoing nature of this review and its potential impact on the company’s 2014 financial results, the company was unable to complete the quarterly report by the prescribed August 11, 2014 due date without undue effort and expense, and will be unable to file the quarterly report within the five-day extension provided,” Hertz said in its filing.
Hertz announced plans in March to spit off the equipment rental business. While Hertz still expects to go forward with the plan, the accounting issues could cause delays, analysts have said. The accounting errors were related to depreciation of some non-fleet assets and other issues.
HERC, based in Naples, Fla., is No. 3 on the RER 100.
