在五个月的时间里，赫兹从破产法庭走向了回购。参议员伊丽莎白沃伦对此并不满意。
这位马萨诸塞州民主党人周一给赫兹 (HTZ) 写了一封信，呼吁该公司尽管租车价格飞涨，但仍以高达 20 亿美元的股票回购奖励股东。
沃伦质疑赫兹为何将资金投入回购，而不是投资于可以缓解供需失衡的新库存。
“这一决定，以及赫兹破产程序前后采取的其他行动，”沃伦在 CNN 独家获得的一封信中写道，“表明该公司乐于奖励高管、公司内部人士和大股东，同时以创纪录的租车费用，而忽略了几乎让公司破产的近期历史。”
由于大流行摧毁了旅游业，赫兹于 2020 年 5 月申请破产，使其成为健康危机中最引人注目的破产企业之一。当时，赫兹通知了北美的 12,000 名员工，他们将失业。另有 4,000 名员工休假。
今年早些时候，一组投资公司在一笔交易中收购了赫兹，该交易最终包括另类资产管理公司阿波罗全球管理公司。赫兹也经营 Dollar 和 Thrifty 品牌，于 2021 年 6 月下旬成功摆脱破产困境。
到 10 月，赫兹公布了创纪录的调整后利润和企业利润率。赫兹表示，尽管租车量低于 2019 年的水平，但这被“定价能力的提高”所抵消。
沃伦在她的信中引用了杰富瑞 (Jefferies) 的一位分析师的话说，他估计赫兹 8 月份的每日租金中位数为 114.49 美元，比大流行前的水平高出 147%。
沃伦在给赫兹临时首席执行官马克菲尔兹的信中写道：“你欠你的客户和公众一个对这 20 亿美元回购的解释，以及这是否符合公司及其消费者的长期健康的最佳利益。 .”
赫兹周一晚间表示，已收到沃伦的来信，并打算作出回应。
当赫兹在 11 月底宣布其回购计划时，该公司表示，回购计划将允许“对业务进行持续且有利可图的投资”，同时利用“适度”的资产负债表杠杆。
租车费飙升近 40%
沃伦的批评是进步人士在通胀处于历史水平的情况下进行更广泛抵制的一部分，他们指责他们认为是企业贪婪和企业过度集中。
尽管将液化天然气运往海外是完全合法的，但沃伦最近猛烈抨击能源公司，尽管价格飙升，但仍出口创纪录数量的天然气。
乔拜登总统同样呼吁联邦贸易委员会调查非法行为是否正在推高天然气价格——这一举动被石油行业批评为“分心”。
当然，整个行业的租车费率一直在急剧上升，而不仅仅是在赫兹。
政府统计数据显示，10 月份汽车和卡车租赁价格同比上涨 39.1%。
贴纸冲击反映了多种因素，包括经济从 Covid 中复苏带来的强劲需求以及计算机芯片短缺导致的供应疲软。计算机芯片的缺乏导致汽车公司停产，限制了汽车租赁公司的汽车供应，以加强他们的车队。
这为汽车租赁行业带来了意外收获。 Avis Budget (CAR) 的股价在 2021 年飙升了 600% 以上。 该公司最近报告称，销售额比一年前几乎翻了一番，净收入猛增 1,400%。
“削弱资本储备”
赫兹表示，其 20 亿美元的回购计划将在该公司完成回购所有 A 系列优先股的交易后实施，其中大部分股票由私募股权巨头 Apollo Global Management 拥有。
沃伦写道，回购“削弱了资本储备，因为该国面临 Omicron 冠状病毒变种的新恐慌，这再次威胁到旅游业，”沃伦写道，“而且赫兹面临着公司需要多长时间来重建其租赁汽车库存的新问题.”
沃伦要求赫兹在 12 月 17 日前回答一系列问题，包括回购将对公司投资业务产生什么影响，何时恢复大流行前的租车库存，以及赫兹是否考虑降低客户价格而不是回购.
Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren blasts Hertz for $2 billion stock buyback while jacking up rental car prices
Hertz has gone from bankruptcy court to buybacks in the span of five months. And Senator Elizabeth Warren is not happy about it.
The Massachusetts Democrat wrote Hertz (HTZ) a letter Monday calling the company out for rewarding shareholders with up to $2 billion in stock buybacks despite skyrocketing rental car prices.
Warren questioned why Hertz is plowing money into buybacks instead of investing in new inventory that could ease the supply-demand imbalance.
"This decision, and other actions taken before and after Hertz's bankruptcy process," Warren wrote in a letter obtained exclusively by CNN, "reveals that the company is happy to reward executives, company insiders, and big shareholders while stiffing consumers with record- high rental car costs and ignoring the recent history that nearly wiped out the company."
Hertz filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 as the pandemic crushed the travel industry, making it one of the highest-profile bankruptcies of the health crisis. At the time, Hertz notified 12,000 employees in North America that they were losing their jobs. An additional 4,000 employees were furloughed.
Earlier this year, a group of investment firms acquired Hertz out of bankruptcy in a deal that eventually included Apollo Global Management, an alternative asset manager. Hertz, which also operates the Dollar and Thrifty brands, successfully emerged from bankruptcy in late June 2021.
By October, Hertz reported a record adjusted profit and corporate margin. Hertz said that although rental car volumes are below 2019 levels, this was offset by "improvements in pricing power."
In her letter, Warren cited an analyst at Jefferies who estimated Hertz was charging a daily median rental price of $114.49 in August — up by 147% from pre-pandemic levels.
"You owe your customers and the public an explanation for this $2 billion buyback," Warren wrote in the letter to Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields, "and whether it is in the best interests of the long-term health of the company and its consumers."
Hertz said late Monday that it had received Warren's letter and intends to respond.
When Hertz announced its buyback plans in late November, the company said the repurchase program would allow for "ongoing and profitable investment in the business" while utilizing "moderate" balance sheet leverage.
Car rental rates spike nearly 40%
The criticism from Warren is part of a broader pushback from progressives amid historic levels of inflation by calling out what they view as corporate greed and excessive corporate concentration.
Warren recently slammed energy companies for exporting record amounts of natural gas despite surging prices, even though it is perfectly legal to ship liquefied natural gas overseas.
President Joe Biden has similarly called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether illegal conduct is driving up gas prices — a move that the oil industry criticized as a "distraction."
Of course, rental car rates have been rising sharply industrywide, not just at Hertz.
Car and truck rental prices surged by 39.1% in October from the year before, according to government statistics.
The sticker shock is a reflection of multiple factors, including strong demand as the economy recovers from Covid and weak supply amid the computer chip shortage. The lack of computer chips has caused auto companies to shut down production, limiting the supply of cars for rental car companies to beef up their fleets.
This has driven a windfall for the car rental industry. Shares of Avis Budget (CAR) have surged more than 600% in 2021. The company recently reported sales nearly doubled from a year ago and net income skyrocketed 1,400%.
'Weakens capital reserves'
Hertz said its $2 billion buyback program will come after the company completes a deal to buy back all of its Series A preferred stock, most of which is owned by private-equity giant Apollo Global Management.
The buyback "weakens capital reserves as the country faces a new scare from the Omicron coronavirus variant that again threatens the travel industry," Warren wrote, "and as Hertz faces fresh questions about how long it will take the company to rebuild its rental car inventory."
Warren asked Hertz to respond to a series of questions by December 17, including what impact the buyback will have on the company investing in its business, when it will return to pre-pandemic rental car inventory and whether Hertz considered reducing customer prices instead of buybacks.
