The vehicle rental company, which trades as Thrifty in the UK, expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be somewhere between $75 to $80 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $36.3 million in the first quarter of 2011.

As a result, it is planning to revise upwards its full year profit guidance when it releases official figures for the quarter on May 9. It expects EBITDA for 2012 of somewhere in the range of $285 to $310 million, up from the previous estimate of between $275 to $300 million.

The company has benefitted from lower fleet costs during the first three months of 2012, helped by lower depreciation rates on its fleet of vehicles, and stronger prices for defleeted vehicles. It expects gains on de-fleeted stock to total $14 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $8 million in the same period last year.

In terms of rental performance, Dollar Thrifty expects revenue for the quarter to increase by around 2%, driven by improved fleet utilisation and transaction days which have offset a reduction in revenue per day.

In the UK, Thrifty has recently upgraded its rental fleet, adding 6,708 new vehicles to the line-up to ensure fit-for-purpose rental vehicles and also to broaden its spread of manufacturers represented.