Zipcar (Nasdaq: ZIP) shares tumble on weak guidance

Northern, WI 2/14/12 (StreetBeat) – Car-sharing service Zipcar Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIP) said Tuesday it posted a $3.9 million fourth-quarter profit, reversing a loss in the same quarter last year.

But the company warned that it expects to post a loss and lower-than-expected revenue for the current quarter. Zipcar shares tumbled $2.44, or 15.1 percent, to $13.70 in morning trading. They dropped as low as $13.51 at one point.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company's profit amounted to 9 cents per share and compared with a loss of $1.1 million, or 17 cents per share, in the 2010 period.

The recent quarter's results included a gain on the sale of zero-emission vehicle credits of $2.5 million, while the year-ago period included a gain of $1.2 million for that. Excluding the credits sale, profit in the recent quarter was $1.4 million.

Revenue rose 21 percent to $62.9 million from $52.1 million, as membership increased 25 percent to more than 673,000 drivers at the end of the quarter.

Analysts, on average, expected break-even earnings per share and $63.2 million in revenue, according to a FactSet poll.

Zipcar, founded in 2000, offers users a twist on the typical rental-car business. Instead of going to a rental lot, members reserve a car that's parked nearby, which they unlock with a keycard. Zipcar doesn't require members to keep the car an entire day; rather, the cars can be rented out by the hour.

Usage revenue, or the hourly charges members pay to use Zipcar vehicles, rose 18 percent to $53.3 million. Fee revenue, which was substantially the rest of the total, rose to 15 percent of total revenue from 12 percent a year ago.

Revenue from Zipcar's established markets of Boston, New York, Washington and San Francisco increased 22 percent to $35.6 million.

For the full year 2012, Zipcar's loss shrank to $7.2 million, or 24 cents per share, from $14.1 million, or $2.74 per share, in 2010. Revenue rose to $241.6 million from $186.1 million.

The company expects to post a first-quarter loss of between $4 million and $5 million and a full-year profit of between $2 million and $6 million.

Zipcar estimates revenue in the first-quarter, which is typically its slowest period, between $58 million to $60 million. It forecast full-year revenue of $290 million to $296 million.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect first-quarter revenue of $60.3 million and full-year revenue of $293.2 million.

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