But market "improving"
Avis Europe reported a €34.6m pre-tax net operational loss for the first six months of 2009, compared to a €6.8m deficit for the same period in 2008.
The car company said its figures for the six months up to the end of June showed a 14.1% drop in revenues to €533.2m.
But Pascal Bazin, Avis Europe's ceo, said the last two months of July and August indicated the market might be improving.
Avis Europe said "rigorous" cost cuts of €82m, including a 10% reduction in staff and fleet reduction, had "mitigated" the impact of lower revenues by €87m.
The company said the cuts had also reduced its debt from €1,304.2m in 2008 to €912.3m this year.
Mr Bazin said: "We have delivered a resilient first half performance as our strategic positioning and the rigorous execution of our plan for recession mitigated weaker market conditions."
He said trading in July and August had shown "some improvement" in revenue trends and with revenue up and a "lower level" of decline in volume.
But he added: "Visibility remains limited and we anticipate continued pressure on consumer sentiment and travel demand in the second half.
"In this uncertain trading environment, we will maintain our rigorous operational discipline to further improve our cost position and business model flexibility."
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