ST. LOUIS -

While revealing some highlights from its 2011 fiscal year, as well as providing its first-ever Corporate Sustainability Report — which details the company’s commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability — Enterprise Holdings also announced that it saw double-digit growth in worldwide revenues from 2010.

For its fiscal year ending July 31, the company posted $14.1 billion in worldwide revenues, marking a 12 percent climb from last year’s $12.6. billion.

Also of note, the company announced that its revenues for fiscal 2011 places it 16th among the largest private companies in the country.

Apparently, the company’s annual revenues also places it near the top of the travel industry, exceeding many airlines and most cruise lines, hotels, tour operators and online travel agencies, officials surmised.

Commenting on the significant company growth, Andrew Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Our strong balance sheet is a testament to our continued focus on customer service and costs, especially during tough economic times like these.

"Conservative and disciplined financial management is the key to Enterprise’s approach to corporate sustainability, which fully integrates our efforts to be responsible stewards from an economic, social and environmental perspective," Taylor continued. "Our team works hard every day to manage our company for the long term, and we are very proud of our continued growth across all lines of business in both the home-city market and at the airport. And our customer service scores have never been higher."

Noting other areas of company growth, at the end of this fiscal year, Enterprise’s rental fleet was up nearly 10 percent, resulting in the daily rental fleet exceeding 1 million vehicles. This represents the second year in a row of double-digit fleet growth, officials explained.

Moving on to highlight the company’s referral car sales division, more than 65,000 used vehicle sales moved through this division — which now operates more than 135 car sales locations countrywide.

And on top of bringing in more than $2 billion in corporate travel revenues, the company saw its total worldwide assets grow to $23.4 billion for its fiscal year, marking a year-over-year increase of $3.6 billion.

Breaking some of the company’s fiscal year highlights down by brand, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand launched a new marketing campaign, titled “The Enterprise Way”, which features employees explaining the brand’s “customer service focus, culture and heritage.”

The brand also acquired a few accolades in both BusinessWeek and Budget Travel magazines.

In BusinessWeek, the  magazine again named Enterprise to its annual list of “Customer Service Champs.”

Moreover, the brand won Budget Travel’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Award as their favorite rental car brand for customer service world-wide.

The National Car Rental Brand also found itself amid award winners, when Executive Travel magazine recognized National as the top rental car service in the travel industry, honoring the brand with its “Leading Edge Awards.”

Highlighting an interesting development within Alamo Rent A Car, this year the brand renewed a multi-year alliance with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, extending Alamo’s designation as the official rental car brand of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and Disneyland Resort in California, officials noted.

The company’s car-sharing and vanpooling programs also grew, as the WeCar by Enterprise program can now be found in municipalities and on corporate and college campuses in more than 26 states. Company officials noted that the program’s fleet includes alternative-fuel vehicles such as the Toyota plug-in Prius.

Also of note, Enterprise Rideshare was expanded into a nationwide program, and is now offered throughout the country.

So what does all this growth mean for Enterprise Holdings as a whole?

During fiscal 2011, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services maintained the company’s BBB+ long-term ratings.

Moreover, Moody’s Investors Service raised the long-term rating of Enterprise Holdings to Baa1.

Moody’s also noted that Enterprise Holdings "is the strongest player in the off-airport market and holds the leading share position in the on-airport market. Moreover, its competitive position within the on-airport sector has strengthened with the successful integration of the National/Alamo brands following the 2007 acquisition."

Commitment to Sustainability

After delving into the financial highlights of its 2011 fiscal year, the company also released its first-ever Corporate Sustainability report, which is designed to delve into the initiatives the company took to ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability.

First, the company’s 20/20 Vision Program hit the 4-percent target for energy usage reduction as past of the company’s five-year program, which is designed to reduce overall energy consumption, company-wide, by 20 percent.

On that same note, the company also took delivery of more than 150 full electric vehicles. The company also contends this number includes more Nissan Leafs than any other rental operator. The company was also one of the first to rent the plug-in hybrid electric Chevy Volt.

The company also designed another five-year plan, on top of its 20/20 Vision Program. 

Enterprise launched a new effort— Enterprise Sustainable Construction Protocol — to make all newly constructed and retrofitted rental locations sustainable during the next five years.

By using these new guidelines, the company began by investing more than $150 million in sustainable construction.

Holding true to its 50 Million Tree Pledge, Enterprise also funded the addition of one million trees to national forests in countries where Enterprise operates, as part of its private/public/nonprofit partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service.

"Many of our employees are interested in how our business touches the world,” Taylor surmised.

"And more and more of our customers, especially some of our biggest corporate clients, expect us to document and articulate our leadership role and commitment to delivering ‘shared value.’ So this is a responsibility we take seriously in every community and company we serve,” he added.

The company also joined efforts beyond its corporate borders.

It is now part of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders, which “represent the entire value chain of the growing electric-vehicle industry.”

Lastly, the company also became a corporate member of the National Clean Fleets Partnership, which was established to help large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations.

Commenting on these initiatives, Taylor stated, "We joined the Electrification Coalition and the National Clean Fleets Partnership because we offer affordable, accessible and flexible local car rental service in more towns and cities than anyone else.

"That means we play an integral role in facilitating sustainable local transportation options, regardless of whether customers are looking to rent for an hour, a day, a week or longer. We also represent a hugely significant part of the value chain for bringing alternative-fueled vehicles to the mass market,” he concluded.