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TULSA, Okla. — Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is likely to take in significantly improved corporate adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter, which would mark the sixth straight time the company has seen its year-over-year gains in this metric reach double digits, according to updated preliminary estimates for the period and an updated full-year outlook released Wednesday.

Specifically, Dollar Thrifty projects it will see between $70 million and $75 million in second-quarter corporate adjusted EBITDA. This would compare to $20.9 million in the year-ago period.

Included in the expected quarterly range from Dollar Thrifty are costs related to the company's proposed purchase of Hertz that total roughly $5 million. So, when these expenses are taken out of the equation, the corporate adjusted EBITDA would then total between $75 million and $80 million.

Moving along, Dollar Thrifty also said its gain in vehicle rental revenue likely won't be as high as previously projected. Officials are now expecting it be up in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent year-over-year, whereas previously they projected a 2-percent to 4-percent upswing.

Dollar Thrifty also projected that its fleet cost target will come in somewhere between $245 per month and $255 per month, which is down from the prior expectation of $275 per month.

Continuing on to full-year guidance, the company believes its corporate adjusted EBITDA for 2010 will reach between $200 million and $220 million, and this does not include the Hertz-related expenses. This compares to prior expected range of $170 million to $190 million.

Last year, the company reported $99.4 million in corporate adjusted EBITDA.

Next, Dollar Thrifty updated what it projects will be its fleet cost per unit per month for 2011. The new guidance is a range of $300 per month to $310 per month. The prior expectation was for a these costs to be $325 per month.

"The company noted that the ongoing positive effects of changes made in its operations and fleet management, combined with solid macroeconomic factors in the used-car market, are expected to impact fleet costs in 2011 and beyond," officials noted.

Dollar Thrifty emphasized again that the projected quarterly results stem from preliminary data. Updated information will be available when Dollar Thrifty releases its official second-quarter results.