Dive Brief:

• Chief Accounting Officer Alexandra Brooks will take on the role of interim finance chief for Hertz Global Holdings following the departure of their CFO effective April 1, the rental car company announced Monday.
• Kenny Cheung, a four-year veteran of the rental car company who has served as its CFO since August 2020, has resigned to pursue another opportunity, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will step down from his role April 1 and remain with the company until April 14 to help with an orderly transition, according to the filing.
• Hertz has initiated a formal search process to find a permanent finance chief, according to a Monday press release.

Dive Insight:

Hertz is one of several companies to appoint an interim leader from its internal team in recent months, with notable companies such as food supplier Cargill elevating its previous interim to a permanent seat about a month following the interim appointment.

Brooks joined the company in June of 2020 as its SVP, internal audit before being promoted to SVP and CAO in October of that year, according to the Monday filing. Before joining the Estero, Florida-based company, Brooks served as VP, internal audit for global technology company Aptiv, and has also held executive roles for General Electric, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The CFO swap follows several executive moves by Hertz, including changes to its board, with CEO Stephen Scherr assuming the role of Board Chair in January among other new appointees. Scherr, a three decade veteran and former CFO of bank Goldman Sachs, became Hertz’s CEO last February, CFO Dive previously reported.

Hertz’s executive reshuffles also come a few months after the rental car business agreed to pay a $168 million settlement in order to resolve 364 pending claims from car owners who alleged the company had filed wrongful theft reports, according to a December 2022 report by Reuters. Full-year adjusted cash flows for Hertz remained at record highs despite the settlement, Cheung said during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call, with free cash flow coming in at $1.5 billion and operating cash flow at $2 billion.

Brooks will be heading up the company’s financial leadership as it takes steps to lower costs, with the rental company reporting stronger-than-expected fourth quarter 2022 results as travel continues to recover from its COVID-19 pandemic lows.

Demand for corporate travel increased 28% year-over-year in January, Scherr said during the company’s February earnings call, with international or “inbound” travel up 56% during that same period as well. Looking at the Americas, this puts corporate travel at about 80% of 2019 levels, Cheung said.

The company is “rethinking our approach across all expense channels,” Scherr said during the earnings call, with Hertz taking steps to expand its partnership with rideshare Uber and to growth its electric vehicle platform among other projects, he said.

Hertz is also moving forward with strategic investments in technology, with its migration to the cloud “progressing well and will allow us to operate more efficiently including through the reduction in considerable consultancy and operational expense by 2024,” Scherr said.