Dollar Thrifty posts wider-than-expected Q1 loss

(Recasts; adds details)

May 12 (Reuters) - Car rental company Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc (DTG.N) reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by weakness in demand and pricing in January along with a rise in fleet costs, and said it sees a challenging environment through at least the first half of 2008.

For the first quarter, the company posted a net loss of $297.9 million, or $14.07 a share, compared with a net income of $5.2 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding non-cash charges related to the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets and decrease in fair value of derivatives, the company posted a loss of 77 cents.

Analysts were expecting the company to post a loss of 13 cents a share, before items, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales remained almost flat at $396.5 million, coming above analysts' expectation of $387 million.

Vehicle depreciation costs per vehicle rose about 31 percent due mainly to softness in the used car market, the company said in a statement.

For the full year, the company, which rents cars under the Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental brands, still sees earnings of $1.00 to $1.50 a share Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.14 a share, before items.