MPTC unit not likely to hit P8-B target

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), a unit of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), said it would be difficult to meet its P8 billion projected revenues due to the delay in the approval of an increase in toll fee.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez has expressed concern about the delay in the approval of the much needed toll increase by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

“As far as the whole year is concerned, we are pretty concerned with the tariff increases not being implemented up to now,” he said.

MPTC is the largest toll road operator in the Philippines accounting for 63 percent of the country’s total 320-kilometer toll road network. It operates the 76.7-km North Luzon expressway, the 14-km Manila  Cavite toll expressway, and 94-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway.

He said the volume of vehicles passing through the NLEX increased by 5.5 percent, Cavitex, eight percent and SCTEX up nine percent in the first half of the year.

In the first half of last year, average daily vehicle entries in NLEX reached 173,175 while that of Cavitex reached 101,908.

“The first half is within budget topline and bottomline. If the tariff will not be implemented, we will have difficulty reaching the P8 billion revenue topline,” he said.

The company is allowed to apply for toll adjustments every two years but approval is subject to certain terms and conditions set by the TRB.

MPTC’s Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) is set to submit to the TRB within the next two months the planned P4-billion expansion project at NLEX.

It intends to expand the Bocaue to San Fernando segment to three lanes each direction from its current two lanes each as well as the the Dau to Sta. Ines section to two lanes each direction from one lane each section.

TRB executive director Edmundo Reyes Jr. earlier directed operators of the NLEX, South Luzon expressway, and Cavitex to prepare their expansion programs due to high traffic volume by 2018.

MPIC sees further delay in the P18-billion connector road after the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an opinion on the legality of the joint venture with state-run Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC).