MANILA, Philippines - Net earnings of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Manila North Tol lways Corp. (MNTC) grew 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago on the back of higher toll revenues.
In a filing, MNTC which operates the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Subic- Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) said its net income reached P921.61 million in the first three months from P681.69 million in the same three-month period last year.
“ Inc ome g rowth wa s driven by higher toll revenues, which increased 30 percent as a result of traffic growth in the NLEX and additional revenues from SCTEX,” MNTC said.
Tol l revenues reached P2.56 billion in the first quar ter, higher than the P1.97 billion posted during the first quarter of last year due to higher traffic volume and the addition of SCTEX toll revenues.
NLEX had more than 214,000 daily vehicle entries from January to March, a 10 percent uptick from the average daily traffic seen in the same period in the previous year.
“Traffic growth can be attributed to the opening of the Karuhatan Interchange (Segment 9), and lower fuel prices,” MNTC said. Meanwhi le, t raff ic for the SCTEX during the first quarter reached 43,000 daily vehicle entries, a 16 percent increase versus the 37,000 daily entries in 2015.
Costs incurred by the company also climbed 54 percent to P1.12 billion in the first quarter this year from P728 million in the same period in 2015.
MNTC recently completed the integration of NLEX and SCTEX through the unified toll collection systems of the two expressways to provide seamless travel to motorists.
The company has al so set aside P2 billion to makefur ther improvements to the SCTEX to better serve motorists. In particular, MNTC is undertaking road repairs and investing in equipment such as closed-circuit television cameras, emergency call boxes, and software to provide a more safe and secure travel experience to motorists.
At present, MPIC is the largest toll operator in the Philippines, accounting for 60 percent of the total 320 kms of toll roads.