Metro Pacific unit seen missing revenue target this year

MANILA, Philippines—Highway operator Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) may miss its revenue target for the year despite a recent increase in toll rates, given the dampening effect of high oil prices on vehicle traffic.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez said the typhoons last September and early this month that led to school and work cancellations have also resulted in fewer cars passing through the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), which the firm operates.

“We’re coping. Our top line is still better year on year, but the volume of cars is flat,” he told reporters.

Fernandez said yearend revenues might fall below the P7.8 billion the company forecast in the first quarter of 2011, which was supposed to be up more than 30 percent from last year.

This took into account the steady traffic growth and the recent adjustment in toll rates of about 12 percent. The company also hoped that the recent opening of its Mindanao Ave. NLEx exit, which made the highway more accessible to Metro Manila residents, would help drive traffic growth for the full year.

Mindanao Avenue was opened in June last year, making 2011 the first full year where its contributions could be counted.

Meanwhile, Fernandez said the company expected the official turnover of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) by the government to MPTC by the end of this month. MPTC won the contract to operate the new highway late last year.

Once in full control, Fernandez said the company could start the eight-month process of integrating SCTEx with NLEx, which will cost the company an estimated P300 million. “The integration can immediately start after the road is turned over to us,” he said.

Once completed, Fernandez said the better linkage should encourage more motorists to travel toward Northern Luzon, leading to higher revenue growth for the firm.

He said the company was also preparing for the upcoming “Swiss” challenge for the 13-kilometer connector road that will link the Metro Manila Skyway with the ongoing Harbor Link section of NLEx.

The connector road will be the last link that will fully integrate the toll roads running from Northern to Southern Luzon. MPTC was chosen as the project’s “original proponent” by the Department of Public Works and Highways. This means other companies would be given the chance to submit a proposal better than MPTC’s initial unsolicited bid.

To win the P17-billion contract, MPTC has to at least match the best proposal from other companies.