MANILA -Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is projecting 20-percent growth in traffic volume and revenues this year due to slated opening of more expressways and anticipated increase in mobility with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We expect a significant improvement,” MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco told reporters on the sidelines of a recent event.
For one, Franco said they were projecting more toll collections with the opening of the España-Sta. Mesa segment of the NLEx Connector by June. Motorists can now traverse the Caloocan-España segment of the toll road after its recent inauguration.
The MPTC official is also banking on the opening of more interchanges at Cavite-Laguna Expressway to drive the growth this year. The Silang (Aguinaldo) segment is targeted to be operational by June after settling the right-of-way acquisition that had delayed construction.
Overseas, the tollway company is also hoping to receive the contract for an elevated expressway project in Jakarta, Indonesia this year. Franco said they were negotiating the terms with the Indonesian government for the toll road project spanning over 20 kilometers.
“Hopefully, we’ll finalize that soon,” he said.
MPTC saw its toll revenues grow by 31 percent to record-high of P22.9 billion last year due to traffic growth and toll increases. Core net income, meanwhile, was up 46 percent to P5.7 billion for the period.
Average daily vehicle volume for local operations climbed by 19 percent to over 577,000 last year.
In Vietnam, daily traffic volume rose 73 percent to around 73,800 motorists. For Indonesia, the figure climbed by 21 percent to more than 268,000 daily.
The company completed last year the acquisition of Jasa Marga Jalanlayang Cikampek, which is the concession holder of the Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road. The expressway’s daily vehicle entries stood at 233,113 in 2022.
MPTC is Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investment Corp.’s toll road arm. Its portfolio includes the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), NLEx Connector, Cavite-Laguna Expressway, Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. INQ
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