IMPRESSIVE traffic volume and the rapidly expanding non-toll revenue base cushioned the negative effect of the delay in the implementation of a toll hike on the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), allowing Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) to book a net profit of P2.57 billion in 2014.
The figure was 8 percent higher than the P2.38 billion registered the year prior, after revenues from toll operations rose by 6 percent to P7.52 billion, MNTC said. Non-toll earnings also reached P121.79 million, a 14-percent increase from 2013.
That figure, however, was lower than the toll operator’s P8-billion revenue target for 2014. MNTC blamed regulators that, the company said, continue to postpone the increase in toll. Yearly traffic figures are constantly breaking records, with 2014’s numbers climbing to an average of 185,297 vehicles entering the thoroughfare to the north each day, MNTC said. The figure was higher by 7 percent, compared to the year prior.
This traffic growth was driven mainly by the sustained economic stability in the regions around the expressway service area, backstopped by robust vehicle sales and lower fuel prices.
Class 1 vehicles continued to contribute the biggest share in terms of toll revenues, while posting the highest revenue growth among the three vehicle classes.
For the year, both Class 1 and Class 3 vehicle traffic increased by 8 percent, while Class 2 traffic expanded by 3 percent. The growth in truck traffic was propped up by the diversion of cargo trucks from the Manila Port area to Subic Freeport.
“The demand for travel along the Nlex grows along with the growth of the regional economy. The regions served by Nlex continue to be the location of choice by leading commercial and residential real-estate developers in the country,” MNTC President Rodrigo E. Franco said on Thursday. “This reinforces the role of Nlex as main infrastructure backbone between the National Capital Region and the Northern and Central Luzon Regions.”
Franco explained the rise of residential development projects in Bulacan and Pampanga increases the customer base of the expressway, as the residents add to the daily commuter traffic to and from Metro Manila via Nlex.
“The improved and expanded road network in Northern Luzon, likewise, drove tourism travel in the region,” he added.
This year the company has set a more modest revenue target of P7.8 billion, or about 4 percent higher from 2014, due to the nonimplementation of the toll increase.
But, should the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) approve the toll adjustment, Franco said revenues could “easily grow by about 6 or 7 percent.”
The absence of a toll-rate increase could lead to the depletion of the company’s revenues, Franco said, hence leading to lesser financial muscle to implement the needed expansion of the toll road.
TRB Director Edmundo O. Reyes earlier said the country’s major thoroughfares would burst at their seams by 2018, if no expansion would be implemented. Currently, the Pangilinan-controlled expressway operator is spending billions of pesos to upgrade its services and expand the toll road to meet the growing demand for connectivity.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) executives continue to air with the media their “dismay on the slow implementation of the rate increase, despite being provided under the toll operations agreement signed with the government early on.”
“The toll regulator has not acted on the company’s two petitions, one filed in 2012, and another filed in 2014,” the largest toll-road operator in the Philippines said.
The first petition was due on the first of January 2013. The second one, submitted on September 30 last year, would bring the cumulative toll-rate adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent is long overdue, MPTC said in a statement.
The concession that the Pangilinan-controlled company holds allows for toll adjustments every two years.
Current toll fees at the thoroughfare (from Mindanao Avenue to Santa Ines) amount to P218 for Class 1 vehicles (cars, jeepneys, pickup trucks and vans); P544 for Class 2 vehicles (two-axle trucks, buses and vans); and P652 for Class 3 vehicles (trucks and trailers with three or more axles).
Franco said the preparations are under way for the turnover of the management, operations and maintenance of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority to his company.
MPTC operates 63 percent of the total 320 kilometers of tollroads.
“In parallel, implementation of the integrated Nlex and SCtex toll collection system is ongoing. This project aims to boost the capacity of the two road networks to handle the growing traffic volume and provide motorists seamless travel experience along the Nlex-SCtex corridor,” he said.
The two parties are currently in the process of obtaining final regulatory approvals leading to the transfer of the the 94-kilometer expressway to MNTC.
Construction activities for the second segment of the Nlex Harbor Link Project known as Segment 10, meanwhile, are currently ongoing.
This 5.6-kilometer, four-lane elevated expressway will run from the terminal of Segment 9 in Valenzuela City and go south to C-3 Road or 5th Avenue in Caloocan City above the alignment of the Philippine National Railways’ tracks.
The Harbor Link Project will significantly reduce travel time to and from the North Harbor by more than half, providing truckers a viable alternative route to the port areas in Manila.
Lorenz S. Marasigan