MPTC eyes P7-billion revenues this year

MANILA, Philippines - Highway operator Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is looking at over P7 billion in revenues this year, higher than the estimated P6 billion recorded in 2011.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez said last year’s performance was held down by high prices of oil and the expiry of unit Manila North Tollways Corp.’s income tax holiday.

MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said traffic declined by one percent last year at 158,000 vehicle entries but is hopeful that 2012 would be a much better year with traffic seen to rise by three percent.

MNTC holds the concession to operate and maintain North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and is owned 67.1 percent by MPTC.

Tollways Management Corp. operates the NLEx for MNTC.

MPTC is expected to start construction of the Harbour Link, divided into two parts, Segment 9 and Segment 10 with the completion of the entire project targeted for 2014.

Meanwhile, detailed engineering drawing and design are underway for the connector road ahead of the Swiss challenge for the project. The connector road is a 13.5-kilometer, four-lane elevated expressway to connect the Harbour link to South Luzon Expressway at Buendia Ave., Makati.

MPTC will need to shell out around P32 billion for the Harbour Link and Connector road projects. Funding will come from a combination of internal funds and debt.

The group is also awaiting the formal takeover of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway concession which would see MPTC invest an initial P300 million to integrate the SCTEX with NLEX to facilitate seamless travel between the two highways.

The NLEX is the main infrastructure backbone that connects Metro Manila to 15 million people in Central and Northern Luzon, especially its key cities of Angeles and San Fernando Pampanga. It is the transport and travel lifeline of agri-industrial products and services to and from the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac and provides vital access to the two major Freeport zones of Clark, which has a burgeoning international airport and Subic, which boasts of a leading domestic and international seaport.

The SCTEX, the country’s longest expressway at 93.77 kilometers, seeks to transform the Central Luzon region into a world-class logistics hub in the Asia-Pacific region through the integration of economic activities in the Subic Bay Freeport, the Clark Freeport Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac and by linking major infrastructures such as the Seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark.