MPTC expects revenues to recover in H2

MANILA, Philippines — The tollways arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) expects revenues to recover in the second half after operations were drastically affected by the community quarantine in the second quarter.

“What happened, particularly on NLEX, was that our traffic dropped, down to 10 percent of the normal. But in the course of the quarantine, starting late April, May and June, traffic started to recover and the revenues have gone up to two thirds, 67 percent thereabouts of what we were collecting pre-COVID,” MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said the group is optimistic that tollways revenues would return to normal, but pointed out that it would likely take a few more months before it hits the 90 to 100 percent pre-pandemic level.

“Most likely the second quarter revenues would be down compared to the first quarter and compared to the second quarter last year. But the trend line starting May then marching up through to June, we think the trend will continue through toward the end of the year.  I think the second half will look much better than the first half,” he said.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) earlier said the community quarantine may lead to a substantial traffic decline on its network such as the North Luzon Expressway and the Manila-Cavite Expressway.

“Of course we are going to be hit at first as most businesses, but the economy is showing some resiliency. Low oil prices are also helping in travel. So we continue to be optimistic,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan has said that MPTC wants to be part of the economic recovery program of the government as the group targets to finish as many projects as it can before June 2022.

The company expects to spend P107 billion to complete current projects plus an additional P25 billion if it secures the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway, for which it was awarded original proponent status.

Last June 15, MPTC opened a 2.6-kilometer, four-lane elevated ramp extending NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 to Radial Road 10, using C3 Road as its route.

MPTC’s ongoing projects include the NLEX Connector, Cebu Cordova Link Expressway,  Cavite-Laguna Expressway, Subic Freeport Expressway Capacity Expansion, and heavy maintenance program for the Candaba Viaduct.

In the first quarter, MPTC posted a core net income of P924 million, down 18 percent from the same period last year as a result of lower traffic on all roads due to the implementation of the quarantine as well as higher interest costs on increased borrowings.

Average daily vehicle entries on all four of its domestic tollways declined by six percent to 479,860 in the first quarter compared to 508,051 last year.