NLEX Corp. said Thursday its net income grew 24 percent in the first nine months of 2023, driven by traffic recovery and increased toll.
The operator of North Luzon Expressway and Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTex) said it posted a net income of P7.07 billion from January to September, higher than P5.72 billion in the same period last year.
Revenues amounted to P15.67 billion, up 20 percent from P13.1 billion in the same period last year.
The company attributed the revenue growth to higher traffic volume and the impact of NLEX toll rate adjustments implemented in June 2023.
NLEX said all vehicle classes posted double-digit growth in revenues, with Class 1 revenues growing by 18 percent, Class 2 by 26 percent and Class 3 by 18 percent.
Average daily traffic along NLEX reached 321,384 vehicle entries as of Sept. 30, 2023, higher than the 2022 figures by 15 percent, while average daily traffic in SCTEX reached 77,878 vehicle entries or 10 percent above last year’s figures covering the same nine-month period.
Average daily traffic for the Connector Road Section 1 was close to 12,000 vehicles a day.
NLEX paid P1.39 billion in concession fees to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), representing 50 percent of toll revenues in SCTEX.
It said that as of the second quarter of 2023, concession fees increased 21 percent versus the same period in 2022, driven by higher toll revenues on SCTEX.
Philippine National Construction Corp. fee amounted to P792 million, which consisted of the government share in NLEX revenues.
NLEX spans about 105 kilometers or 598 lane-kms and is the main infrastructure backbone that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon, while SCTEX is a 93.77-km four-lane divided highway, traversing the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Tarlac.