The tollway unit of San Miguel Corp. said Monday net income grew by 36 percent in the first quarter on the back of higher vehicle traffic.
SMC SLEX Inc. posted a net profit of P964 million from January to March, up from P706 million in the same period last year.
Toll revenue amounted to P1.68 billion during the period, an increase of 13 percent from P1.48 billion in 2022.
SMC SLEX achieved an average daily traffic of 352,185 in the first quarter, almost the same level from 2022 ADT of 351,732. The average transaction mode for the period was 78-percent RFID and 22-percent cash.
Operating expenses decreased by 8 percent to P86.4 million from P94 million last year.
SMC SLEX allocated P7.4 billion for capital expenditures this year to partially finance the construction of an expressway from Batangas to Lucena and repair and maintenance of the South Luzon Expressway.
The company said the P6.77-billion budget for 2023 would be used to finance the TR4 Project and SLEX widening project.
SMC SLEX in March 2019 started the construction of the 66.74-kilometer SLEX Toll Road 4 that would connect Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Lucena City, Quezon.
The toll road will shorten the travel time from Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Barangay Mayao in Lucena City from the usual three hours to just 45 minutes.
The P26.1-billion project is expected to be completed by 2026. TR4 is a part of SLTC’冱 30-year concession which will last until 2036.