NLEX Corp. said Monday net income grew by 57 percent in the first nine months on lighter quarantine restrictions and the implementation of higher toll this year.
The operator of North Luzon Expressway and Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway booked a net income of P4 billion from January to September, up from P2.55 billion in the same period last year.
The company said revenues increased 28 percent to P10 billion from P7.8 billion on higher vehicle traffic due to lighter quarantine restrictions on mobility and supported by the higher toll implemented in November 2020 and May 2021.
It said that as of end-September, average daily traffic at NLEX reached 240,892 vehicle entries, while average daily traffic in SCTEX was about 52,742 vehicle entries.
Traffic figures for NLEX and SCTEX exceeded 2020 figures by 28 percent and 25 percent respectively.
NLEX said that in addition to higher traffic volume, toll revenues were also pushed by higher toll implemented in May on top of the November 2020 adjustments.
The adjustments in May were related to the third tranche of the 2012 and 2014 toll petitions while the November 2020 adjustments were for the add-on toll for Segment 10: C3-R10 Section and the second tranche of NLEX 2012 and 2014 petitions.
NLEX spans about 105 kilometers or 598 lane-kms and catered to an average of 201,790 vehicles per day in 2020. The expressway is the main infrastructure backbone that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon.
The company is building the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, an elevated four-lane toll expressway structure with a length of 8 kilometers passing through and above the right of way of the PNR starting from NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road Caloocan City and seamlessly connecting to SLEX through Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in Manila.
The company expects to complete the España Boulevard section, or the first 5 kilometers of NLEX Connector, by the first quarter next year, with construction almost halfway through.