Manila North Tollways Corp. said on Thursday net income rose 35 percent in the first quarter of the year, boosted by higher vehicle traffic volume at North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway.
The tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. reported a net income of P922 million in the January-to-March period from P682 million year-on-year.
The company attributed the higher net income to the increased toll revenues for the period, which expanded 30 percent to P2.56 billion from P1.97 billion in 2015 as a result of traffic growth and the inclusion of the SCTEx toll revenues which started on October 27, 2015.
Average daily traffic for the NLEX reached more than 214,000 daily vehicle entries, higher by 10 percent against the same period last year.
“Traffic growth can be attributed to the opening of the Karuhatan Interchange [Segment 9], and lower fuel prices,” MNTC said.
Vehicle traffic at the SCTEx during the quarter reached 43,000 daily, up 18 percent from 37,000 daily entries in 2015.
MNTC earlier filed an arbitration case against the government for failure to increase toll since 2013.
The operator of NLEx was seeking a P3-billion compensation as of end-2015 for the alleged inaction of the Toll Regulatory Board on lawful toll adjustments due since Jan. 1, 2013.
MNTC filed a petition with TRB in September 2014 for a bi-annual toll adjustment that was supposed to start on Jan. 1, 2015, as stipulated under the concession agreement.
The new petition is on top of the previous filing in 2012 for a toll increase scheduled in January 2013. The rate would bring the cumulative toll adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent was long overdue.
Toll at NLEx from Mindanao Avenue to Sta. Ines currently amounts to P218 for Class 1 vehicles (cars, jeepneys, pickup trucks and vans), P544 for Class 2 vehicles (two-axle trucks, buses and vans) and P652 for Class 3 vehicles (trucks and trailers with three or more axles).
