NLEX Corp. said Friday net income fell 10 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, following the imposition of Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
The operator of North Luzon Expressway and Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway earned P1.3 billion in the first three months, down from P1.4 billion in the same period last year.
Revenues reached P3.4 billion, lower by 1 percent from P3.5 billion it posted in the first quarter of 2019.
“The decrease in revenues was due to the lower traffic seen during the government’s implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine starting March 16, 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic,” NLEX said.
The average daily traffic along NLEX reached 237,228 vehicle entries, while the average daily traffic in SCTEX hit 61,802 daily entries.
The traffic figures in both expressways were lower by 10 percent than the same period last year.
NLEX said the decrease in the traffic figures were offset by the implementation of toll adjustments in the open system arising from the completion of Segment 10 project effective March 21, 2019.
“However as, restrictions were eased, starting in May we have seen a significant improvement in the number of vehicles using the NLEX and SCTEX,” the company said.
It said that on top of toll revenues, NLEX also generated revenues from advertising, toll services and utility facilities and rental and service income in the first quarter amounting to P73 million, up by 1 percent from P72 million in the same period last year.
NLEX spans about 102 kilometers or 573-lane kilometers and services an average of 270,718 vehicles per day in 2019. The NLEX is the main infrastructure backbone that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon.
SCTEX, on the other hand, is a 91-km, 2×2 expressway stretching from Subic-Tipo until La Paz, Tarlac, connecting the special economic zones in Subic and Clark, Olongapo City and Tarlac City.