SMC SLEX Inc., formerly South Luzon Tollways Corp., has increased its capital expenditure (capex) this year by 9 percent to P5.9 billion to fund the projects for the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).
Last week, the SMC SLEX board approved the additional capex budget for 2021 amounting to P459.7 million to fund additional projects for the expressway.
The original capex this year was P5.4 billion, withthe lion’s share allocated for the expansion of Toll Road 4 (TR4) at P4.6 billion, and P824 million for repair, maintenance and enhancement activities.
TR4 covers the construction of a new 66.74-kilometer expressway that will extend the SLEX operating toll roads from TR3 in Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Lucena City, Quezon.
Project construction is ongoing and is targeted to be completed by 2024.
In the first half of the year, SMC SLEX said its net income surged 84 percent to P1.3 billion from P713 million for the same period a year ago, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 43 percent to P2 billion from P1.4 billion on the gradual recovery of traffic volume.
“SLEX traffic volume in the first half of 2021 has been showing gradual recovery since the start of the year, and has already started to catch up to pre-Covid-19 levels. This was mainly driven by the expansion of industrial areas in Southern Luzon which is part of the government’s continuous support in the decentralization drive to stimulate business activities outside the National Capital Region,”SMC SLEX said.
Toll revenue in the first semester grew 35 percent to P2.7 billion from last year’s P1.99 billion, reflecting the improvement in the traffic volume this year compared to last year.
SMC SLEX is a joint venture between SMC’s MTD Manila Expressways Inc. and the Philippine National Construction Corp. primarily to engage in the rehabilitation, construction and expansion of the 36.1-km. SLEX from Alabang viaduct to Lucena. – Myla Iglesias
