Revenues amounted to 136.9 million euro, a 6.1% decline due to a reduction in traffic aggravated by the calendar effect of the change in the date of Easter and to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar.
– International markets contributed 86% of EBITDA and 78% of revenues.
– Net profit amounted to 12 million euro, contrasting with 6.7 million euro in losses in the first quarter of 2008.
– In the early months of the year, Cintra obtained three new concessions (A1 toll road in Poland, and NTE and IH-635 in Texas), and refinanced all the debt maturing in 2009.
– Cintra has modified the method of recognising jointly-controlled concessions. As a result, four concessions (Central Greece, Ionian Roads, Indiana Toll Road and Autopista Trados 45) which were proportionately consolidated are now equity accounted. Additionally, the Car Parks business and Cintra Chile have been reclassified as discontinued operations since they have been designated as available for sale.
Madrid, 5 May 2009. Cintra, the Ferrovial subsidiary specialised in bidding for and managing toll roads and car parks, obtained 95.8 million euro in EBITDA in the first quarter of 2009, a decline of 4.1% with respect to the same period of 2008 due basically to a decline in traffic and to the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. International business now accounts for 86.1% of EBITDA.
Net revenues amounted to 136.9 million euro, affected by the decline in traffic, the change in the date of Easter, depreciation of the Canadian dollar, and the fact that 1Q08 had one extra day (2008 was a leap year).
The EBITDA margin increased by 1.5 percentage points to 70%. EBIT totalled 71.9 million euro, and net attributable profit amounted to 12 million euro, contrasting with 6.7 million euro in losses reported in 1Q08. Cintra’s debt amounted to 6,264 million euro at the end of March. In January, the company refinanced the debt maturing this year at 407 ETR and extended the finance for Radial 4. With these two deals, Cintra has refinanced all its 2009 debt maturities, evidencing its ability to raise funding despite market turbulence.
TOLL ROADS
During the quarter, the toll roads were affected by the economic deceleration, leading to a reduction in private trips and freight traffic. Additionally, the change in the Easter date affected each toll road differently, and there was one day less this year compared with 1Q08. Performance by Cintra’s main assets was as follows:
- 407 ETR: Revenues remained almost flat in local currency terms as the toll increase practically offset the decline in traffic attributable to the economic slowdown. However, the depreciation of the Canadian dollar reduced revenues by 5.7% in euro terms to 73.8 million euro. Additionally, operational improvements on the road elevated the EBITDA margin to 76.5% (from 75.7% in 1Q08). New tolls came into force on 1 February.
- Autema: The toll road increased revenues by 7.1% despite the reduction in traffic (-11.3%), since the concession agreement mitigates the impact of a decline in revenues. EBITDA increased by 12.9% to 11 million euro.
- Chicago Skyway: Although the US toll road experienced a 2% decline in traffic overall in the quarter, March saw the first month-on-month increase in traffic since August 2007. Revenues amounted to 10.6 million euro (a 13.2% increase), supported by the euro’s depreciation. EBITDA increased by 14.9% to 8.4 million euro.
- Ausol: Traffic on Ausol I and Ausol II reflected the impact of the economic slowdown, which is being felt particularly intensely on the coast due to the sharp decline in real estate and construction activity. Revenues on both roads reflected the calendar effect of the change in Easter, exacerbated by the fact that light vehicles are charged a premium toll in Easter week and the following week. In this context, revenues amounted to 9.9 million euro and EBITDA to 7 million euro.
EQUITY ACCOUNTING
Cintra has modified the method of recognising joint ventures. As a result, four concessions (Central Greece, Ionian Roads, Indiana Toll Road and Autopista Trados 45) which were proportionately consolidated are now equity accounted. The largest of the four, Indiana Toll Road, increased revenues by 15.8% in the quarter to 12.5 million euro due to the toll increase introduced last year and the dollar’s appreciation against the euro. Traffic declined by 10.7%.
DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
- Cintra Chile: Traffic performance on the Chilean toll roads improved. Traffic increased on the Santiago-Talca (+6.4%), Talca-Chillán (+0.8%), Chillán-Collipulli (+0.1%) and Collipulli-Temuco (+1%) toll roads, whereas average daily traffic declined by 0.7% on the Temuco-Río Bueno toll road. Revenues increased by 10.2% in local currency to 44,496 million pesos (57.4 million euro). EBITDA amounted to 42.4 million euro.
- Car Parks: Cintra Aparcamientos obtained 34.8 million euro in revenues during the quarter, a 0.6% increase. EBITDA increased by 11.4% to 14.3 million euro. The number of managed parking spaces expanded by 32,038 (12%). The bulk of that increase was due to the addition of the Stansted airport contract (28,363 spaces), which has been consolidated since October 2008.
THREE NEW CONCESSIONS
In the first quarter of 2009, Cintra signed an agreement with the Polish Infrastructure Ministry to build and operate the A1 toll road. The 180-kilometre road is part of the Trans-European North-South Motorway. The concession is for 35 years and investment is projected to total 2,100 million euro.
The contract establishes an initial 12-month period prior to financial closure during which the concession will be assessed and adjustments will be proposed due to the impact of the current economic crisis on the bid conditions. If the terms are acceptable to both the concessionaire and the Administration, the deal will reach financial closure.
Additionally, two bids headed by the company were selected as “Best Value Proposal” in Texas: the IH-635 Managed Lanes project (27.2 km, with a projected investment of 2,700 million dollars), and North Tarrant Express (21.4 km, 2,000 million dollars of investment). The final award of these two projects will depend on signature of the concession agreement and the obtainment of the environmental permits and committed government funds.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
- 407 Express Toll Route refinanced all of its debt maturing in 2009 (15 January).
- Extension of funding for the Radial-4 toll road (16 January).
- Entry into force of new tolls on 407 ETR in Canada (1 February).
- Increase in heavy vehicle tolls on Indiana Toll Road (1 April).
