EBIT increased by 24.9% to 279.5 million euro
Revenues increased by 23.3% to 637.3 million euro
Growing international footprint: 74% of EBITDA and 66.9% of revenues came from other countries
A strengthened position in the US (Indiana Toll Road operation commenced, and agreement to develop a third toll road), entrance into the Greek infrastructure market and the award of a second concession in Ireland were the highlights of a period which saw strong growth in traffic
Cintra, a company specialised in bidding for and managing toll roads and car parks, increased EBITDA by 23.9% in 9M06 to 430.8 million euro, i.e. an EBITDA margin of 67.6%. In 9M06, 74% of EBITDA came from outside Spain, primarily Canada and the US.
Growth in the company's main operating and financial line-items was due to positive traffic performance on all toll roads, improved margins on the toll roads in Canada and the US as well as the R-4 (Madrid), and strong growth in revenues on 407 ETR in Canada. Additionally, consolidation of the Indiana Toll Road (ITR) and opening of the Madrid-Levante (AP-36) toll road in Spain and the N4-N6 in Ireland. And the operation of the Chicago Skyway for an additional month in 2006, plus a notable increase in the number of managed parking spaces.
EBIT increased by 24.9% to 279.5 million euro, while net profit was 11.9 million euro, compared with 36.7 million euro in 9M05, as a result of the higher financial expenses in 9M06 (9M05 was favoured by the reversal of a provision at Autopista del Maipo in Chile).
Revenues amounted to 637.3 million euro, i.e. 23.3% more than in 9M05.
Overseas revenues increased by 29.2% to 426.4 million euro and accounted for 66.9% of the total. Revenues in Spain increased by 12.8% to 210.9 million euro.
At the end of September 2006, Cintra had 8,823.6 million euro in net debt, 99.3% of which was project finance without recourse. Nevertheless, the company still has investment capacity to finance future growth using the net cash flow from the concessions, as well as the possibility of releveraging its projects and divesting more mature assets.
I. Toll roads: higher traffic, improved margins and new markets
Cintra's toll road area, including the holding companies, increased revenues by 26.1% to 539.7 million euro, 84.7% of the company's total revenues.
In 9M06, toll road EBITDA grew by 25% to 395.8 million euro and accounted for 92% of total EBITDA. Canadian toll road 407 ETR made a notable contribution to this result (44.2% of the total), and its EBITDA increased by 20.8% due to strong revenue growth and containment of operating expenses (as a result of lower winter maintenance costs and billing expenses).
The growth was also due to the consolidation of the Indiana Toll Road (from 1 July 2006), the entry into service of the Madrid-Levante toll road (Spain), consolidation of the Chicago Skyway for the full nine months, and the opening to traffic of the N4-N6 (Ireland) in December 2005. Also the full consolidation of the Talca-Chillán toll road in Chile (owned 67.61% by Cintra). The EBITDA margin in the toll road business, including the results of the parent companies, was 73.3%, with a considerable improvement at 407 ETR, Chicago Skyway and Radial 4.
Traffic increased considerably on the main roads in the period:
- Canada- 407 ETR averaged 290,332 daily trips (+2.6%) and vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) rose 2.3% to 1,580,145 million;
- USA- Chicago Skyway attained 50,688 vehicles daily (+4.8%); ITR registered 37,107 vehicles per day.
- Spain - Ausol I registered an average of 21,350 vehicles per day (+3.3%), while Ausol II carried an average of 20,002 (+6.3%); Radial 4 increased traffic by 30.9% in the period to 9,075 vehicles/day, while traffic on Autema increased by 9.3% to a daily average of over 21,020 vehicles.
Highlights of the toll road division in the period:
- Strengthened position in the USA:- Cintra began operating the Indiana Toll Road (253 km) under a 75-year concession. The concession represents a total investment of 3.8 billion USD and it is the second toll road in operation to be privatised in the United States;- agreement to build, operate and maintain sections 5 and 6 of State Highway 130 (SH130) in Texas for 1.3 billion euro (the concession will run 50 years from the end of construction). This is the first of the concessions that Cintra plans to develop in the Trans-Texas Corridor, in which Cintra is also a "strategic partner" of the State of Texas for the project's 50-year duration. Additionally, the Spanish concession company has been operating the Chicago Skyway since January 2005, under a 99-year concession that cost 1.83 billion USD.
- Selected by Ireland's National Roads Authority (NRA) as preferred bidder for the 50-kilometre M3 toll road between Clonee and north Kells, to the north-east of Dublin. The project is estimated to cost approximately 600 million euro and the concession will run for 45 years.
- Entrance into the Greek concession market after being selected as preferred contractor to design, build, finance and operate the Ionian Roads project. The 30-year concession represents an investment of approximately 1.160 billion euro.
- Opening of the AP-356 Madrid-Levante toll road (177 km) under a 36-year concession. The road cost a total of 565 million euro and was opened in July 2006, five-and-a-half months ahead of schedule.
- Canada: 407 ETR implemented a toll increase in February; tolls for light vehicles increased by 8.7% at peak hours and 9.9% at off-peak hours; in April, 407 ETR reached a friendly agreement with the Province of Ontario to settle all their outstanding legal disputes. The settlement is due to both parties' decision to create a stable collaboration framework that reinforces long-term relations and provides advantages to the highway's users.
II. Car parks: the number of managed parking spaces grew by 16.8%, strengthening
Cintra's leading position Cintra's car park business registered 97.6 million euro in revenues in 9M06, 9.9% more than in 9M05, boosted by a significant increase in the number of managed parking spaces, particularly the entry into operation of the new T-4 terminal car parks at Madrid-Barajas airport and the Pamplona on-street concession. EBITDA in this segment increased by 12.9% to 35 million euro, and EBIT amounted to 22 million euro (+7.8%). At the end of September, Cintra was managing 251,268 parking spaces, a 16.8% increase year-on-year, thus firmly establishing its leading position in the domestic market. The number of off-street parking spaces totaled 66,354, an increase of 36.8%, and now represents 26.4% of the total; on-street spaces increased by 11.7% to 158,119 (62.9% of the total); and private residents' parking spaces totalled 26,795 (+7%), accounting for 10.6% of the total.
In the third quarter, Cintra Aparcamientos was awarded parking management contracts in Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona), the Sanabria Lake Nature Park (Zamora) and Muelle de las Delicias (Sevilla), and it obtained a 50-year extension to the Oquendo concession (San Sebastián). It also obtained contracts to manage on-street parking in Alcobendas (Madrid) the Ris and Tregandin beaches in Noja (Cantabria), Medina Sidonia (Cádiz) and Oropesa del Mar (Castellón). It also obtained a tow-away contract in San Fernando (Cádiz) and an extension of the tow-away contract in Punta Umbría (Cádiz).
III. KEY FIGURES
| KEY FIGURES
(figures in million euro) |
Sep-06 |
Sep-05 |
Var(%) |
| Revenues |
637.3 |
516.9 |
23.3 |
| EBITDA |
430.8 |
347.6 |
23.9 |
| EBIT |
279.5 |
223.8 |
24.9 |
| Net income |
11.9 |
36.7 |
--67.6 |
| TOLL ROADS TRAFFICS |
Sep-06 |
Sep-05 |
Var (%) |
| 407 ETR
VKT 407 ETR |
290,332
1,580,145 |
283,065
1,543,928 |
2.6
2.3 |
| Chicago Skyway |
50,688 |
48.368 |
4.8 |
| Indiana Toll Road |
37,107 |
|
|
| Ausol I |
21,350 |
20,664 |
3.3 |
| Ausol II |
20,020 |
18,815 |
6.3 |
| Autema |
21,020 |
19,230 |
9.3 |
| R4 |
9,075 |
6,930 |
30.9 |
|
|
|
|
| Parking spaces |
251,268 |
215,058 |
16.8 |
