EBITDA amounted to 96.8 million euro, up 36%
EBIT increased by 30.3% to 59.2 million euro
Revenues increased by 43.5% to 149 million euro, with over 62% being obtained outside Spain
Considerable growth in traffic on the main toll roads, commencement of operation of new toll roads in Spain and the USA, and a sharp increase (17.3%) in managed parking spaces to 212,000
Key events in the quarter: entry into the US (Chicago Skyway and Trans-Texas Corridor contract) and the favourable decision in Canada
Cintra, which specialises in bidding for and managing toll roads and car parks, increased consolidated net profit by 166.4% to 3.1 million euro in the first quarter of 2005.
EBITDA increased by 35.9% to 96.8 million euro and the EBITDA margin reached 65%. EBIT grew 30.3% to 59.2 million euro.
Net sales amounted to 149 million euro, i.e. 43.5% more than in 1Q04. This growth was driven primarily by: an increase in traffic on the main toll roads; higher tolls on 407 ETR (Canada); commencement of operation of the Chicago Skyway (January 2005) and the R-4 (Madrid, Spain; April 2004); and the inclusion in consolidation of the car park business as a result of the ownership restructuring prior to the IPO in October 2004.
Foreign revenues increased by 14.4% to 92.8 million euro and accounted for 62.3% of total revenues. Revenues from businesses in Spain increased by 147.5% to 56.2 million euro.
The 1Q05 accounts include the effect of the ownership restructuring in October 2004 on the occasion of the initial public offering. Therefore, 1Q05 differs from 1Q04 in the following respects: inclusion of the car park business; a 13.87% reduction in the stake in Canadian toll road 407 ETR, from 67.10% to 53.23%; and a 50% increase in the stake in Inversora de Autopistas de Levante, S.L, which owns 100% of the company with concession for the toll road between Ocaña and La Roda.
Toll roads: traffic increased strongly and operation of the first toll road in the USA commenced
Cintra´s toll road division, which currently has 17 concessions, increased revenues by 17.9% to 122.5 million euro.
EBITDA grew by 20.6% to 86.6 million euro in the first quarter of 2005. Canadian toll road 407 ETR made a notable contribution to this result (45.4% of the total), and its EBITDA increased by 18.7% due to a reduction in billing expenses.
Traffic increased considerably on the main corridors in 1Q05:
– 407 ETR registered 256,487 daily trips (quarterly average) (+4.6%) and vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) rose 5.6% to 441.8 million;
– Ausol I attained an average daily traffic (ADT) of 17,239 vehicles, and Ausol II attained 16,098, a 12% increase;
– Autema´s traffic rose 3.9% to 19,366 (ADT), while Europistas (A1) registered an 8.1% increase;
– Scut Algarve in Portugal also performed well, with ADT up 6.4% to 15,526 vehicles.
Highlights of the toll road division in the period:
– Presentation of a bid to build and operate the M3 toll road linking Clonee and north Kells, north-west of Dublin (Ireland);
– Selection as finalist for the construction and operation of a toll road in San Miguel (Azores islands, Portugal). The infrastructure, which will operate under the shadow toll system, has a construction budget of 300 million euro;
– USA: Signature of a 50-year contract to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor; commencement of operation of the Chicago Skyway (upon transfer of the asset by the City of Chicago), as well as financial closure and completion of the syndication of the loan on a non-recourse basis among 15 international banks in an operation that was 100% oversubscribed;
– January 2005 the Ontario Superior Court ruled in favour of the 407 ETR concession company and dismissed the Province of Ontario´s appeal against the arbitration decision issued on 10 July 2004, which stated that 407 ETR did not need any authorisation from the provincial government in order to increase tolls. This confirmed the trend of rulings in favour of the concession company in this dispute, which commenced with a favourable injunction in February 2004.
Car parks: the number of managed parking spaces grew by 17.3%, maintaining Cintra´s leading position in Spain
Cintra´s 1Q05 consolidated accounts include the effect of the ownership restructuring in October 2004 on the occasion of the initial public offering. Consequently, the car park business has been included; in 1Q05 it reported 26.5 million euro in revenues, 9.3 million euro in EBITDA and 6.6 million euro in EBIT. A comparison with the first quarter of 2004, when this area was not part of Cintra, reveals significant growth: 22.6% in revenues, 32.1% in EBITDA and 85.8% in EBIT.
At the end of 1Q05, Cintra managed 212,392 parking spaces, i.e. 17.3% more than in 1Q04, reinforcing its position as Spain´s leading car park operator. By segments, the number of off-street spaces increased by 7.4% to 47,971 (22.5% of the total); on-street spaces rose by 21% to 139,651 (65.8% of the total); and private spaces totalled 24,770 (+18%), representing 11.7% of the total.
The highlights in this division in 1Q05 include the award of a concession to build and operate three car parks (640 spaces) in Bilbao; and the signature of a new 20-year contract to operate a 576-space off-street car park in the Plaza de Indautxu shopping mall in Bilbao.
The company was also awarded the contract to manage on-street parking in the entire city of Toledo. The contract runs for ten years, with a possible two-year extension, and it involves managing 7,554 parking spaces and three tow trucks.
NOTE: The application of IFRS for concession companies is somewhat undefined at this time since, although general IFRS are applicable to them, a definitive interpretation of the specific regime applicable to concessions has yet to be published.
The draft interpretations published by IFRIC in early 2005 (D12, D13 and D14) envisage the possibility of not applying them pending the final wording, provided that the accounting principles established in IFRS are adopted.
Cintra has presented its 1Q05 results under IFRS by adopting the following approaches: It has not applied the IFRIC interpretations as regards the development of the two proposed models (intangible asset and financial asset); it does not capitalise financial expenses accrued after the end of the construction period; and it applies straight-line depreciation for the concession assets (except for Chile, where the concession terms are tied to the obtainment of a pre-agreed level of revenues), pending final classification of the assets in the IFRIC interpretation and the depreciation method which the latter determines.
