InterAksyon.com means BUSINESS
MANILA - (UPDATED 6:58 p.m.) Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. will delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange in light of a bourse requirement to maintain a public float of 10 percent.
In a briefing, Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said the company will make a general offer to MPTC minority shareholders who make up the company's 0.15 percent public float.
"The direction we're looking at, at least for the moment, we're inclined towards delisting and when funding requirements are clear in the future, we'll come back to the market," David Nicol, MPIC chief financial officer, said.
The offer may cost P45 million based on MPTC's market value of P32.4 billion as of Thursday, said Christopher Lizo, MPTC chief financial officer.
Also on Thursday, MPTC announced that its net income in the first half of this year jumped 50 percent to P808 million on improved vehicle traffic along the North Luzon Expressway.
Its core net income rose by 12 percent to â±810 million in the January to June period from â±725 million a year earlier as a result of traffic growth and lower operating costs.
Average daily entries increased by 3 percent despite the 12 percent value- added tax on toll effective October 2011.
P32-B investment
MPTC said it is investing P32 billion for the construction of the Harbour Link and Connector Road projects.
This would be on top of the P6 billion the government will spend to secure the right of way access.
MPTC’s Harbour Link project will connect the NLEX to the Port of Manila and is divided into two parts, Segment 9 and 10.
The Harbour Link will allow commercial vehicles 24-hour access to the Port of Manila from the NLEX, and reduce travel time for motorists accessing NLEX from Western Metro Manila.
The government is securing the right of way access for Segment 9, with 40 percent of the needed lots acquired so far, ahead of construction, which will start at the end of this year to ensure project completion by 2015.
Detailed engineering, drawing and design are largely complete in preparation for the Swiss challenge and the award of the project later this year.
MPTC expects the Connector Road to increase traffic at the NLEX and South Luzon Expressway by enabling commercial vehicles to traverse Metro Manila without violating a truck ban imposed during peak hours. The new road also will cut travel time to 20 minutes from the current one hour.
MPTC also plans to invest P400 million to facilitate seamless travel between NLEX and SLEX.
InterAksyon.com means BUSINESS
BUSINESS NEWS
