The operator of South Luzon Expressway said Friday net income rose 12 percent to P2.06 billion in the January-to-September period from P1.84 billion year-on-year, driven by higher vehicle traffic.
South Luzon Tollways Corp., a unit of San Miguel Corp., said revenues from toll operations amounted to P3.55 billion in the nine-month period from P3.24 billion on year, after traffic volume improved and a relatively good weather.
“Majority of the vehicles that utilize SLEx come from the Class 1 category which account for about 80 percent of the total traffic volume, indicating high consumer socio-economic activity in the south,” South Luzon said.
South Luzon’s parent San Miguel earlier earmarked P13.1 billion to extend the SLEx from Sto. Tomas Batangas to Lucena in Quezon province.
The project is divided into five sections. Section 1 covers Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Macban, Laguna (10.58 kms); Macban, Laguna to San Pablo, Laguna (12.2 kms); San Pablo, Laguna to Tiaong, Quezon (8.1 kms); Tiaong to Candelaria, Quezon (14.4 kms); and Candelaria to Lucena City, Quezon (12.31 kms).
South Luzon said it planned to complete the first section from Santo Tomas to Macban by mid-2017 and the entire project by 2019.
The four-lane, expressway project is seen to make travel to and from Southern Tagalog provinces such as Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol region faster and safer.
The project is expected to cut travel time between Sto. Tomas and Lucena to just one hour from the usual four hours.
The SLEx-Toll Road 4 is the latest project in San Miguel’s infrastructure portfolio, which already includes the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, the at-grade and elevated Skyway system and Skyway Stage 3, the Naia Expressway, the existing SLEx and the recently upgraded and expanded Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, or STAR Tollway.