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Toll-road operator to gain from policy delay

Samuel Yeung

The Guangdong provincial government has delayed fully implementing its proposed toll-road management policy on Shenzhen Expressway until 2006.

The Hong Kong-listed toll-road operator yesterday announced it had received a notice from the Guangdong Price Bureau and the Communications Bureau last week, in which it was told it would be able to maintain its existing toll rates until July 31, 2006.

As a result, the toll-road operator said it believed its toll revenues and profit until then would not be affected by the proposed policy.

Shenzhen Expressway had estimated in March last year that under the new policy its toll income might fall 15 to 20 per cent this year and that its profits might also decrease.

The policy, aimed at unifying vehicle classification and toll rates for the province, had been previously planned to start this month.

Yesterday's announcement said Guangdong province would implement the system from August 1, 2006.

Spurred by the news, H-share Shenzhen Expressway's share price improved 1.29 per cent yesterday to settle at HK$1.57 for the day.

Meanwhile, the company said it had entered an agreement to purchase a 40 per cent stake in Shenzhen Fountain Infrastructure for 40 million yuan (about HK$37.48 million).

It has also agreed to provide two unsecured interest-free shareholder loans worth 330 million yuan to Shenzhen Fountain, operator of Shuiguan Expressway.

Shuiguan Expressway began operating last February and reported aggregated toll revenue of 70.18 million yuan up to November 30.

As at September 30, Shenzhen Fountain Infrastructure was valued at 405.52 million yuan.

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