The toll road cash machine and nearly monopoly, Transurban (TCL), has promised shareholders a rosy 2015-16 with higher payouts as it reshapes and integrates the Queensland Motorways Group as well as its Brisbane toll road business into its structure.
Transburban revealed a $182 million loss for the year to June 30 yesterday, compared to a $252 million profit for 2013-14, thanks to the expensing of $418 million of costs linked to its purchase of QMC.
The company said that on its – preferred measure, proportional earnings before significant items – there was a 38% rise to $1.3 billion and toll revenue increased 39.6% to $1.6 billion.
The company will pay a partly-franked final distribution of 20.5 cents per security (18 cents previously), taking the full year amount to 40 cents.
Chief executive officer Scott Charlton predicted this will rise 11% to 44.5 cents in 2015-16.
“We expect FY16 to continue to deliver benefits for security holders from our network positioning and operational efficiencies,” Mr Charlton said in yesterday’s statement.
"Transurban is expecting to deliver double-digit year-on-year growth in distributions again this year."
Despite the forecast, Transurban shares dropped 1.3% to $9.99. The wider market was off around 36 points.
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Queensland Motorways was acquired in July last year and toll revenue from the renamed Transurban Queensland, which operates Brisbane’s Clem Jones Tunnel, Go Between Bridge, Gateway Motorway and Logan Motorway, rose 6.8%.
“The performance of Transurban Queensland has been in line with our bid expectations and we expect to see further operational efficiencies as we continue our integration program,” Mr Charlton said in yesterday’s statement.
In Sydney, traffic rose 7.7% due to widening of the M5 and completion of work on the Lane Cove Tunnel.
Transurban’s other Sydney assets include the M2, the Cross City Tunnel, M7 and Eastern Distributor.
Traffic numbers in Melbourne rose 3% and Transurban sees further growth from the CityLink Tulla Widening project, which starts construction in October.
"This project will deliver much-needed additional capacity for a critical section of the Melbourne network,” Mr Charlton said.
Transurban said the increase in its US holdings in the 495 and 95 Express Lanes to 100%, from 77.5% and 94% respectively, was not reflected in this year’s results.
Toll revenue in North Virginia tripled after the opening of the 95 Express Lane in December helped traffic numbers more than double.
Analysts said that excluding these recent acquisitions such as QMC in Brisbane, Transurban boosted toll revenue by almost 11% over the year. Average daily traffic on its toll roads rose by 5%.
