"The U.S. market has lots of potential."
Cintra 1st-Qtr Profit Climbs 79% as Traffic Increases (Update2)
April 26, 2006
Bloomberg
Copyright 2006
Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte SA, which operates toll roads in countries including the U.S. and Canada, said first-quarter profit jumped 79 percent as traffic increased and it posted a gain from the sale of a stake in a Spanish highway.
Net income was 5.6 million euros ($6.95 million) compared with 3.1 million euros a year earlier, Madrid-based Cintra said today. Revenue rose 24 percent to 185 million euros after it added roads in Chicago and Ireland.
Cintra, controlled by Spanish builder Grupo Ferrovial SA, is expanding in North America where it already runs the 407-ETR highway in Toronto and has projects in Chicago and Texas. The company gets about 68 percent of its revenue outside Spain.
``The U.S. market has lots of potential,'' Enrique Fuentes, Cintra's director of corporate development, said in a conference call. ``It's a market that is slowly developing.''
Shares of Cintra have gained 11 percent this year, valuing the company at 5.33 billion euros. They rose 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to 10.86 euros as of 12:44 p.m. in Madrid.
``Cintra released a broadly positive set of results, with foreign exchange appreciation against the euro netting a significant positive effect,'' Banco BPI SA analysts Bruno Almeida da Silva and Flora Trindade said in an e-mailed statement.
407-ETR Highway
The 407-ETR highway contributed 39 percent of total sales. The appreciation of the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar and the Chile's peso currency against the euro, as well as an increase in 407-ETR tolls, also helped lift revenue, Cintra said.
The company posted a gain of 9.7 million euros from the sale of a 1.49 percent stake in the Europistas highway in northern Spain. Cintra's debt increased to 7.74 billion euros at the end of the first quarter from 7.71 billion euros at the end of December.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 24 percent to 120 million euros in the first quarter. Sales at the car parking unit rose 17 percent to 31 million euros, the company said.
Cintra is interested in 40 projects in countries such as the U.S., representing total investment of 41 billion euros, and is under consideration for nine of those projects. The company is competing for the Ionian Road in Greece and the Malaga-Las Pedrizas road in southern Spain. It expects a winner or winners to be picked for the two projects this year.
Earlier this year, Cintra won a bid for the Indiana Toll Road after offering $3.85 billion with Macquarie Infrastructure Group. Competitors for this project included Spanish rival Abertis Infraestructuras SA, which this week agreed to buy Italy's Autostrade SpA for 12 billion euros in stock to form the world's biggest highway operator.
``I don't think this merger should change at all the competition landscape in our target market,'' Cintra's Fuentes said today.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Joao Lima in Madrid at jlima1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 26, 2006 06:48 EDT
© 2006 Bloomberg L.P. www.bloomberg.com
April 26, 2006
Bloomberg
Copyright 2006
Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte SA, which operates toll roads in countries including the U.S. and Canada, said first-quarter profit jumped 79 percent as traffic increased and it posted a gain from the sale of a stake in a Spanish highway.
Net income was 5.6 million euros ($6.95 million) compared with 3.1 million euros a year earlier, Madrid-based Cintra said today. Revenue rose 24 percent to 185 million euros after it added roads in Chicago and Ireland.
Cintra, controlled by Spanish builder Grupo Ferrovial SA, is expanding in North America where it already runs the 407-ETR highway in Toronto and has projects in Chicago and Texas. The company gets about 68 percent of its revenue outside Spain.
``The U.S. market has lots of potential,'' Enrique Fuentes, Cintra's director of corporate development, said in a conference call. ``It's a market that is slowly developing.''
Shares of Cintra have gained 11 percent this year, valuing the company at 5.33 billion euros. They rose 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to 10.86 euros as of 12:44 p.m. in Madrid.
``Cintra released a broadly positive set of results, with foreign exchange appreciation against the euro netting a significant positive effect,'' Banco BPI SA analysts Bruno Almeida da Silva and Flora Trindade said in an e-mailed statement.
407-ETR Highway
The 407-ETR highway contributed 39 percent of total sales. The appreciation of the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar and the Chile's peso currency against the euro, as well as an increase in 407-ETR tolls, also helped lift revenue, Cintra said.
The company posted a gain of 9.7 million euros from the sale of a 1.49 percent stake in the Europistas highway in northern Spain. Cintra's debt increased to 7.74 billion euros at the end of the first quarter from 7.71 billion euros at the end of December.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 24 percent to 120 million euros in the first quarter. Sales at the car parking unit rose 17 percent to 31 million euros, the company said.
Cintra is interested in 40 projects in countries such as the U.S., representing total investment of 41 billion euros, and is under consideration for nine of those projects. The company is competing for the Ionian Road in Greece and the Malaga-Las Pedrizas road in southern Spain. It expects a winner or winners to be picked for the two projects this year.
Earlier this year, Cintra won a bid for the Indiana Toll Road after offering $3.85 billion with Macquarie Infrastructure Group. Competitors for this project included Spanish rival Abertis Infraestructuras SA, which this week agreed to buy Italy's Autostrade SpA for 12 billion euros in stock to form the world's biggest highway operator.
``I don't think this merger should change at all the competition landscape in our target market,'' Cintra's Fuentes said today.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Joao Lima in Madrid at jlima1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 26, 2006 06:48 EDT
© 2006 Bloomberg L.P.
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, April 26, 2006
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