Rising fuel prices hit toll roads Down Under
Toll roads bow to the bowser as petrol wins war of the wallets
July 14, 2006
Rod Myer
The Age (Australia)
Copyright 2006
RISING petrol prices are starting to hurt Australia's growing toll-road sector, with traffic numbers weakening as the price at the bowser rises.
Analysts found fewer motorists were using listed company toll roads.
Andrew Chambers, an analyst with Austock Securities, said he believed the spike in petrol prices was linked to a 2 to 3 per cent drop in toll-road traffic.
Mr Chambers said CityLink reported a 0.6 per cent increase in traffic volumes in the June quarter when the average growth over the year to June 30 was 3.05 per cent.
Traffic figures on the newly built Westlink M7 in Sydney over the past three months "had been stagnant when we would have expected them to grow at about 2 per cent per month", Mr Chambers said.
The M7 is a Transurban and Macquarie Infrastructure Group venture.
Last month, MIG's Sydney roadways — the Eastern Distributor and M5 — reported traffic increases of 2.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent on a year earlier. For the June half-year, the rises were 4.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.
MIG's Canadian investment, Route 407, experienced an even bigger slump, with traffic last month up 0.5 per cent. For the six months to June 30 it was 3.3 per cent.
JPMorgan analyst Kirsty Mackay-Fisher observed similar trends but did not believe the drop in figures would significantly affect the companies' returns. "It's a marginal impact."
Ms Mackay-Fisher said the dampening effect of rising fuel prices was showing up more at weekends and holidays than on weekdays. That was because motorists were more likely to drop recreational trips.
Mr Chambers agreed that the figures were lower at weekends, saying that CityLink traffic had risen 1.8 per cent on weekdays during the past quarter, compared with only 0.6 per cent for the average of all days.
Both analysts said the traffic drops tended to be short-lived, with motorists returning to the roads once they got used to the higher prices.
Transurban spokesman Andrew Head said the company had regularly surveyed the effects of petrol prices and could find no correlation with traffic levels.
A MIG spokeswoman said it was difficult to say what caused traffic fluctuations, and all the company's roads were experiencing growth.
The reporter owns Transurban shares.
© 2006 The Age : www.theage.com
July 14, 2006
Rod Myer
The Age (Australia)
Copyright 2006
RISING petrol prices are starting to hurt Australia's growing toll-road sector, with traffic numbers weakening as the price at the bowser rises.
Analysts found fewer motorists were using listed company toll roads.
Andrew Chambers, an analyst with Austock Securities, said he believed the spike in petrol prices was linked to a 2 to 3 per cent drop in toll-road traffic.
Mr Chambers said CityLink reported a 0.6 per cent increase in traffic volumes in the June quarter when the average growth over the year to June 30 was 3.05 per cent.
Traffic figures on the newly built Westlink M7 in Sydney over the past three months "had been stagnant when we would have expected them to grow at about 2 per cent per month", Mr Chambers said.
The M7 is a Transurban and Macquarie Infrastructure Group venture.
Last month, MIG's Sydney roadways — the Eastern Distributor and M5 — reported traffic increases of 2.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent on a year earlier. For the June half-year, the rises were 4.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.
MIG's Canadian investment, Route 407, experienced an even bigger slump, with traffic last month up 0.5 per cent. For the six months to June 30 it was 3.3 per cent.
JPMorgan analyst Kirsty Mackay-Fisher observed similar trends but did not believe the drop in figures would significantly affect the companies' returns. "It's a marginal impact."
Ms Mackay-Fisher said the dampening effect of rising fuel prices was showing up more at weekends and holidays than on weekdays. That was because motorists were more likely to drop recreational trips.
Mr Chambers agreed that the figures were lower at weekends, saying that CityLink traffic had risen 1.8 per cent on weekdays during the past quarter, compared with only 0.6 per cent for the average of all days.
Both analysts said the traffic drops tended to be short-lived, with motorists returning to the roads once they got used to the higher prices.
Transurban spokesman Andrew Head said the company had regularly surveyed the effects of petrol prices and could find no correlation with traffic levels.
A MIG spokeswoman said it was difficult to say what caused traffic fluctuations, and all the company's roads were experiencing growth.
The reporter owns Transurban shares.
© 2006 The Age :
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Friday, July 14, 2006
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