6 months ago
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Toll road operator TransJamaican Highway Limited racked up revenue of US$82.8 million ($13 billion) from Jamaican commuters traversing the Portmore-May Pen segments of Highway 2000 last year.
The collections were up 10 per cent relative to year 2023 and sets a new record for the company since its listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange five years ago.
“This was due to greater levels of traffic over the previous year, in addition to movements in the toll tariff which is reviewed annually,” TransJamaican Highway said in its newly released fourth-quarter financial report.
TransJamaican, a publicly listed company, earned US$31.3 million for the year ending December, one-third higher than the previous year, its preliminary results show. In the fourth quarter alone, profit surged by 43 per cent to US$9.3 million, compared to US$6.5 million a year earlier.
The improved earnings were also attributable to lower operating expenses, which dipped to US$21 million from US$22.4 million in the previous year. The main item slashed related to intangible assets, a cost that TransJamaican said was correlated to its “update of the traffic forecast” in the last quarter. It also benefited from lower repair and maintenance costs.
During the year, TransJamaican Highway also recorded gains from financial market operations and investments, earning US$3.9 million. Earnings in the prior year amounted to US$2.4 million.
Total assets grew slightly to US$293.9 million, while total liabilities dipped slightly to US$228 million. It resulted in a one-third rise in capital to US$65.3 million from US$49 million in the previous year.
“This was primarily impacted by principal repayment made on the secured notes, a reduction in the provision for pavement repairs resulting from works done throughout the year and was offset by the declaration of dividends for the year,” the company reported to stockholders.
TransJamaican was privatised by the Jamaican government and listed on the stock market in 2020. The largest block of shares, 20 per cent, is held by state-owned National Road Operating & Constructing Company Limited, better known by its acronym NROCC.
The highway toll company, which was formerly French-owned, holds a 35-year concession for designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the Highway 2000 East-West, a 50-kilometre toll road connecting Kingston with Spanish Town and May Pen, through the T1 corridor, and with Portmore through the T2 corridor.
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