The Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd is in pink of health. The company?s profit before interest & depreciation increased by more than 49% in 2007-08 compared with growth in the previous financial year. This was mainly due to a consistent increase in traffic and toll revenue besides a jump in other incomes, a substantial portion of which came after the implementation of the scheme of amalgamation .
Compared with the average daily traffic (ADT) of 68,648 vehicles in the previous year, the ADT in 2007-08 was significantly higher at 91,999 vehicles, showing an increase of more than 32%.
The income from operations for 2007-08 was at Rs 663.92 million, 40% higher than that of the corresponding year. The growth in income has outpaced growth in traffic due to an annual revision in toll rates.
The operating profit margin has been maintained at 76% compared with 75% of the previous year.
The Mayur Vihar Link Road project, which commenced in July 2006, has since been completed in two phases. The first phase was completed and opened to traffic on June 15, 2007, and the second one on January 19, 2008. The average traffic on this road was 7,322 vehicles a in the January- March 2008 quarter.
As announced earlier, the company has prepaid the term loans worth Rs 1.57 billion, with annual interests between 8.5% and 12.5%, using the proceeds from a GDR launched in March 2006. Coupled with this, the restructuring of the deep discount bonds (completed in 2005-2006) and the implementation of the Scheme of Amalgamation, have led to a reduction of over 17 % in finance charges over the previous year.
The company has not declared any dividends since incorporation. The directors intended to recommend payment of dividends only after profitabily was established, a company executive said. The board of directors is expected to put in place an appropriate dividend policy during the current financial year.