Cintra Quarterly Loss Narrows on Prices, Chile Demand

May 8, 2008

By Brian McGee - Bloomberg

Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte SA, the toll-road unit of Spanish builder Grupo Ferrovial SA, said its first-quarter loss narrowed as the company raised prices in North America and boosted revenue from Chile.

The net loss was 16.3 million euros ($25 million), compared with 27.8 million euros a year earlier, the Madrid-based company said today in a regulatory filing. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated a loss of 23.1 million euros.

Toll increases of 27 percent on the Chicago Skyway and as much as 9.4 percent on the 407-ETR route near Toronto helped offset lower traffic on the Indiana Toll Road and highways in southern Spain. Revenue from its five Chilean roads increased 21 percent. Cintra is considering new markets such as Mexico, Brazil and India, where infrastructure budgets are increasing, Finance Director Francisco Clemente said on a conference call today.

"These are good results, notably on growth from the Chilean highways,'' said Luis Padron, an analyst at Fortis Bank in Madrid with a ``buy'' rating on the stock.

Cintra fell as much as 9 cents, or 0.9 percent, to 10.30 euros and was down 0.6 percent as of 12:10 p.m. in Madrid trading. The stock has dropped 16 percent in the past year, compared with a 4 percent decline in Madrid's benchmark IBEX 35 index, valuing the company at 5.6 billion euros.

Sales rose 13 percent to 255.8 million euros in the quarter. The company's highways in Chile handled 5.8 percent to 9.9 percent more vehicles in the period.

Pennsylvania Turnpike

Cintra and Barcelona, Spain-based competitor Abertis Infraestructuras SA may pull out of bidding to run the Pennsylvania Turnpike as the global credit squeeze hampers funding, El Economista reported today, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.

Cintra is still studying a bid, which must be submitted tomorrow, Clemente said today, declining to comment further.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell is seeking to lease the 537-mile (864-kilometer) toll-road network to help plug a $1.7 billion shortfall in transportation funding. The deadline for submitting offers was extended from the end of last month in an effort to bring in higher bids, Chuck Ardo, the governor's spokesman, said April 30.

Ferrovial, Spain's second-biggest construction company, releases quarterly earnings on May 13 while Abertis, the country's largest highway operator, posts figures the next day.