Profits down at M50 toll firm

Pre-tax profits at the consortium that operates the e-Flow toll on the M50 and other motorways fell 6% to €2.6m in 2014, new figures show. According to abridged accounts just filed with the Companies Office by Sanef ITS Operations Ireland Ltd — now renamed Emovis Operations Ireland Ltd — the firm recorded the decrease in pre-tax profit after gross profits dropped 12% from €6m to €5.3m in the 12 months to the end of 2014.

The National Roads Authority’s 2014 annual report had said there was another strong year for traffic growth on the M50 toll road as traffic rose 6%, resulting in average daily traffic levels of 119,216 and revenue collected also rose 5% to €98m.

The NRA stated that compliance levels on the toll road improved marginally to 96% in 2014, mainly due to additional public information messaging and additional enforcement activities.

In 2014, about half of the unpaid tolls were from journeys made by vehicles from outside the State and half by vehicles registered in the Republic, which resulted in €4.5m in unpaid tolls being written off by the authority.

The e-flow system was introduced in 2008 and the numbers employed by the firm reduced from 86 to 79, with the firm’s employment costs falling from €4.16m to €3.88m.

According to the directors’ report, “the directors had anticipated that the early years of trading would show initial losses as a result of significant setup costs associated with the introduction of the radical free-flow tolling system into Ireland and having reviewed the position, they remain confident that future periods will remain profitable”.

The report says the main risk is unexpected change in traffic volumes. It states: “The overall trend of traffic volumes using the M50 barrier free toll in 2014 resulted in a continued increase in average daily traffic coupled with added e-flow account registrations.”

The figures show the firm’s operating profits fell 11% from €3m to €2.65m. Net interest payments of €41,310 reduced the firm’s profits to €2.6m.

The profit in 2014 resulted in the firm’s accumulated profits rising from €2.3m to €4.62m. The firm’s profits in 2014 take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €143,883.

Last year, the NRA sought firms to bid for a new estimated €155m 11-year contract to provide e-flow toll services on the M50 until 2029. The current contract expires in March 2018.