Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure Limited today announces the interim results of the Company and its subsidiaries for the six months ended 30 June 2014.
During the reporting period, Guangdong Province’s economy remained stable as its economic structure improved. In addition, the unified tolling system and toll by weight policy were implemented as planned in Guangdong Province. The measures are expected to boost the operational performance of the Group’s projects in the Pearl River Delta Region. The “Green Passage Toll Free Policy” and the toll-free policy for passenger cars with seven seats or less during major holidays were enforced on the expressways and bridges of the Group in compliance with the relevant national requirements. Although this resulted in a decrease in potential toll revenues, the Group’s projects continued to record stable growth. The toll revenues grew by 6.4 % year on year to RMB 877 million. Profit attributable to shareholders increased by 13.8% year on year to RMB 291 million.
The Board resolved to declare an interim dividend of HK$[ ] per share for 2014 which is equivalent to approximately RMB0.11 per share (interim period of 2013: HK$0.10 per share, which is equivalent to approximately RMB0.079542 per share), representing an interim dividend payout ratio of 50.3%.
In the first half of 2014, the Chinese government adhered to the policy of achieving steady, albeit slower growth amid the volatile and complicated economic conditions in both China and overseas. The fixed asset investment in transport remained high, and the aggregate national demand for transportation remained stable. The Group boosted operational performance of its projects and strengthened its core operational capabilities. During the reporting period, the Group’s projects sustained year-on-year growth momentum in both traffic volume and toll revenue. Six of the Company’s toll-road projects recorded double-digit year-on-year growth in toll revenue. Such projects included GNSR Expressway, Han-Xiao Expressway, Changzhu Expressway, GWSR Expressway, Humen Bridge and Qinglian Expressway.
Looking ahead in the second half, the Group expects the regulatory environment of the toll road sector to be stable andfavourable. It is unlikely that the government will enact more negative measures that affect the sector. The state’s recent plan on highway construction has indicated huge potentials for immense highway construction to match the national economic growth. The government will consider how to protect the legal rights of private investments and to ensure their reasonable returns while trying to attract such investments in toll road constructions.
Looking ahead, the Group will press ahead with its regional strategies of mainly focusing on the economically well-developed Pearl River Delta Region and regions with potential for great economic growth such as the central and western provinces. This will enable the Group to capture the opportunities in the toll road sector. The Group will actively acquire sizeable and quality toll roads with a view to increasing its assets, revenue and profit. It will also consider disposing of those assets with low efficiency. These combined moves will optimize the Group’s overall asset portfolio and will increase the rate of return on equity, and thus generate reasonable returns to the shareholders.