State toll operator PT Jasa Marga plans to spend Rp 3.1 trillion (US$ 328.6 million) in capital expenditure next year partly for the construction of new highway projects.
Jasa Marga corporate secretary Okke Marlina said Wednesday that the company would use the money for building three new toll road projects - the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, the Kunciran-Serpong road in Greater Jakarta and the Gempol-Pasuruan road in East Java - starting in the fourth quarter of 2010.
"The remainder of capital expenditure will be spent on periodical maintenance and routine works," she said, adding that the company would finance half of the expenditure from internal cash and the remaining amount from loans.
The company still held cash reserves of Rp 2.6 trillion as of December 2009, previously generated from its 2008 public offering.
Included in Jasa Marga current toll road construction projects are the Cikampek-Jakarta route, the Bogor Ring Road in Greater Jakarta, the Semarang to Solo and Solo to Ungaran tollways in Central Java, and the Surabaya to Mojokerto tollways in East Java.
Concerning external financing, Okke said that the company is studying alternative sources of lending, either from bank loans or via bonds.
Next year's capital expenditure will be a lot higher than the estimated Rp 1 trillion this year, partly because the company had previously originally targeted that spending this year would reach Rp 4.6 trillion.
"The allocation for land acquisition has been covered by the government, that's why we are spending less this year," Okke said.
As of quarter three this year, the firm had only spent Rp 402.8 billion from a budget of Rp 2.5 trillion.
The company predicts this year's revenue will increase to Rp 3.69 trillion from Rp 3.35 trillion in 2008 on the back of higher traffic volume.
Okke said traffic volume will climb to 992 million vehicles this year, against 880 million in 2008.
Okke declined to elaborate further details on the outlook for 2010.
Under the existing contracts between Jasa Marga and other toll road operators and the government, toll road operators are allowed to increase their tolls every two years.
