S

tate-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga sees huge potential for its business on the back of the government'€™s vision to massively extend the nation'€™s toll road network.

Jasa Marga president director Adityawarman said on Friday that his firm was set to cash in after President Joko '€œJokowi'€™ Widodo reiterated that his administration was aiming to build 1,000 kilometers of toll roads across the country.

'€œWe have a big opportunity,'€ he said, adding that he was upbeat that the government would meet its target.

A number of standard roads had already been converted to toll roads, Adityawarman said, including 800 km in Java, 300 km in Sumatra, 100 km in Balikpapan-Samarinda (Kalimantan) and 40 km in Manado-Bitung (Sulawesi).

He added that Jasa Marga had already begun preparations for the construction of new toll roads in Sumatra, Balikpapan-Samarinda and Manado-Bitung.

'€œHowever, we cannot determine when the construction of those toll roads will start. It very much depends on the government, who will help with land acquisition,'€ he said.

Next year, Jasa Marga will kick off the construction of the 40-km Kuala Namu-Tebing Tinggi toll road in Medan, North Sumatra.

'€œThe land acquisition for the toll road project has so far reached 75 percent,'€ Adityawarman said.

Jasa Marga would spend around Rp 2.3 trillion (US$189.40 million) for the project, with 30 percent of the fund coming from internal cash and the remainder coming from bank loans, he said.

'€œWe have allocated around Rp 4 trillion for our capital expenditure [capex] next year. The budget, however, may add another Rp 2 trillion for the capex as more new projects will be carried out next year,'€ he said.

The toll road company will also next year operate three new toll roads, namely Gempol-Pandaan, section IV Surabaya-Mojokerto and section I Gempol-Pasuruan.

Adityawarman said that the three roads would open in the first quarter, third quarter and fourth quarter of next year, respectively.

'€œWe estimate that the three toll roads will begin to reap big profits for the company in the next seven to eight years,'€ he said.

Jasa Marga aimed to pocket between Rp 7.2 and Rp 7.3 trillion next year, a jump from the target of Rp 6.4 to Rp 6.5 trillion this year, he said.

The toll road operator registered a 16.3 percent increase in its operating revenues to Rp 5.23 trillion in the first nine months of this year from Rp 4.47 trillion in the same period last year.

The firm'€™s net profits increased by 11.3 percent to Rp 1.14 trillion in the January-September period from Rp 1.02 trillion year-on-year.

Jasa Marga'€™s shares, which are traded at the bourse under the code JSMR, jumped by 2.21 percent to Rp 6,950 per piece at Friday'€™s close from Rp 6,800 in the previous closing.