Pre-tax profits rise 26% at M50 toll firm
Pre-tax profits at the consortium that currently operates the e-flow pre-pay toll system on Dublin’s M50 motorway increased by 26% to €2.62m in 2016, newly-filed accounts show.
Emovis — a subsidiary of Spanish toll road operator Abertis Group — last year lost out in securing an extension to the contract to operate the e-flow toll for a further term. The company is involved in a legal challenge against the award of the contract, which is valued at between €200m to €400m.
According to the 2016 annual report by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the total revenues generated from the M50 e-flow toll increased from €111.24m to €118.38m in that year.
Emovis’ own revenues, in 2016, fell 2.5% to €23m, its accounts show.
During 2016, there were 400,000 unique journeys every weekday on the M50. Emovis currently has two ongoing legal challenges underway against the e-flow contract being awarded to the rival Turas consortium last year. The Spanish company has had its current contract extended to at least March 2019.
Along with Emovis, TransCore — a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange-listed Roper Technologies — is also challenging the TII award.
Both companies are seeking to have the decision to award the winning bid to the Turas consortium set aside.
The legal actions come against the background of ever increasing volumes of traffic on the route. According to TII figures for 2017, the M50 is the most heavily trafficked road in the country with in excess of 140,000 vehicles using several sections on an average day.
