Toll operator TransJamaican reports higher traffic in June
Published:Wednesday | August 18, 2021 | 12:09 AM
Toll road operator TransJamaican Highway Limited recorded increased traffic in June which surpassed pre-pandemic levels, due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions at the time.
The Jamaican Government has since tightened the restrictions again with stiffer curfew measures aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus, which will impact the permittable hours for travel on the highway by the public, and, consequently, TransJamaican’s third quarter revenue for July-September.
The company, however, stated that the traffic for the month of June 2021 was 24 per cent above the level for 2020 and 3.2 per cent higher than 2019.
“This is the first time since the pandemic began that traffic is above the 2019 levels for the same month,” Managing Director Ivan Anderson said in the preface to the company’s second quarter financial results.
For April-June, TransJamaican reported revenue of US$12.1 million, up from US$8.5 million a year earlier, but still lower than the US$13.15 million in the comparative 2019 pre-pandemic period.
Traffic in 2020 was significantly impacted by stricter lockdown measures, especially in the parish of St Catherine in April and May of that year.
The vehicular flows began to recover towards the end of June “with the gradual easing of restrictions consequent on the reduction in the number of COVID cases,” said Anderson.
The company was also encouraged by the continuation of the vaccination programme.
Since then, however, COVID cases and hospitalisations have been rising, leading to a retightening of restrictions. These measures included starting weekday curfew two hours earlier at 7 p.m., and on Saturdays at 6 p.m. The times for Sunday remain unchanged at 2 p.m. Additional measures include reduced public gatherings and suspending the issuing of permits for parties.
TransJamaican made a profit of US$680,000 or US$0.0001 per share, in the second quarter, building on earnings in the January-March period, and reversing a loss of US$4.4 million or negative US$0.0003 per share in the comparative April-June 2020 period.