Nogales-Puchuncavi hwy. 9mth. net profit falls 25.3%

The concessionaire behind the Nogales-Puchuncavi highway in Chile posted a 37.6mn peso (US$60,000) net profit in the first nine months, down 25.3% from the same period last year, Sociedad Concesionaria Camino said in a statement to the country's securities regulator, the SVS. The 27km highway connects Region V town Nogales on the Pan-American highway, with Puchuncavi, near the coast. Over the same period, operating profit fell 2.95% to 262mn pesos and revenue dropped 7.1% to 700mn pesos due to a fall in vehicular traffic. The Cruz Blanca-Delta consortium controls Nogales-Puchuncavi, which won a US$11.8mn, 22-year concession in 1995. The concessionaire expects the expansion of local port Quintero, along with the continued importance of nearby Ventanas port, to increase the coastal area's traffic with Argentina.