RESULTS: National toll roads operator NTR has said it will consider a flotation in two to three years' time.
The developer and operator of public infrastructure said it would wait for the projects it was currently involved in to come on stream before looking at means of realising shareholder value.
Flotation remains an option, "the most probable" option but not the only one, chief executive Mr Jim Barry said.
He was speaking after NTR reported a slight drop in pre-tax profits to €17 million last year from €18 million in 2000.
The group said the dip in profits - despite a strong rise in turnover - was due to the level of investment in its new businesses and an increase in the municipal rates bill at West-Link of €2.5 million.
Turnover rose by106 per cent to €87.8 million.
Last year, the company consolidated its leading positions in the road, waste management, energy and waste/waste water sectors, Mr Barry said.
"These positions provide the company with a significant platform for future growth moving forward."
However, Mr Barry said it would be three to four years before projects in these areas started to generate revenue and carrying these costs had reduced profits.
Before indirect costs, profits were up 39 per cent, he said.
NTR announced a final dividend of 17.8 cent, down from 35.6 cent in 2000. The reduction in the dividend was due to the board's belief that it was "no longer appropriate to maintain the dividend policy of full payout to shareholders given the investment and growth aspirations of the group".
Among NTR's investments is a 51 per cent stake in Eirtricity, the wind power firm that plans to build a windfarm on the sandbank off Arklow.
Mr Barry said the firm had run up losses of €4.1 million last year. It was now pressing ahead with plans to start building the Arklow windfarm in May next year.
Celtic Utilities, in which NTR acquired a controlling stake last year, reported a profit of more than €5 million, he said.
On the roads side, NTR was one of four consortia to submit a tender to construct the motorway between Kilcock and Kinnegad last month.
It plans to submit first tenders for the Waterford bypass next month and for the Dundalk bypass in May.
Growth remained strong in its core business, running the national toll roads, although NTR said it would be constrained by the overall level of traffic congestion in Dublin.
Volumes on the West-Link rose by 5.6 per cent last year with revenue up 8.5 per cent at €24.5 million.
On the East-Link, volumes were down 4.9 per cent, due to general congestion in the area, Mr Barry said. Nonetheless, revenues rose by 3.2 per cent to €7.2 million because of a price increase in January.
Construction began on a second bridge at West-Link last August and should be completed in August 2003, Mr Barry said.
