NTR, the company which operates the East and West link toll bridges, has reported profits of €18.2m for last year, a rise of 8%. The results came in ahead of analysts' predictions.
NTR is also involved in waste management, wind energy and broadband.
The company's operations enjoyed an increase in sales of almost 30% to €273m. Group operating profits increased by 19.5% to €27.8m while group capital investment amounted to €202m last year from €98m in 2003.
NTR has increased the tolls it charges by 38% since the beginning of last year to €1.80 on the West Link. It said there had been a 27% in the use of Eazy Pass tags, where customers electronically pay for tolls.
NTR says its contribution to the state from the tolls rose by €10m to €33m last year.
The company also made a €30m investment in the construction of its second landfill site in Co Meath. Revenues at its waste operations - Greenstar - rose by 8% to €82m, profits after tax grew by 16% to €9.6m. A total of 533,000 tonnes of waste was handled by the company, up almost 12% from 2003.
During the year NTR invested €142m in Airtricity, its wind power operation. Airtricity now has 177MW of generating capacity now in operation with customer numbers up 24% to 36,500. Profits before interest and tax rose from €1.5m in 2003 to €5.4m and turnover was up over 37% to €126.7m.
NTR's Irish Broadband company completed a major €18m fundraising round during the year and it was awarded 16 new licences by the communications regulator ComReg.
'2004 was another year of substantial progress across the group, with material milestones achieved in all of our businesses,' commented Jim Barry, NTR's Chief Executive.
'It provides NTR with a solid platform for continued investment and growth,' he added.
