NEXCO CENTRAL (Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited)




July 28, 2006 Chairman Yano's regular press conference

Conference Summary

(Chairman)

Chairman

Hello everyone. Let's start with the current business situation.
First is the business situation. First of all, the fee income in June was 47.3 billion yen, a decrease of 3.7% from the same month of the previous year. Of these, high-speed transportation is minus 4.6%, and revenue has declined due to the Large of time-zone discounts due to the spread of ETC. On the other hand, general toll roads increased by 7%, and the network effect after the opening of the Tokai Loop and Ise Bay coasts, and the use of detours on the Ise Bay coast along with the Meishin refresh work, have resulted in an increase in revenue.
The average daily traffic is approximately 1.59 million, which is almost the same as the previous year. High-speed passengers have a plus of 2.6%, and the time zone discounts and economic Large due to the spread of ETC have had a large impact.
For general toll roads, it is 9.7%. This is affected by the free use of Toyokawa Bridge and the transfer to the public corporation.

The construction situation has not changed from what we reported earlier. There are 6456 km for Chubu-OdanExpwy and 9 km for Ken-O Road, which are scheduled to open during the current fiscal year.

Then is the contract rate for successful contracts for the main types of work. In June, it was 93.01%, and the cumulative total for the year was 86.57%.

It is the situation of ETC. The average daily usage rate from July 7th to 13th is 64.2%. The number of on-board units installed is about 11.35 million units, which is slightly higher than in May. The maintenance rate of the ETC tollgate is 99%.

The status of the service area. Of the 162 locations, 146 have sales facilities, and sales are ¥8,930 million, a decrease of 6.4% from the previous year. The cumulative total for the year is about the same as last year.
If you take only June, the food and drink department is minus 6.4%, and product sales are minus 8.6%. The service department-rest-in, bath-is minus 9.1%.

Gasoline is minus 2.1%. Although the unit price increased by 12 yen on a regular basis, the sales volume decreased by -12.7%, which is effective. Compared with the market price, I think that there was not much price difference. Overall, we think that this may be due to the refraining from buying due to the soaring gasoline prices.
The weather was cloudy compared to last year.
This was the business overview.

There is another material.
Heavy rain in July, especially last week, is the damage situation of Chuo Expressway. There was no damage to customers on Expressway, but as you know, it was right next to Lake Suwa and a large debris flow caught a private house and collapsed, causing major damage.
The photo is shown here, but it is a copy of the main affected areas. The numbers in the table on the first page correspond to the numbers in the photo.
Between Suwa and Okaya, (1) is right next to Lake Suwa. The situation was such as (2) and (3), and the casualties were near (1).
Actually, I went to see the situation on Friday. There was a debris flow under the pier of Expressway, and the houses and other buildings above were washed away, causing a catastrophe.
Since the flow was divided into two at the bridge pier, the debris flow flowing to Lake Suwa weakened, and the house was next to the bridge, but the damage seems to have been reduced.
Then look at the photo at (3). A heavy debris flow flowed in, but the road stopped the flow in a section that was not a bridge. As you can see in the picture, there were many private houses directly below, but mud and water flowed, but it was not enough to kill the house.
That's why some local voices say, "Expressway stopped the debris flow."
In the heavy rain, not only our employees but also the local people worked together to carry out a very vigorous recovery activity.
During this time, I had a half day between Suwa and Okaya, but I took a free measure of Expressway. This is because National Route 20 was soaked in water and unable to pass. So, I took Expressway as a living road until it was restored, so I took a free measure. After the water level of Lake Suwa dropped and No. 20 was restored, it was restored.

Above, I gave a brief explanation. We would like to receive your questions.

 

(Reporter)

How much did it cost to recover from the heavy rain?

 

(Chairman)

I'm still working on it, so I haven't been able to finalize it, but I think it will be around the time, or after all the restoration is over. For the time being, it is estimated that the amount of damage caused by the suspension of traffic will be about 220 million yen, but I think the recovery cost is probably several hundred million yen. I think we can report it to everyone once it is confirmed.

We are a company that manages Expressway, but I think it is really important to work together with the local people there for disaster recovery. In that sense, I don't think it's good if the Expressway is repaired, and I'd like to continue to talk with the local people.

 

(Reporter)

Since this is your first interview, can you tell us about your impressions of your duties from your inception?

 

(Chairman)

My honest opinion is that the business of building and operating roads is a huge manufacturing industry. I used to work in the electrical industry, but I think it's a lot like the construction of a nuclear or hydropower plant. It's a long-running business. It's a business that takes 10 to 20 years, and sometimes 30 years, and I feel that it is a huge manufacturing industry because of the enormous amount of construction work, its social significance, and things like that.

Therefore, the people who are engaged in the business there and work are not only about the Central Japan Expressway itself, but also about the companies involved in it. However, I think everyone is working with a high spirit. I think I am working with awareness of my social mission. In addition, because nature is our opponent, especially heavy rain, earthquakes, and various natural disasters cause more violence than we expected, and from that point, if there is a simple and robust feeling, it will never float. I think so.

In that sense, I've been a chairman for a month, but in a sense, I feel that there is a certain response, especially when I look at the devoted work of employees and related companies in this disaster recovery. As you can see, in the true sense that this is basically a good company, as I said when I was appointed, I would like to reiterate my desire to make a good company that is useful for the world. I am very pleased and I am very reassured. I think that it is a part that you do not know when you are outside. I think that all Expressway companies are not good at self-promotion. I think it's a really quiet group of people, but I have the impression that there is a lot to be done in the future.

 

(Moderator)

If there are no other specific questions, today's regular press conference will end.

 

(Chairman)

Thank you very much.