Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Atlas Arteria H1 2024 Results Presentation. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There'll be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Due to legal restrictions, we are only able to communicate directly with eligible shareholders and investors with respect to their eligibility to invest in Atlas Arteria securities. Details in relation to the ownership restrictions that apply to persons in the United States and other U.S. persons that are not qualified purchasers are set out on our website under U.S. Ownership Restrictions. Please refrain from asking questions in relation to our securities if you do not meet these criteria, as we are legally restricted from answering those questions on this call.
I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Graeme Bevans, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to have you join us for Atlas Arteria's first half 2024 results call. Today, I am joined by our CFO, David Collins, and our investor relations team. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people, who are the traditional owners and custodians of the land from which we are presenting today. I would also like to pay my respects to the elders, past and present, of the Kulin Nation. We respect and value the importance of preserving our traditional owners' cultures and customs. David and I will spend roughly 40 minutes in total on this morning's presentation and then open up the call for any questions you may have. Starting with the key highlights on slide 6, our performance during the half illustrates the leverage of our business to the current macroeconomic environment.
We have also delivered a tangible example of our commitment to maximize distribution. We saw strong growth in proportionate toll revenue, with inflation-linked toll increases offsetting a small reduction in traffic, mainly due to the farmer's strikes at APRR. On the first of July, we announced a number of initiatives at APRR as part of our ongoing focus on maximizing distributions to security holders. These initiatives, along with the improved operating performance, have delivered increased free cash flows to Atlas Arteria. Today, we are pleased to reaffirm our distribution guidance of AUD 0.40 per security for 2024, with improved free cash flow support, reducing reliance on cash on hand. At APRR, we, together with our partner, Eiffage, have been awarded the A412 motorway project in France. The project is now awaiting final approvals and signing.
On the sustainability front, I'm delighted to report that we are on track to achieving our 2025 emissions reduction target. In April, we strengthened our executive team and the leadership of our business in the U.S. with the appointment of Amanda Baxter to the role of Atlas Arteria Group Executive for North America and Corporate Development. Importantly, you will have seen last week that the board has appointed Hugh Wehby as the new CEO and Managing Director of Atlas Arteria. Hugh is a seasoned professional who has spent 20 years in infrastructure development, funding, transactions, construction, and operations. Hugh joins the Atlas Arteria team from Transurban, where he is currently the Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to Transurban, Hugh spent 10 years with Sydney Airport in a number of roles, including CFO and Chief Operating Officer.
Hugh brings the strategic and commercial perspective that has been gained as both an investor, an operator of infrastructure, and has a track record of navigating complex situations and solving problems. Just as importantly, he is a values-led leader who is committed to operational excellence, safe and responsible operations, and delivering for all stakeholders. We expect Hugh will join us today towards the end of the year, and following a transition period, will assume the CEO role. This process will ensure an orderly transition and knowledge transfer to position Hugh for success in his leadership of the business moving forward. Turning to the financial overview on slide eight, you can see that the toll increases continue to drive robust revenue growth across the board. As expected, our EBITDA was negatively impacted by the new French Long Distance Transportation Infrastructure Tax, known as the TILD, which we will continue to challenge.
I'll come back to you with more detail on this shortly. Moving on to distributions, you can see Atlas Arteria currently provides an industry-leading distribution yield. We're very pleased to reaffirm distribution guidance of AUD 0.20 per security for each of the first and second halves, in line with the 2024 distribution guidance of AUD 0.40 per security. This reflects improved free cash flow, support from APRR, and distributions from Chicago Skyway, Warnow Tunnel, and ADELAC. Because of higher underlying free cash flows, the 2024 distribution is expected to rely less on cash on hand. AUD 0.40 per security distribution will be supported by AUD 0.04-AUD 0.05 per security, as opposed to the AUD 0.07-AUD 0.08 per security that we had originally advised at year-end. Moving now to our business strategy.
I'd like to restate our very clear strategic priorities to drive future value for security holders, and as stated in the announcement of Hugh's appointment, will continue with him. Firstly, in terms of business optimization, we are looking to enhance efficiency, lower costs, improve safety, manage tolls, and revenue recovery. At APRR, this includes our ongoing efforts to fight the new French tax. The Dulles Greenway involves our strong focus on unlocking value through our two-pronged strategy. In terms of associated growth opportunities, we are focused only on opportunities that are directly related to or near our existing businesses. This includes the A412 motorway project in France. I will restate that acquisitions outside associated growth opportunities are not being considered, and we will provide appropriate notice to security holders should this position change in the future.
Lastly, in terms of capital management, we will continue to maintain a robust balance sheet and look to optimize the capital structures at each of our businesses, supported by investment-grade credit ratings. The capital management initiatives we announced at APRR are a good example of this approach. The agreements will enable us to utilize accumulated retained earnings previously trapped within the APRR group, to fund debt amortization payments at Financière Eiffarie. At the same time, we will reprofile debt amortization through to the end of the concession. The result is that more cash can be distributed to Atlas Arteria in the near term. These capital initiatives are a significant step towards our strategy of supporting distributions with high-quality, free cash flows. We are targeting future distributions of at least AUD 0.40 per security, supported by growing underlying free cash.
The third party of the APRR capital management initiative is the equity injection by Eiffage into MAF2. As a reminder, Eiffage has increased its holding in MAF2 to 5% as at the third of July, and those funds are currently sitting at the MAF2 level. Atlas Arteria's share of the proceeds is EUR 34.2 million, and the use of these funds will be evaluated at the appropriate time to maximize security holder returns. The capital is not required within the business. It will be returned to security holders by way of a share buyback or special distribution. Moving to slide 11, we illustrate the structural strength of our business. Our financial results this half shows the advantage of having CPI-linked toll to boost our earnings. While inflation is starting to reduce globally, it remains elevated.
Our high EBITDA margins reduce the impact of rising operating costs. As you can see, our businesses are underpinned by a high proportion of fixed interest rate debt, with medium to long-term average debt maturities, providing a significant protection from interest rate risk on the back of elevated bond yields. Moving now to our operational performance. Overall, we have seen traffic performance steadily improving through the year, following a poor first quarter. At APRR, group traffic was 0.7% lower than the same period in 2023. Traffic stabilized throughout the period, following the impact of farmer strikes in January and February this year, which significantly disrupted traffic on the network. The middle section of this slide shows the effect the strikes had on the average speeds on parts of the APRR network during this period.
On certain sections, speeds fell from an average of 120 kilometers per hour to less than 40 over the two-week period of the farmer strikes. As you can see on the chart on the far right, heavy vehicle traffic is closely correlated with French and Spanish trade with the rest of Europe. Manufactured goods, agriculture, raw materials, and chemicals remain the goods most likely to travel by road. In 2023, we saw a contraction in the trade of these goods that affected heavy vehicle traffic in this half. Moving now to slide 14 and an update of the APRR business, where we are focused on challenging the new French TILD tax. As you may recall, in December, the French Parliament approved the finance law for 2024. This included the new tax from 1 January on companies operating long-distance transport infrastructure.
This tax is applied at a rate of 4.6% on revenues exceeding EUR 120 million, individually assessed for APRR and AREA net entities. We have a two-step approach to fighting the new tax, the first being a constitutional challenge and the second, contractual litigation. On the first front in March, we filed a constitutional challenge to the tax, along with the other toll road companies impacted by its introduction. We expect a decision to be made and announced on the twelfth of September this year. If the constitutional challenge is unsuccessful, APRR will then proceed with litigation to seek compensation under our contractual arrangements. Separately, many of you will have been following the French political situation with interest, following the snap elections held in July.
The result of the elections was that no single party secured an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The situation in France remains fluid, and there are several scenarios that could emerge, including a coalition, minority, or technical government. At this point, we're waiting for President Macron to appoint a new prime minister. However, there is no time limit for him to do so. In the meantime, the incumbent ministers remain in office as part of a caretaker government. Whatever the outcome here, we will be focused on building relationships with our key ministers and continuing to demonstrate the value that the APRR network generates for customers and communities. We will also continue to engage on the future of the French concession system, although it is too early to comment on how the new government, when formed, will approach it.
I would now like to update you on the A412 project. A consortium formed by Eiffage and APRR was selected as the preferred bidder in March. Since then, the project has been reviewed by the ART, which confirmed that the project meets the regulatory requirements. We now await final approvals and signing of the concession agreement. Eiffage currently holds 99.9% of the entity, and APRR holds 0.1%, with an option to acquire the remainder from Eiffage. As a reminder, the A412 is a 16.5-kilometer greenfield motorway running from Thonon-les-Bains to Machilly on the southern shores of Lake Geneva. It will operate under free flow tolling and is expected to carry commuters traveling to and from Geneva. Moving to slide 16, where we discuss traffic performance at Chicago Skyway.
As a reminder, we expect light vehicle traffic to fall over the life of the Skyway concession due to the elasticity impact of toll increases. Overall, light vehicles decreased by 2.4%, and heavy vehicles were down 4.9% versus the first half of 2023, which as a reminder, was a period impacted by roadworks on the ITR from March. The extreme weather in January, which you can see from the snowfall levels on the chart in the middle of this slide, was a contributing factor to the performance in the first half. Despite this, light vehicle traffic was broadly consistent with historical averages, as shown in the graph on the far right of this slide. The chart also illustrates the seasonal nature of light vehicle traffic on the Skyway, which peaks over the summer months.
Based on historical averages, around 30% of annual light vehicle traffic occurs during the months of June to August, which is largely summer leisure traffic. Heavy vehicle traffic is closely correlated with U.S. industrial production, which has been broadly flat since late 2023. Moving to slide 17, we provide an update on the Chicago Skyway business plan. We've made good progress during the half on the four key work streams of the plan. On the asset management front, integration of the asset management system and upgrade of the back office system is progressing to plan. The digital twin, which will help us monitor the condition of the road and bridges and assist in planning proactive maintenance works, is expected to be functional by the end of 2025.
On the capital management front, we undertook a business as usual refinancing in July 2024, which David will discuss in more detail shortly. In May, Amanda Baxter joined us at Atlas Arteria. Amanda's deep road infrastructure experience in North America brings significant value to our business. Amanda will join us for this results roadshow, giving many of our investors and analysts the opportunity to meet her. We've also had a change of leadership within the Skyway itself. CEO Kristi Lafleur has recently moved on, with the board appointing CFO Kara Lawrence in an interim role. Formal search for a new permanent CEO is commencing shortly. On the risk management front, we updated our emergency plans and risk assessments in response to the Baltimore Key Bridge incident that took place in March 2024.
In addition, we've made improvements to night lighting to ensure visibility, better visibility of the bridge to river traffic. Moving to Dulles Greenway and an update on traffic performance there. As you can see from the chart on the left, we continue to see gradual improvement in traffic at DG, which is reflective of rising trip times on the competing route. The white line in the middle chart here shows how travel times on the competing route increased steadily during the half, enhancing the time savings for commuters using the Greenway. Overall, we saw traffic up by 4.6% versus the first half of 2023, primarily as a result of higher weekday traffic. Toll revenue increased by 6.3% due to the increase being in the higher price peak period.
You can see on the right-hand side chart, the return-to-work trends in the Washington, DC, area have stabilized and improved to now broadly align with the U.S. average. Moving to slide nineteen. We continue to work hard to unlock value and create a more sustainable pathway for the Greenway. Our two-pronged strategy involves pursuing our rate case application, the maximum level of toll increases, and advocating for legislation to transition to a distance-based tolling system. Both of these will add significant value to the business. The rate case application process remains underway. Hearings were completed in February this year, and the hearing examiner's report was released in May. Disappointingly, the report proposed that the SCC deny the application for increased tolls. The hearing examiner's report is just one of several pieces of evidence that the SCC will consider when making its final decision.
Based on the timing of past rate case decisions, we would expect an outcome in the second half. Moving to slide 20 and Warnow Tunnel. Here we continue to see roadworks on competing routes, making the travel time savings offered by the tunnel very attractive to commuters. There was a 0.9% increase in traffic versus the first half of 2023, and toll revenue was up 9.6%, largely because of the higher tolls implemented in November last year. The City of Rostock has indicated that further works are planned on the competing route along Am Strande in the second half. I would now like to turn to the important area of sustainability. Safety and building a strong safety culture is our top priority. This half, APRR reported an LTIFR of 3.06, which is slightly above our target of 3.
This is both disappointing and delivering improvement of very strong area of focus. During the half, safety training was implemented across all businesses, and we're continuously enhancing our training, our systems, and our processes around safety. At APRR, we're continuing to implement the new safety plan, which will be in place until 2026 in its implementation. As a reminder, this plan focuses on nine core areas that outline the behavior expectations of all employees to help protect them and our customers. We are pleased to say that safety training now constitutes about 40% of all training sessions conducted at APRR. Separately, the Dulles Greenway Incident Response Team received incident response training relating to electric and hybrid vehicles. At our other businesses and at corporate, we're on track to achieve our LTI target of one or less.
On the people front, we maintained our 40% gender balance and aim to double the number of females in top 50 roles at APRR by 2025. In June 2024, we submitted our 2023 Modern Slavery Statement to the Attorney General's Department for approval and publication on the Modern Slavery Statement Register. We also released our first Human Rights Commitment Statement and joined the UN Global Compact in April 2024. On the customers and community front, we hosted the fourth Run the Greenway event in May 2024, raising over $240,000 for local charities. On the environmental front, we're on track to achieving a 25% decrease in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from a 2019 baseline to meet our emissions reduction target.
During the half, APRR actively reduced its Scope 1 emissions through eco-driver training and minimizing employee travel, as well as further acquisition of EVs in the light vehicle sector. The fleet, our own office also relocated to a more energy-efficient building. At Warnow Tunnel, solar panels were installed on the office and maintenance building to reduce our carbon footprint. I'll now hand you over to David, who will walk through Atlas Arteria's financial performance for the first half.
Thank you, Graeme. I'm pleased to be here today, reporting on Atlas Arteria's results for the first half of 2024. On slide 23, you can see our income statement showing our financial performance compared to the first half of 2023 . Overall, you can see profitability supported by stable traffic and higher tolls at APRR, which was offset by the impact of the French tax that Graeme has spoken about previously. You can see that we delivered total revenue growth of 10%. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in Dulles Greenway's toll revenue due to higher traffic, as well as the weakening of the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar and the euro. In terms of business operational costs, we saw an increase primarily at Dulles Greenway.
Firstly, we saw a change in the maintenance provision, which increased in the current period compared to a reduction in the prior period. Business costs also increased due to legal fees incurred in relation to our SCC rate case application. Finally, we saw costs associated with the new violation enforcement system, which were offset by increased violation revenue collection. Our centralized costs were slightly higher due to expenses related to the search for a new CEO and investment in capability in the U.S. Corporate cost guidance for 2024 remains at AUD 29-31 million, and business unit costs at AUD 7-9 million. Further information is found on slide 40. The share of profit line incorporates the equity accounted profit at APRR, which was negatively impacted by the French tax and the results for Chicago Skyway.
The reduction of interest on shareholder loans reflects the lower interest rate on the shareholder loans relating to Chicago Skyway from February 2024. The increase in other finance income was the result of higher cash deposits and higher interest rates, and the increase in finance costs was primarily driven by the weaker Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar. Turning to our cash flow waterfall on slide 24, which outlines how we derive our distributions. The consolidated APRR profit for the second half of 2023 was EUR 548 million, and Atlas Arteria's pro forma share of this, starting on the left-hand side of this slide, was EUR 171 million. Our share of the APRR company net profit after tax, which drives the size of distributions, was EUR 173 million.
The difference between the 171 million and the 173 million is consolidation and IFRS adjustments. This period, you see EUR 17.2 million of financing costs associated with the debt facility at Financière Eiffarie, which were paid during the first half. From next period, however, you will see this item reduce as it will only reflect interest costs, as the debt amortization payments will be funded by the EUR 200 million of cash that has been released at APRR. As a result, you will see more cash flowing through the structure up to Atlas Arteria. Continuing to move through the waterfall, after accounting for the VAT taxes and administration costs, you are left with the EUR 153 million, which Atlas Arteria received in March. When you convert this, you get AUD 255 million in distributions.
We also received distributions from Warnow Tunnel and Chicago Skyway that totaled AUD 21 million during the period. We also paid our centralized costs and received AUD 1.7 million from net interest income and FX translation. This gets us to the AUD 258 million net corporate cash flow, a 13% increase on H1 2023. We had AUD 196 million of cash on the balance sheet on 31 December, plus the AUD 258 million of corporate cash flows during the period, less the distribution we paid out in March, meant we closed at 30 June with a cash balance of AUD 164 million. Turning to APRR's financial performance on slide 25. APRR remains the most significant contributor to our financial performance, supported by robust revenue growth, but negatively impacted by the French tax.
You can see this impact in APRR's consolidated impact, which decreased by 7% for the period. I'll now step you through some of the drivers of this performance. Operating revenue grew despite slightly lower traffic levels, which reflects the increased tolls of around 3% from 1 February. Operating expenses grew predominantly due to the commencement of the French tax, around EUR 60 million for the half, and general cost escalation, which impacted personnel expenses and other external charges. The reduction in the provisions and other line was driven by a reduction in the maintenance provision due to alterations to the forward maintenance plan. The increase in depreciation and amortization reflects continued completion of major capital expenditure works on the network, which will be amortized by the end of the concession.
Net interest expense has decreased, primarily due to a EUR 3 million reduction in interest costs, reflecting lower debt balances and a EUR 4 million increase in interest income on cash balances. This reflects APRR's predominantly fixed rate debt. Despite APRR generating lower earnings, you see an increase in corporate income tax. This is the result of the French tax payments not being tax deductible. Net consolidation adjustments reduced due to the expiry of the historic intercompany loan arrangements between APRR and AREA Participation at the end of 2023. Net consolidation adjustments will now reflect only the accounting differences between IFRS and French GAAP. More information can be found on slide 39 of this pack. And finally, you can see the EUR 200 million special distribution that was paid to APRR from AREA Participation during the period from accumulated retained earnings.
Moving to slide 26, we can see the capital expenditure for APRR for the half, which was around EUR 125 million. The majority of this spend was on road improvements. Average CapEx is expected to remain below EUR 350 million per annum for the remainder of the concession. Moving to APRR's group financial position on slide 27. APRR has a strong balance sheet, rated A by Fitch Ratings and A minus by S&P. Its total debt outstanding currently sits at EUR 8.8 billion at 30 June. Its liquidity position also remains strong at EUR 3.2 billion, including EUR 1.2 billion of cash and EUR 2 billion undrawn revolving credit facility. APRR has significant balance sheet capacity, with net debt to EBITDA sitting at three times versus the default covenant of seven times.
EUR 407 million of debt will mature in 2024, of which the majority relates to the commercial paper. As announced on July 1, we have agreed to refinance the Financière Eiffarie debt facility in the first half of 2025. It will target an average annual repayment of around EUR 55 million over the first five years. The release of the EUR 200 million of cash, as shown on slide 25, will be used to fund future amortization payments over the next approximately four years. This will enhance the level of operating cash flows from APRR, resulting in increased cash flow to Atlas Arteria. Turning to Chicago Skyway's financial overview on slide 28, where we can see good revenue outcomes.
Graeme has touched on the fact that the increase in revenue of 5.8% for the half was driven by toll increases implemented in January 2024, despite lower traffic. Operating expenses increased, driven by higher operations and maintenance costs, including an increase in overheads. Capital expenditure for the half was $1.7 million, which mostly related to toll collection systems, communications, and roadway spend. Guidance for 2024 remains at around $11 million. Spend is expected to be more heavily weighted to the second half, due to the normal timing of maintenance works over the summer months, as well as tolling system upgrades planned to occur later in the year. In July, the Skyway completed a business-as-usual refinancing, comprising $205 million of notes, rated BBB stable by S&P.
This transaction extended the average debt duration from approximately nine to ten years and increased the percentage of fixed rate debt from 88% to 94%. Additionally, the proceeds were used to repay $115 million of maturing notes and a portion of the term facility maturing in 2026, which reduces the refinancing requirements that year. As a reminder, 2026 will be the next earliest opportunity to undertake a regearing at the Skyway. Moving to slide 29 and Dulles Greenway. Revenue increased by 6.2% compared to half one 2023, due to improved traffic performance and higher violation revenue collection. Expenses increased by 22.9%, predominantly due to costs associated with the violation enforcement system, which were offset by the additional revenue.
There were also increased costs as a result of the SCC rate case application and higher snow removal costs during the first half versus the prior period, which saw a milder winter. The Dulles Greenway has $166 million of cash available across restricted and unrestricted reserve accounts at 30 June. These accounts include locked cash due to Dulles Greenway not passing its one- or three-year lockup tests. Turning to Warnow Tunnel's financial overview on slide 30. Warnow Tunnel benefited from toll increases and higher traffic during the period, with traffic increasing 0.9% and revenue increasing 9.6%. Expenses increased 5.6% due to general wage escalation. Warnow Tunnel paid a distribution of EUR 2.3 million to Atlas Arteria in August 2024, which will contribute to the distribution to security holders. Moving to capital management on slide 31.
We are focused on three key principles: firstly, growing underlying free cash flow, secondly, appropriate gearing across the portfolio, and thirdly, funding to support strategic initiatives. Starting with the first principle, we are focused on strategies to deliver growth in free cash flow from each of our existing businesses. The APRR capital management initiatives demonstrate this strategy in action, as they have improved the level of operating cash flows that can be distributed from APRR up to Atlas Arteria. As Graeme has mentioned, we are targeting future distributions of at least AUD 0.40 per security, supported by growing underlying free cash flows from our businesses. Moving to the second and third principles, we aim to optimize the capital structure at each of our businesses, backed by an investment-grade credit rating. Additionally, we have balance sheet flexibility at APRR and optionality via our undrawn corporate working capital facility.
We will also evaluate capital management options, with work underway to consider the most effective use of capital releases from Chicago Skyway in the future to maximize security holder returns. These strategies underpin our overriding focus on creating long-term security holder value and our future distributions target of at least AUD 0.40 per security. I'll now hand back to Graeme.
Thank you, David. Before I sum up today, I'd like to walk you through Atlas Arteria's value proposition. We are a mature, established toll roads business with high-quality brownfield assets. We're a large scale, geographically diverse, cash-generative business, and we're well-positioned in this macroeconomic environment, being positively leveraged to inflation with high EBITDA margins and limited exposure to floating rate debt. We have an attractive distribution yield and are targeting future distributions of at least AUD 0.40 per security, supported by growing underlying free cash flow. In addition to these financial advantages, we're making strong progress against our sustainability goals, which is reflected in our positive ESG ratings and performance. In summary, I'm pleased to say that Atlas Arteria is in a good position, and our outlook is positive. We have delivered a robust performance for the half, with strong growth in proportionate toll revenue.
We have continued to deliver on our strategy across the three major business priorities: business optimization, associated growth opportunities, and capital management. Our capital management initiatives, announced in July, were a significant step towards our strategy to increase high-quality operational cash flows from our businesses. These initiatives will improve the level of our operating cash flows to support distributions to you, our security holders. We have reaffirmed our distribution guidance of AUD 0.40 per security, which will be less reliant on cash on hand, given the stronger free cash flow support. Going forward, we have a target to deliver distributions of at least AUD 0.40 per security, supported by growing underlying free cash flow. We are excited by the appointment of Hugh Wehby, who, alongside our whole executive team, I know will do an excellent job in continuing to deliver for our security holders and stakeholders.
Personally, I'm looking forward to continuing to implement our strategy over coming months and to successfully onboard Hugh and transition him into the CEO role before commencing my retirement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our security holders for your support of Atlas Arteria over the past six years under my leadership, as we have undertaken a significant transformation of the business. A big thank you also to the team at Atlas Arteria, who have made these results possible. I would now like to open the floor to questions, so I will hand back to the operator. Thank you.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're in a speaker phone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Please only ask one question at a time, and then rejoin the queue to allow others to ask their questions. Your first question comes from Reinhardt van der Walt, Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, Graeme and David, and the team. First question may be just on the litigation outcome around the French tax. Can you just give us a sense of exactly what kind of outcome you're referring to in September? What does a positive outcome for you look like? And in the event of that not occurring, what are, I suppose, the next steps and just sort of approximate timeline that we can expect? Thanks.
Yeah, thanks for the question. The constitutional challenge is exactly that, the constitutionality of the tax, and we have put a case to the Constitutional Council that the tax is non-constitutional because it specifically attacks a particular sector, which is non-constitutional under the French constitution, so that is the argument that has been put. The outcome of that will be known on the twelfth of September. At the same time, we're preparing for contractual litigation, and that takes two steps. The first step is we would seek from the minister an increase in tolls under our contract to compensate us for the increased tax, which the contract clearly states in the context of specific taxes, so we'll seek that increase.
If the minister rejects it or allows the two months' notice period to expire, we would then proceed to file for a commercial litigation process. If you take that all the way through to full outcome, that can be up to a four-year process. In previous litigation, not similar in nature, this has resulted generally in an agreement sometime before it gets to a final outcome. But we can't be certain of that. We don't know the nature of the government that will be formed. So, you know, that, that's one of the reasons for the restructuring and the upstreaming of the previously non-distributable cash to put us in a position to maintain distributions, with support from other operational improvements, through the period to achieve contractual litigation outcome.
If we get a positive outcome on the constitutional challenge, then the law is illegal, and we will not be subject to the tax.
Okay, understood. So I mean, in that outcome where the law basically does become deemed to be illegal, you know, I know that the exact details of that are probably still murky at this point of how it'll play out, but compensation for tax payments so far, I mean, how long do you think it would take for that reversal to be implemented and to show up in the correct cash flow line?
So it's immediate in the context that it becomes a payable from the state to us, and would be an offset against other taxes we would be obliged to remit in the normal course. So effectively, you submit an interim payment based on your assessment of the tax for the period, and then the true assessment happens, I think it's in March of each year, subsequent year, as to what the full tax is payable. So you've prepaid tax, but it's not truly tax until the final assessment takes place in the following March. So we would get a refund for the advanced tax we've paid.
Understood. Thank you very much, Graeme. I'll jump back in the queue.
The next question comes from Ian Myles with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hi, guys, a couple quick ones for you. Firstly, on the APRR, the lift in labor costs, is that more a permanent shift? Because it's quite a substantial lift from against PCP of EUR 10 million .
Sure, Ian, I can take that. It's David. There's two parts to that. In the prior period, we had a credit relating to the raising of the retirement age in France, so there was a credit in half one, 2023. In terms of percentage, that's probably worth close to 7%. And then in addition to that, in the current period, we had wage escalation of around 5%. So the prior period adjustment is really a one-off reflecting the retirement age, so that's slightly skewing the labor number results for APRR.
Okay. And then on the FEI, I saw there's a tax refund of circa 20 million EUR. What's that about?
Yes. Yep, so that's the. That relates to the interest payment at Financière Eiffarie level. So the 20 million, there's two components to that. There's the full year 2023 component, which is about 13 million, and there's the first half of 2024, which is about seven. So there's eighteen months worth in the in that EUR 20 million dollars or EUR 20 million . Going forward, we'd expect it to be more in the EUR 13 million- EUR 14 million range each year. So in simple terms, it's the tax deductibility of the interest cost at Financière Eiffarie. The reason the numbers increased so much, of course, is the interest cost has increased significantly with rates.
Yep
Over the last 12-18 months.
Okay. And then finally, on Skyway, you've got that money still trapped. When does that get released?
Yep. So the good news on that, Ian, is, post thirty June, we had $19 million released, so this is a withholding that sits with the IRS until we get an approval for zero withholding. So $19 million was released after the thirtieth of June. So we've got the majority of that in now, as of today.
Awesome! That's great. Thanks, guys.
The next question comes from Andre Fromyhr with UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi there. I was wondering if you're ready to share any more details around the four one two project. I guess we've heard of you working on it for some time. It sounds like you're pretty close to signing it. So I was wondering if you could share anything about the size of the project, how it would be funded, but then I want to understand the technicalities around this ownership structure comment, and whether or not it's, you know, a high likelihood that it becomes an APRR project rather than maintained by Eiffage.
Yeah. So, Andre, what we've said in the previous results is that on signing, we would provide details. So in the next period, post signing, we would provide more detailed information on it. We have an option to purchase it at any time. It's exactly the same option structure that we had for the A79. What we like about it is that it gives us flexibility in the context that we've got a known cost to acquire it, and adjustments for various things. So we will make a decision based on the merits of the opportunity at the time that occurs. Obviously, as we did with the A79, we would fund it through excess cash sitting on the balance sheet of APRR or borrowings at the APRR level.
So in terms of, you know, cost to... and returns, they are elevated by the low cost of the funding source for that. But we can't provide more details until the minister signs, and the minister in caretaker mode cannot sign. So we're waiting for Macron to appoint a government, and until that happens, we really can't say any more.
Right. And the costs to exercise that option, is that sort of intended to compensate Eiffage for the work they've done on the development of the project?
So we pay for half the development costs, so we are in partnership on that. If we win, obviously they get sunk into the total cost of the project. And if we lose, we wear them, which is exactly the scenario on the A79, and on other projects we've worked on. So effectively, we get the option to buy the road at cost. So whatever its cost, that's what we pay.
Okay. And just to like... Sorry to sort of ask it in a slightly different way, but the option, at least, as it reads in the slide, is held by APRR. To what extent is that, therefore, just by sort of voting power, actually Eiffage's option to execute, as opposed to Atlas's?
Yeah, obviously, everyone. We've contemplated all of that, and so it's an APRR's option on the voting of the non-Eiffage directors.
Okay. Great. Thank you.
So it's totally in the control of Macquarie too.
The next question comes from Owen Birrell with RBC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks, guys. Just one question for me around the capital that you received from the Chicago Skyway regearing in November of 2023, I think totaled roughly around AUD 0.12 per share. Just confirming how much you've got left there, post the AUD 0.03-AUD 0.04 that you're guiding to for FY 2024. I'm calculating around about AUD 0.06 per share for FY 2025 onwards. Just wanted to confirm that that's right.
Hi, Owen, it's David. The easiest way to look at that is we raised $116 million of additional capital with guidance for 4-5 cents for the full year 2024 distribution that we'll use of that. So there is a component remaining. Our cash balance on the balance sheet is $163 million at 30 June, so you can kind of mathematically do the calc going forward. I don't want to give an exact cents per security in terms of what's left, but there's $163 million of cash on our balance sheet. So, that's the easiest way to do that calc.
Okay, thanks.
The next question comes from Rob Koh with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for the presentation and, in particular, the key asset pictures on slide seventeen and seven. That really helps us visualize. Just wanted to ask a quick question about the APRR CapEx plans. Just there's a slight change of how that's sculpted a little bit. Just if you could give us some background.
So the context is that we obviously have reviewed our CapEx. We are looking at it in the context of life cycle maintenance. We're doing a lot more work on handover and preparing for handover and so how to optimize the CapEx spend in that context, and similarly, our timing of CapEx. So really we're basically saying it's sort of around the 350 mark. This year, we expect it to be at or below 300.
That's very helpful. Thank you. All right, and then, just a final question for me. Is there any color that you and Eiffage can share on the, on summer traffic? I believe Eiffage said we're having a nice summer so far this year.
Yeah, look, July was weak, as it has been the last couple of years. But we had a very strong August. Overall, July and August were up 1% on the prior year.
Excellent. All right. Many thanks.
Next question comes from Nathan Lead with Morgans Financial. Please go ahead.
G'day, Graeme and David. Just a quick one from me. When you acquired the Chicago Skyway stake, you published a EV to EBITDA multiple. It had an implied EBITDA forecast in there for FY 2024 of, I think it was $117 million. First half was $53 million EBITDA. How confident are you of hitting that target?
Sure, Nathan. So what I would say is, H2 at Skyway is usually stronger on traffic due to the summer period over July and August, and therefore, the EBITDA and profitability of the second half is normally stronger than the first half. If you look at distributions, historically, and also looking forward, H2 is stronger than H1. So without commenting on a specific number for full year 2024, what I would say is H2 is traditionally stronger than H1 on Sky.
Okay, great.
It's very similar to APRR. We have revenues much higher in the second half than the first.
Yep, great. And just while I got the, the phone, just a bit of a steer in terms of what you're expecting for multi-year CapEx for Chicago Skyway. Obviously, you've given the steer for this year, but, you know, where are we at going forward?
What we've said on Skyway, we had elevated CapEx last year in 2023. We've given guidance in the current year of around $11. That's probably a reasonable estimate to use going forward. That was what we talked about around acquisition as a more BAU level, putting aside the spike in 2023. As well, we don't give long-term guidance. The current year forecast is probably a reasonable starting point.
Great, thank you.
Some of that CapEx rolling forward, Nathan, is the transition from reactive maintenance to proactive maintenance. Once we get through that bubble, day-to-day maintenance should lower, because the cost of proactive maintenance on a per unit basis is lower than reactive maintenance.
Okay.
Major overhauls get stretched.
When is the next major overhaul due?
We haven't commented on that.
Okay. Thank you.
Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. The next question is a follow-up question from Andre Fromyhr. Please go ahead.
Thanks. I was just wondering if you could talk a bit about the consolidation adjustments. You know, previously, you flagged they would drop, and I see comments in the pack around reflecting the accounting differences. But, you know, is that your way of suggesting that they should sort of net out to be neutral looking forward, or just at a smaller run rate?
Hi, Andre. Yeah, sure. Thanks, thanks for the question, and slide 25's got the detail of the consolidation adjustments. The previous intercompany loan arrangements, which were in place between APRR and AREA, expired in December of 2023, which in prior years had an impact in terms of consolidation adjustments of close to EUR 100 million. That is now expired, so or repaid. So looking forward, the only thing that we would expect to come through on the consolidation adjustments line on a full year basis, and indeed on a half year basis as well, are the French GAAP versus IFRS differences on two things. Firstly, the maintenance provision calculation, and essentially that's driven by movements in the Construction Services Index in France, which is the TP09 Index. We don't attempt to forecast that internally.
So if that was to not move over 12 months, you would have zero on that line on the full year. At the half year, we do have a difference each year in terms of how land tax is treated. So land tax under French GAAP is accrued each month, whereas under IFRS it all impacts the second half. So when you look at slide 25, and you see the consolidation adjustment line there of EUR 24 million, most of that at the half is land tax, which will reverse in the second half. Therefore, in the full half, all you will see is the movement in the TP09 index. Again, we don't try to forecast that, so we would expect that to be a low number based on where the index sits at the moment.
Right. So that effect reversal of the land tax difference would actually show up as a positive in the second half on this line?
Yes. Yes.
Right. Thank you.
The full year number. Yeah, that's right. So the full year number would be zero other than TP09 movements.
Yep. Great.
We've come to the end of our Q&A session. I'll now hand back to Mr. Bevans for closing remarks.
Thank you.