(2 March 2004 – Australia) Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) has posted a net loss of $386.3 million for the first half of FY 2004 compared with a net profit of $499 million the previous year.MIG said it had been impacted by the strengthening dollar and a rise in interest rates, and that these had affected the operational performance of its portfolio, with asset valuations reduced by $449 million.
MIG chief executive Steve Allen said despite the impact of macro-economic issues on the results, the first half year had been a period of significant progress with portfolio traffic up 5.3 percent and revenue up 14.1 percent.
The group had $5.8 billion worth of new projects underway, such as the M6 toll in the UK, the Westlink M7 in Sydney and Warnow Tunnel in Germany.