August 11 -- Guangdong Provincial Expressway Development (Guangdong Expressway) (000429) reported that its net profit fell 38.96 percent in the first half of 2011 to 145 million yuan, reports Chinese Business News, citing a company filing. All percentage changes in this article are year-on-year.

Revenue rose 2.39 percent to 513 million yuan, while operating cost increased 4.19 percent to 252 million yuan, resulting in an 18.1-percent decrease in operating profit.

The listed company’s operating costs increased and were blamed on accrual depreciation and an interest expense which was came from a loan used from the expansion of the Foshan-Kaiping expressway during the reporting period.

The listed company also earned investment income of 170 million yuan in the first half of 2011, falling 50 percent. The company said that the Gankang expressway started operating at the end of 2010. The operating costs of the Guanghui and Yuezhao expressways increased rapidly in the first half of 2011.

Guangdong Expressway stressed that its expressway business entailed many uncertainties due to uncertain road roll standards, and it cannot lift road tolls even as its operating costs have increased.

After the Chinese Ministry of Communications announced new toll road regulations in June, expressway companies in Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei provinces as well as Beijing have reduced or cancelled tolls. So far, tolls in Guangdong province have not changed.