Losses last year mounted at the company that operates the tolled €500 million Waterford city bypass as traffic volumes continued to fall short of expectations.
Accounts filed with the Companies Office show that Celtic Roads Group (Waterford) Ltd recorded a pre-tax loss of €10.3 million last year; this followed a pre-tax loss of €16 million in 2010.
The losses on the route narrowed after revenues increased from €7.3 million to €11.8 million in the 12 months to the end of last December.
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) project includes the 465-metre long cable-stayed bridge over the River Suir, 23km of dual carriageway and 14km of single-carriageway.
The scheme was officially opened in October 2009 after taking three years to construct.
The PPP agreement with the National Roads Authority (NRA) runs until 2036. Separate figures from the National Roads Authority (NRA) show that the average daily traffic did improve on the route last year, increasing by 26 per cent from 5,217 to 6,578 vehicles.
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