Shares in toll road operator Atlas Arteria Ltd (ASX: ALX) have hit a 12-month low after the company reported toll revenue had increased by just 0.1% over the past quarter.
Shares in the ASX 200 company fell to $4.20, down from $4.28 at the close on Monday, and are significantly lower than their high over the past year of $5.54.
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Fuel price impact yet to hit
Atlas said traffic performance across its businesses was "mixed", but that it "has not observed material impacts of current global macroeconomic factors and fuel costs in the first quarter''.
The company went on to say:
Historically, there has been low elasticity in the long term between fuel prices and traffic performance on our roads, which have demonstrated resilience through varied economic conditions. Atlas Arteria will continue to monitor the impacts of fuel costs and concerns created by the disruptions to supply out of the Middle East, noting that the regions in which Atlas Arteria primarily operates have lower exposure to these supply disruptions compared to Australia. In addition, most of our roads have toll regimes which are primarily CPI-linked, noting that any increases in fuel costs and associated impact to inflation will take time to flow through.
Dividend yield still high
RBC Capital Markets issued a "quick take" on the quarterly revenue results, saying they were negative for the company, with "very soft" traffic and revenue numbers.
They added:
From an investment perspective ALX remains focused on delivering 'at least 40cps' in dividends to support its current dividend yield, however we note growing pressure to further optimise the capital structure and seek new opportunities. We remain Sector Perform rated.
RBC Capital Markets has a price target of $5 on Atlas shares.
At the current share price, the company is paying an unfranked dividend yield of 9.34%.
Mixed results
Looking into the detail, the company's French APRR Group recorded a 0.9% decrease in traffic compared with the first quarter of 2025.
The company said:
Light vehicle traffic across France has been lower on most of the French toll road network, including before global fuel prices rose sharply worldwide. Conversely, heavy vehicle traffic has been consistently higher across the period. This, together with CPI-linked toll increases implemented from 1 February 2026, supported revenue performance in the period with toll revenue up 1.1%.
A price increase at the company's Chicago Skyway business supported a 1.8% increase in revenue while traffic increased by 0.1%.
Traffic at the Dulles Greenway business was up 7.6% despite a series of adverse weather events.
Atlas Arteria was valued at $6.21 billion at the close of trade on Monday.
