Operating revenue was up 5% to EUR 221.5m, as was net sales revenue, to EUR 214.1m, show the unaudited results.
Expenditure increased by 7% to EUR 114.1m, while earnings before taxes improved by 4% to EUR 180.7m.
Tolls make for the bulk of DARS's revenue. They reached EUR 207.1m in the first six months, a 4% year-on-year increase. Revenue from toll stickers amounted to EUR 78.4m, a 6% rise, while tolls from freight transport brought EUR 122.5m, a 3% increase. Revenue from the Karavanke motorway tunnel between Slovenia and Austria was up 8% to EUR 6.1m.
DARS noted that freight transport on Slovenian motorways continued to grow, while it also pointed to the April introduction of the DarsGo electronic tolling system for cargo vehicles.
As regards costs, the company highlighted a 30% jump in the costs of materials due to heavy February and March snow. Service costs also increased as a result of the introduction of DarsGo.
DARS's long-term financial commitments stood at EUR 2.15bn at the end of June, a 5% decrease compared to the same period last year.
The company's main investments at present include the continuing removal of tolling stations, which were used before toll stickers were introduced ten years ago - while DARS's main project in the future is a second tube of the Karavanke tunnel.
DARS picked Turkish contractor Cengiz Insaat Sanayi Ve Ticaret for the project in July. The Turkish bid was the cheapest of the nine submitted, at EUR 89.3m, excluding VAT, but three of the rival bidders have filed appeals.
