Toll road firm Itinere Q1 core earnings up 22 pct

MADRID, May 12 (Reuters) - Spanish toll road company Itinere (ITIE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), affiliate of builder Sacyr Vallehermoso (SVO.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), posted a 21.6 percent rise in first-quarter core earnings, thanks to higher tariffs and traffic and the opening of six new roads.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to 111.2 million euros ($171.9 million), said Itinere which is around 98 percent owned by Sacyr.

Turnover at Itinere Infraestruturas SA, which postponed a share offering and capital increase at the end of April because of poor market conditions, rose 24.9 percent to 149 million euros.

EBITDA margin fell 2.2 percentage points to 74.6 percent, in large part because new roads are less profitable in their first years of operation.

Net profit rose to 5.5 million euros from 2.9 percent 12 months earlier.

Sacyr's Chairman Luis del Rivero said Itinere's share offer was pulled because of a poor response from international investors. The parent company had hoped to cut its own heavy debt load with the Itinere share sale, but Rivero said Itinere could sell assets and increase debt.

Gross debt rose to 4.92 billion euros from 4.75 billion at the end of last year, according to Monday's statement. ($1=.6470 Euro) (Reporting by Carlos Ruano; Translating by Ben Harding)