Dubai's Salik Sees Revenues Surge with Changes

New Salik Gates and Dynamic Pricing Boost Revenues in Dubai

Dubai's toll operator, Salik, achieved outstanding results in the first half of 2025 after installing two new gates in November 2024 and implementing dynamic pricing at the end of January 2025. In the first six months of the year, the company's total revenue increased by nearly 40% compared to the previous year.

Strong Revenue and Profit Growth

Salik's total revenue reached 1.527 billion dirhams in the first half of 2025, marking a 39.5% year-on-year increase. Net profit rose even more dynamically, up 41.5% to 770.9 million dirhams. EBITDA, a key indicator of the company's operational efficiency, increased by 44.2% to 1.065 billion dirhams, with an EBITDA margin of 69.7%.

Toll Passages and Traffic

The total number of passages through Salik gates, including discounted tolls, reached 424.2 million, reflecting a 39.6% annual growth. Toll passages in the second quarter totaled 160.4 million, 1.6% higher than the first quarter.

Particularly significant growth was seen in peak time (6 dirhams) passages, which totaled 57.7 million, showing a 46.7% increase from the previous quarter. In addition, there was growth in midnight passages, when tolls are free of charge, with 16.4 million passages, which marks a 46.8% expansion.

Revenue from toll payments grew by 42.3% annually to 1.357 billion dirhams, while in the second quarter it rose to 691.3 million dirhams, representing a 49.4% increase.

Penalties and Tag Activation

Revenue from violations increased by 15.7% to 134.3 million dirhams. In the second quarter, this amount rose to 65.9 million dirhams. The total number of infractions reached 808,500, showing a 20.3% increase, yet it still accounts for only 0.4% of total traffic.

Revenue from Salik tag activations rose by 16.2% year-on-year to 22.9 million dirhams. In the second quarter, this amount was 11.5 million dirhams, accounting for 1.5% of total revenue.

Dividends and Future Outlook

Based on the financial results, Salik's board of directors proposed a dividend payout of 770.9 million dirhams for the first half, which equates to 10.278 fils per share, representing 100% of the total first-half profit.

The company revised its annual forecast, now expecting a full-year revenue growth of 34-36% for 2025 compared to the previously anticipated 28-29%. The EBITDA margin is expected to be between 68.5% and 69.5%.

What’s Driving the Growth?

Dubai's economic momentum remains strong: the continued expansion of tourism, the real estate market, and infrastructure developments favor road traffic and consequently Salik's performance.

In the first five months of the year, tourism grew by 7%, while hotel occupancy rose to 83% from last year's 81%. These figures demonstrate that both population growth and tourism traffic significantly contribute to the increase in toll revenues.

Summary

Salik achieved outstanding financial and operational results in the first half of 2025. The introduction of new gates and variable pricing not only provided short-term revenue growth but also strengthened the company's position in Dubai's transportation infrastructure in the long term. Looking ahead, with a strong economic backdrop, increasing mobility demands, and digitalization, Salik is poised to remain on a stable growth path.

(Based on Salik's report.)