Salik reports nine-month net profit of AED 1,045.1 million, with third-quarter trips up 4 per cent on the second quarter and 2027 revenue growth guided at 6 to 8 per cent.
Salik Company PJSC, the exclusive operator of Dubai’s toll gates, reported net profit of AED 1,045.1 million for the first nine months of 2026, as toll usage revenue fell 10.1 per cent year on year, the company said on Friday.
The nine-month profit represents a net profit margin of 49.4 per cent. Total revenue was AED 2,117.3 million, and EBITDA was AED 1,449.6 million, a margin of 68 per cent.
The third quarter was stronger than the second. Trips reached 194.0 million, up 4.0 per cent on the second quarter.
Toll usage fee revenue in the quarter was AED 607.3 million, up 5.2 per cent on the second quarter. The year-on-year shortfall narrowed to 7.3 per cent from 16.5 per cent in the second quarter. Total revenue for the quarter was AED 705.3 million.
Over the nine months, toll usage fees came to AED 1,809.8 million, the 10.1 per cent decline against the same period of 2025.
Total trips, including discounted trips, were 577.8 million, against 628.4 million a year earlier. The year-on-year gap in total trips narrowed to 5.0 per cent in the third quarter from 12.6 per cent in the second.
Chargeable trips were 419.3 million, down 10.9 per cent. Of these, 155.3 million were at the AED 6 peak rate and 219.6 million at the AED 4 off-peak rate.
Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Sultan Al Haddad said September was the busiest month for traffic since February. Peak-hour trips were 2.0 per cent above last year over the nine months, he said.
“The third quarter showed signs of improvement,” Al Haddad said.
Revenue from fines was AED 220.1 million in the nine months, up 6.5 per cent. In the third quarter it was AED 75.7 million, up 4.6 per cent and 10.7 per cent of quarterly revenue.
Tag activation fees brought in AED 37.7 million, up 8.5 per cent. The third-quarter figure was AED 12.9 million, up 9.3 per cent.
Ancillary revenue rose 82.5 per cent to AED 26.5 million, driven principally by the Parkonic parking partnership. The insurance partnership with Liva Group grew 73 per cent year on year.
Al Haddad said Salik’s parking payment service has gone live at Dubai Harbour, following an agreement signed with Shamal in July. Salik also renewed its technology partnership with TransCore for a further five years.
Free cash flow was AED 494.6 million in the third quarter, after an outflow in the second. That brought the nine-month total to AED 1,045.6 million.
Net debt fell 4.0 per cent since the start of the year to AED 4,606.9 million, with leverage at 2.29 times.
Salik had 63 full-time staff in the third quarter, 21.2 per cent more than a year earlier. Emiratisation reached 31.8 per cent, up from 30.8 per cent.
For the 2027 financial year, the company expects revenue growth of 6 to 8 per cent and an EBITDA margin of 69.5 to 70.5 per cent.
Al Haddad pointed to Dubai’s population, projected to reach 5.8 million by 2040, and to the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. It is expanding five urban centres, three of them near Salik’s toll gates on Sheikh Zayed Road, he said.
