Salik Q1 Profit Up 33.7% on New Toll Gates, Pricing

Prime Highlights:

Salik Q1 2025 net profit increased 33.7% to AED 370.6 million.
Growth was led by new toll gates and variable pricing system launched early 2025.

Key Facts:

Revenues from toll usage fees rose 35.5% to AED 665.6 million.
Revenues from fines increased 16.2%, contributing AED 68.4 million.
EBITDA margin remained strong at 69.1%, bearing witness to operational efficiency.

Key Background:

Dubai’s sole toll operator, Salik, reported robust earnings in the first quarter of 2025. Its profit grew by 33.7% year-on-year, primarily due to the launch of a time-based variable pricing structure and the addition of two new toll gates—Business Bay and Al Safa South—late last year.

Variable tariff policy, which was introduced towards the end of January 2025, increased fares at rush hours to AED 6 and cut fares to AED 4 off-peak hours. The scheme was meant to regulate traffic and encouraged drivers to make the most of off-peak times. The outcome was evident: a clear 35.5% rise in tolls usage fee revenue, which amounted to AED 665.6 million.

This boom was supported by some 158 million Q1 trips, of which a combined total of some 39.3 million trips were recorded during peak hours and 107.5 million off-peak hours. Accommodating the two new toll gates in November 2024 also helped greatly raise trip volumes and revenues. These two gates were placed in an effort to manage jammed routes and help disperse vehicle load more evenly around the city.

The second most important driver of Salik’s strong financial results was the increase in fines revenue, which rose 16.2% year-on-year to AED 68.4 million. This followed 15% growth in net violations, which were around 786,000 cases. Fines represented around 9.1% of revenues in Q1.

Salik’s operating efficiency remained very good, its EBITDA margin remaining at 69.1%. CEO Ibrahim Al Haddad was satisfied with the performance of the company and confirmed Salik’s full-year outlook. The company anticipates revenues to grow 28–29% and post an even EBITDA margin of 68–69%.

Salik will, in the future, keep investing in intelligent mobility infrastructure, creating more toll gate opportunities, and constructing more ancillary revenue streams to sustain growth within an ever-changing transport system.