Salik Posts Resilient Margins Despite 12.5% Traffic Decline in First Half
Dubai's toll operator maintained a 69% EBITDA margin as regional headwinds weighed on volumes, while expanding parking and mobility partnerships.
Traffic Softness Tests Operational Model
Salik Company P.J.S.C., Dubai's toll road operator, reported first-half 2026 revenue of AED 1.4 billion, down 7.5% year-over-year, as regional events beginning in late February weighed on traffic volumes across its gate network (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Chargeable trips totaled 278.5 million for the six-month period, a 12.5% decline from the prior year, with second-quarter trips at 132.8 million, down 12.6% year-over-year and 5.4% sequentially. CEO Ibrahim Al Haddad noted that "despite our challenging operating environment, Salik delivered a resilient financial performance, reflecting the strength of our financial and business model" (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
The company's network handled 383.8 million total trips in the first half, with the volume decline "spread broadly across the network rather than concentrated in any one location," according to Gopalakrishnan Hariharan, Director of Strategy and Growth (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Margins Withstand Revenue Pressure
Despite the top-line headwinds, Salik's profitability metrics remained robust. EBITDA reached AED 975.6 million at a margin of 69.1%, down just 10 basis points from the prior year, while net profit of AED 704 million delivered a 49.9% margin—"almost 50%," CFO Maged Ibrahim emphasized (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Usage fees continued to represent 85.2% of total revenue, with fines accounting for 10.2% and growing 7.5% year-over-year to AED 144.4 million. Other revenue streams, including parking and ancillary services, contributed 4.6% and totaled AED 65.1 million (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Free cash flow for the period stood at AED 551 million, representing a 39% margin compared with 72.8% in the first half of 2025. Ibrahim attributed the movement to "working capital timing including the settlement of VAT related liabilities, related concession fee payable and amounts due to our operation and maintenance subcontractor" rather than any fundamental change in cash generation (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Strategic Expansion Beyond Core Tolling
Salik continued to build out its mobility ecosystem during the period. In July, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Shamal to enable parking payments at Dubai Harbors' Harbor West carpark, covering 845 spaces, and entered an agreement with DS to deploy access control and parking optimization solutions across more than 21,000 spaces at Dubai Airports Free-zone, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and Dubai CommerceCity (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
The company's e-wallet now operates across 180 Parkonic locations, while a proof-of-concept partnership with WeChat is expected to roll out more than 1,800 EV charging points in the third quarter of 2026 (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
Guidance Reaffirmed
Management maintained its full-year 2026 outlook, expecting revenue growth in the range of negative 3% to flat, with traffic volumes "expected to normalize during the third quarter." EBITDA margin guidance of 67.5% to 68.5% and post-tax net profit margin of 49.5% to 50.5% were unchanged (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
The company reiterated its commitment to distributing 100% of net profit, subject to board approval, with payment expected before the end of October. As of June 30, 2026, net debt stood at AED 5 billion, with a net debt to trailing twelve-month EBITDA ratio of 2.5x, "comfortably below our covenant threshold of 5x" (earnings call, 2026-08-06).
This article was generated by MarginX from the earnings call on 2026-08-06. It is not investment advice.