Dubai’s Salik records slight dip in 2022 net profit, brought on by 'new costs'
Profit comes in slightly lower as Salik took on new costs being a standalone company
Dubai: The Dubai toll-gate operator Salik recorded a dip in 2022 net profit to Dh1.32 billion from Dh1.38 billion, while revenues came in higher at Dh1.89 billion against Dh1.69 billion.
These are the first annual results since Salik’s drive through to a DFM listing, part of the Dubai government’s push to offer IPOs of key public sector enterprises.
But Salik says that comparisons on net profit may not give the full picture on a like-for-like basis. That’s because of ‘changes in its operating structure and cost profile’, the company said.
“From July 2022, Salik operates as a separate legal entity from RTA through a 49-year concession agreement. This has resulted in new costs, such as concession fees, rent, amortization, and transitional service expenses, as well as finance costs that did not exist prior to July 2022.”
In early trades on DFM, Salik is down 1.1 per cent to Dh2.68 on fairly thin volumes.
Operational gains
The number of revenue-generating trips was higher by 12.6 per cent year-on-year, to around 413 million trips. This reflects the increased activity within the Dubai economy through the period, and showing up on the level of road usage. Plus, there will have been gains from the increased flow of visitor and tourist presence in the city through the final weeks of the year.
In fact, this showed up in a Dh529 million net profit for the second-half of 2022, which was the start of Salik’s concession agreement with RTA. This resulted in the July-to-December period delivering a ‘robust margin’ of 55.8 per cent.
Salik’s total asset size also reflected its status as a standalone entity, at Dh5.3 billion from Dh315.31 million at the end of 2021.