Dubai: Salik CEO slams fake posts about investment opportunities with toll gate operator

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Investors have been advised to obtain information from official sources when investing in Dubai’s toll gate operator Salik Company, its chief executive said in an interview with Khaleej Times.

Various fake posts have been doing rounds on social media over the past few months, asking investors and residents to invest in Salik stocks. It offers people to invest Dh950 in Salik shares and "earn a steady income".

“I would like to advise people who are interested in investing in Salik to use official channels and be aware of fake social media posts,” Ibrahim Al Haddad, CEO of Salik Company, told Khaleej Times in an interview on Tuesday.

Listed on the Dubai Financial Market, the toll gate operator raised Dh3.735 billion ($1.017 billion) after its initial public offering (IPO) last year witnessed record demand, reaching Dh184.2 billion ($50.2 billion). It had set an offering price of Dh2 a share, giving a valuation of Dh15 billion. Salik shares up by around 60 per cent since its listing on the Dubai bourse last year.

Its shares have been trading very actively on the Dubai bourse. On Tuesday, they were up 1.28 per cent to close the day at Dh3.16 per share. Its counter saw 7.595 million shares changing hands.

“We want to create awareness among the people to be alerted about these traps. People should avoid them and invest through legal channels. Don’t expose your personal and financial information to these accounts as these are fake accounts and being run from outside the country,” said Al Haddad.

He added that they have engaged authorities to act against such fake posts. “These are not genuine and they are after people’s money,” he added.

Some fake audio and video posts invite investors to get free consultancy also to buy Salik shares.

Salik Company chief also dismissed social media posts which suggest that motorists can cheat by driving in the middle of the lanes and other similar practices.

“We have not just RFID technology but cameras also that read car number plates. So there is no way to sneak around. We enjoy the efficiency of almost 100 per cent of the traffic passing through the gate. We have a solid system in place,” he added.