Saba recorded an overall increase of 4% in 2018, maintaining a positive growth rate which began two years ago, thanks in particular to Portugal’s results. Spain and Italy have also grown significantly. Similarly noteworthy is the recovery in subscribers, around 4%, thanks to marketing efforts undertaken by the company as a whole, especially with the introduction of new technologies and improving macroeconomic and consumption variables. These figures do not include the data for the new countries which Saba entered in December 2018.

During 2018, the company continued to focus on growth, which has always been one of Saba’s driving forces. In addition to the expansion operation executed at the end of last year, which has practically doubled the company’s territorial structure, Saba has finalized several development operations, of particular note in Chile, Italy and Portugal, thus demonstrating the company’s desire for geographical diversification which the Group has explicitly marked as a target year after year.

In Chile, Saba has acquired the concession company of the Plaza Mekis car park in the country’s capital for a period of 28 years. With 452 parking spaces, the infrastructure is located in the heart of Santiago de Chile, in a well-established setting and with numerous poles for attracting demand, including the Municipal Theatre and the National Library. It has also been awarded the concession for 35 years of the General Mackenna car park, with 390 parking spaces, in Santiago de Chile, and has agreed a 7-year extension of the management contract of Clínica las Condes, with 2,700 spaces, also in Santiago de Chile. The company now has more than 30,500 parking spaces in Chile, making it the leading operator in that country.

In Portugal, Saba has begun its 10-year concession of the Exponor car park, with 2,000 parking spaces, located in Matosinhos, near Porto, and has signed a new car park lease contract for 35 years for the Campus Nova School of Bussiness & Economics Parking, with 520 parking spaces, located in the municipality of Cascais, 20 kilometres from Lisbon. With more than 21,200 parking spaces, Saba is present in 17 cities in Portugal.

In Italy, Saba has obtained the concession until the year 2046 of the Assisi Mojano car park, with 299 parking spaces, located in the city’s historic centre. With the addition of these new premises, Saba is now an important operator in Assisi, where it already manages 6 car parks, totalling more than 1,000 parking spaces. This transaction is in addition to the recent opening of the Verona Arsenale car park, with 209 parking spaces, which Saba will manage under concession for a period of 56 years. Saba is present in 18 cities in Italy and manages 56 car parks with a capacity of nearly 28,000 parking spaces.

In addition to all these expansion operations, in Spain the company has pushed through improvements in innovation, especially in access and payment systems, and has become a pioneer in added-value services for customers, while consolidating itself as a Group which is decisively committed to including sustainability as part of its model. In Spain, Saba manages around 130,000 parking spaces distributed among 250 car parks in 80 cities.

In December 2018, Saba reached an agreement with Indigo for the acquisition of all the shares of its companies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, although companies from the latter country didn’t become a part of Saba until January 2019. With this operation, Saba reinforces its position as an international leader and now manages more than 384,500 parking spaces and nearly 1,200 car parks in 9 countries, with an average concession life of about 25 years. Likewise, the company’s workforce has increased by more than 50%, up to 2,300 employees.

This is a quantitative leap of first order and a notable improvement in the portfolio in Saba’s car park business, with an 80% increase in the number of parking spaces. For Saba, entry into the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to complement the position it has maintained until now in southern Europe —Spain, Italy and Portugal—, constitutes a strategic platform for expansion towards Central Europe.