In 2018, the positive pace of car park activity, which started two years ago, continued, resulting in an overall growth of 4%, thanks in particular to Portugal (+ 9%), along with Italy (+ 5%) and Spain (+ 3%), which also experienced considerable increases. Similarly noteworthy is the continued recovery in subscribers, around 4%, thanks to marketing efforts undertaken by the company as a whole, especially with the introduction of new technologies and digitalization, and improving macroeconomic and consumption variables.

In 2018, operating income from Saba’s assets under management stood at 223 million euros, 5% more than in the previous year, while EBITDA reached 106 million euros, 6% more than in 2017. The investment outlay totalled 250 million euros, of which 93% was dedicated to the expansion process. This was also the first year in which the company presented the Non-Financial Information Statement for the first time.

All this is the result of abiding by the pillars that sustain and drive the company’s development strategy: efficiency in operations and quality of service; technological innovation and commercial transformation and, finally, selective growth and diversification.

Regarding the latter, the company took a big step forward in 2018, with the addition of new assets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic that preserve Saba’s business and fit with our strategy of growth and geographical diversification. An operation that represents an increase of 31% in income and an additional 15% in EBITDA.

As well as entering new countries and adding quality car parks in strategic locations, the addition of almost 170,000 new parking spaces and 800 car parks confirms Saba’s desire to be a leading player in sustainable mobility, providing solutions to the new needs of customers and inexorably connecting us to local economies and the progress of cities and their inhabitants. Currently, Saba is present in a total of 170 cities in nine countries.

As a final point on growth, in 2018 Saba also carried out operations in Chile, Italy and Portugal that demonstrate the company’s strive for internationalization. In this regard, in Chile, Saba acquired the concession company of the car park in Plaza Mekis and was awarded the General Mackenna car park concession, both in the capital Santiago. In Portugal, Saba has begun to operate the concession of the Exponor car park, located in Matosinhos, near Porto, and has signed a new car park lease contract for the Campus Nova School of Bussiness & Economics Parking, located in the municipality of Cascais, 20 kilometres from Lisbon. In Italy, Saba has been awarded the concession for the Assisi Mojano car park.

In terms of operational efficiency and service quality, it is worth highlighting that in 2018 the Customer service and Control Centre (CCC) controlled 188 connected car parks in Spain, Italy and Portugal, 11% more than in 2017. The process of internationalization of Saba’s main customer support platform continues its expansion and last year it handled 1.4 million intercom calls from car parks, which is the equivalent of more than 3,800 calls a day.

If we already take into account 2019, Saba has renovated a total of 44 car parks, amounting to 18,500 parking spaces in Spain, Chile, Italy and Portugal. Likewise, the company has consolidated the implementation of the different methods of access and electronic payment in Spain, Chile, Italy and Portugal. Customers can enjoy the advantages of this technology in a total of 130 car parks of the network, in which in 2018 a total of 14 million movements were registered, 19% more than in 2017. Saba has taken the management of control systems even further and in 2018 the company laid the foundations for rolling out plate recognition and dynamic exit technology, with plans to make this operational in more than 80 car parks in Spain, Italy and Portugal in 2019.

In the area of technological innovation and commercial restructuring, it is worth highlighting that in 2018, Saba continued to work towards the digitalization of its business. By way of example, in Spain, visits to saba.es increased by 63%, reaching 1.3 million and transactions increased by 58%, reaching almost 20,000.

Saba customers can now benefit from greater connectivity in car parks and access new added-value services that require the use of mobile data, such as carsharing, e-commerce collection points and payment through the mobile application. This qualitative leap in customer service has been deployed in the Saba and also Saba Barcelona Bamsa network, providing a total of 43 car parks in Spain with 3G mobile coverage during 2018 and 2019. Added to this, thanks to the agreement signed with Endesa, is the installation of up to 400 charging stations in almost 50 car parks of the Saba network throughout Spain and likewise in the Saba Barcelona Bamsa network.

In short, we are providing solutions for the new mobility environment, the new needs of consumers and we are adapting to a changing environment in which customer support, quality and added value will be key in order to stand out as the benchmark operator. And this will be achieved by being faithful to our way of working and our commitment. I would like to thank the people that make up Saba, a highly trained team whose efforts to ensure Saba continues to look to the future I appreciate and would like to highlight here.