1Letter from the Chief Executive Officer

Josep Martínez Vila

Josep Martínez Vila

In terms of the CSR area, the Saba car park network has been placed at the service of the health authorities.

Before presenting the most significant events of 2019, we must reflect on the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis represents a very complex situation, with no historical precedent, which is putting the capacity for management and action of citizens, companies, institutions, governments and administrations to the test. It has also altered our day-to-day life by introducing a series of difficulties and restrictions in the management of services.

Saba's priority is, at all times, to strive for preventing infection for all its employees, while car parks and regulated areas are redesigned according to the events taking place and the various phases of the epidemic to ensure operations and to service our subscribers and customers.

The Saba Customer service and Control Centre (CCC) – to which car parks in three countries in the network are connected and which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – has been a key part of this operation, thanks to the rapid action that allowed, initially, to enable two alternative centres and, later, to virtualize jobs in employees’ homes.

In the area of social responsibility, the network of car parks, especially those located near hospital centres and other authorized centres, has been placed at the service of the health authorities, in order to fulfil the needs of healthcare personnel as they arise.

As a company, we have learned to change the way we work, introducing new technologies – in our personal lives as well – and to grant importance to contingency and crisis plans in order to protect our employees and continue our business activities.

As of 2019, Saba registered a global increase in activity of 15%, due to its incorporation of the Group from the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Portugal's strong performance stands out in this chapter. This same trend is observed in subscribers, with a global growth of 29%, motivated by the internationalization of the company and commercial actions, especially with the introduction of new technologies and the implementation of agreements in the sphere of new uses and habits of mobility (sharing, urban distribution, micro-distribution and electric charging, etc.).

In 2019, the first closed financial year with the new countries incorporated in December 2018, the operating income from Saba's assets under management stood at 296 million euros, 33% more than in the previous year, while EBITDA from management reached 138 million euros, 29% more than in 2019. Investment rose to 37 million euros. In the short and medium term, we must monitor and carry out constant supervision of the situation and of the possible impacts, both financial and non-financial, that the health crisis may have.

The most significant development operation in 2019 was the allocation, by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal—VINCI, of the comprehensive management contract for the car park network of Portugal’s airports, although growth operations were closed in all Saba countries , such as, for example, the concession contract for the Hospital of Ourense, in Spain, and the management contract for the car park of the Clínica Alemana, in the metropolitan region of Chile’s capital. In the United Kingdom, the renewal of the car park contract for the West Midlands Trains railway network was completed, which includes 32 car parks currently already under management and the incorporation of 13 new ones, for a total of 9,027 parking spaces.

In Italy, the concession contracts for the Verona Università and Assissi Matteotti car parks were renewed, as were the contracts for Andreas Passage and St Bernward and Palandweg in Hildesheim in Germany. In Slovakia, we have an indefinite contract for managing Penny Market in five locations and in the Czech Republic, the renewal of management contracts for the P&R Opatov and Písnice car parks, both located in Prague, was signed.

In terms of operational efficiency and quality of service, it must be emphasized that the CCC currently has more than 240 connected car parks in Spain, Italy and Portugal, compared to 188 in 2018. In addition, the company has consolidated how it implements various methods of access and electronic payment in 132 car parks in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Chile, with more than 14 million movements logged. In its management of control systems, Saba has rolled out number plate reading and dynamic exiting in car parks in Spain, Italy and Portugal, for both subscribers and short-stay customers.

In 2019, Saba continued working on strengthening the digitization of its business and on extending it to all the countries where the Group is present. Visits to e-commerce websites in Spain, Italy and Portugal have reached two million and the number of transactions stands at 18,000.

Its services with added value are what make Saba a benchmark operator and strengthen the position of the car park as a service hub that is in full coordination with other means of transport, thereby helping to reduce heavy traffic. How? Saba strives for its car parks to serve as small micro-distribution nodes from which the distribution of small-sized goods can be carried out with individual and sustainable means of mobility. Currently, there are five of these points – to be extended to ten – in Barcelona.

The installation of e-commerce lockers, which allow customers to collect or return online purchases, taking advantage of the central locations of car parks, tops off our offer of proximity logistics. Saba currently offers this service with 4 operators in 24 car parks (20 in Spain and 4 in Italy) and is negotiating with Amazon for the installation of 36 lockers.

Finally, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the Board of Directors, the management team and, in general, the various groups that comprise the company, as well as to each and every one of the employees in all our countries for their great work, thanks to which we can operate and continue to function in an environment as complex as the one that we are facing due to the current pandemic. The Saba company embodies a maximum level of professionalism, effort and responsibility – values that are inherent to the business and to the group of people that comprise it and that will allow us to firmly move forward.

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