Embarking on the summary of the 2022 financial year, worthy of note is the recovery of the positive trend of activity starting from the end of January 2022, which in the last few months of the year returned to levels close to those before the pandemic, with over 90% of the activity recorded in 2019. Given a framework in which economic activity has been recovering in a non-homogeneous manner in the countries in which we operate and with the disparity in scope of international macroeconomic factors, Saba maintains current measures of strict spending control and prioritisation of investments, implemented since the beginning of the health crisis, in order to preserve the interests of the company.

At the same time, technological projects are promoted with a clear orientation: to adapt to the new needs of customers, stimulate sales and business activity and guarantee the efficient integration of new car parks in the future. The processes for requesting rebalancing of concessions and renegotiating contracts have been maintained, as well as the search for new market opportunities, encouraging an extension in the length of the average contractual duration of the portfolio.

In 2022, Saba's short-stay activity was up 28% on 2021, approaching pre-pandemic levels, while the number of subscribers was 10% higher than the previous year and similar to that of 2019. Regarding salient figures, operating income amounted to 275 million euros, 18% higher than 2021, and EBITDA stood at 127 million euros, 23% up on 2021. Saba invested 27 million euros in FY2022.

Once again, I wish to highlight the effort made in the financial field, with exhaustive control of liquidity and of debt, which in this latter case has been brought down in spite of the exceptional situation.

In 2022, Saba successfully completed a process of renewal and extension of maturity until June 30, 2024 of existing financing in the car park perimeter in Europe (Club Deal), providing solidity and stability to the company’s financial structure.

In terms of development, the company has remained active in all the countries in which it is present. In addition to Transport for London, Saba renewed the management contract in the UK for six underground car parks in the City of London, with 1,721 parking spaces, as well as the award of other contracts in hospitals (Royal United Hospitals of Bath and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust), as well as the car park management contract for the new Unity Place offices in Milton Keynes (head office of Banco Santander in the UK), currently under construction, with 855 parking spaces.

In Portugal, Saba won the lease for the Peninsula car park in Porto (553 spaces) and the Tavira Regulated Zone (881 spaces), among others. In Chile, Saba extended the Clínica Alemana car park management contract (up to 2,745 spaces), in Santiago de Chile. Similarly, the company concluded the management contract for the operation of the car parks of the Marina group shopping centres, with close to 6,000 parking spaces in the cities of Viña del Mar, Santiago, Curicó and Concepción.

In Italy, the most relevant event in 2022 was the inauguration of the Ospedale San Martino car park in Genoa, after two years of construction in a project undertaken by Saba. The car park has 422 parking spaces on five underground floors. It is one of the benchmark medical centres in Italy, with more than 5,000 employees and 1,400 beds. Similarly, Saba was awarded the lease contract for the Cola di Rienzo car park in Rome, with 110 spaces, and the concession for the Cattinara Hospital car parks in Trieste, with 163 spaces.

In Spain, the Seville Port Authority awarded Saba the concession for the Muelle Delicias car park (270 spaces) and concluded an agreement for the refurbishing and improvement of the Plaça d’Europa car park, in Platja d’Aro (Girona), a project in which the company has invested 1.8 million euros. With the refurbishment, the infrastructure has been equipped with an electric car charging pool powered by a photovoltaic panel canopy.

In the Czech Republic, the most noteworthy operation is the new contract for the management of the Vinohradska Hospital (425 parking spaces) in the capital, Prague, while in Slovakia up to 8 contracts have been renewed, representing nearly 3,700 parking spaces.

In terms of efficiency, operational management and quality of service, Saba’s Customer Service and Control Centre (CSCC ) currently has 389 connected car parks in Spain, Italy and Portugal. To strengthen the recovery, the props that the company will rely on include sales activity through the adaptation of products, recovery of subscribers, electric mobility and promotion of new digital channels and the digitalisation of processes in general.

In this regard, Saba continues to drive and boost strategic business initiatives such as the launch of payment by number plate, both for subscribers and short stays, in 72 car parks, as well as Saba business website and app expansion and e-commerce services (with remodelling and improvement of features carried out and with the integration of the regulated zone in Spain and Portugal), extending it to all the countries in which it operates, with a plan to update the UK website in 2023. Visits to Saba’s web pages stand at around three million and the number of transactions at over 115,000. E-commerce sales were 53% up on 2021. At the close of 2022, the new corporate website sabagroup.com que responde a la realidad internacional de la compañía, así como a su rol de operador de movilidad urbana sostenible.

We continue working to make the car park more than just a space for cars and motorcycles, but also for bicycles and other personal micro-mobility vehicles, car-sharing and rent-a-car, in an inter-modal regime, and also with public transport. Saba must adapt to people’s new habits and work to be a benchmark mobility manager, with the ambition of fostering the company’s growth and opening new lines of innovation in the sector, and income diversity, which will contribute to its consolidation in the future. Here I could cite the last mile (e-commerce lockers, proximity distribution), as well as services in the actual car park: digital screens, vending machines, company fleets, vehicle washing stations, among others.

In 2022, Saba continued working on one of its strategic commitments, the electrical infrastructure, which we began in 2018. Both public and private car parks are a great opportunity for providing electric charging stations for all vehicles, private, shared and fleets, in the various modalities: fast and semi-fast – and for all needs, whether they are isolated demand or from subscribers; in cases where the car remains overnight in the car park or is only short-stay during working hours.

With a great boost in 2022, the company has close to 600 electric charging stations (22% more than in 2021) in car parks in six countries (Spain, United Kingdom, Portugal, Chile, Italy and Germany), making it the largest electrical charging network (semi-fast and fast, for subscribers and short-stay) in the sector and with an impact on emissions savings. In the Group as a whole, a saving of 612 tonnes of CO₂ emissions was recorded in 2022. Worthy of note are the drive to launch fast charging in Spain, the growth in all markets and the effort to unify the charging model in all the countries in which we are present, adapting it to the markets.

Faced with a massive implementation of the electric car, in order for car parks to have responsiveness, it is necessary to carry out forceful actions, given the limited electrical power of the facilities, which cannot be financed exclusively by private initiative. In this sense, the automotive PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) in Spain should include a section concerning the promotion of electric charging infrastructure. Without it, the rollout of the electric vehicle will be slower.

While it is true that digitalisation, boosting sales activity, the search for new opportunities and the provision of mobility services are among our greatest challenges, so also is continuing to consolidate a committed and convinced team to face the uncertainties that arise in our environment, the most important asset we have. I should like, on my own behalf and that of the management team, to thank and recognise the hard work, professionalism, competitiveness and management, based on essential values such as respect and inclusion.