I would like to recall, first of all, that in February 2022 we witnessed the invasion of Ukraine, a tragic military conflict that is still ongoing more than a year later, with the consequent impact on the international geopolitical and economic context. The cost in human lives that the war continues to exact must not be forgotten. From the perspective of social responsibility, Saba continues to provide aid in humanitarian corridors in countries in which we operate, such as Slovakia, or to provide emergency plans for the evacuation of children, care and assistance, through non-governmental organisations with which we regularly collaborate.

If there is just one word to define the environment in which we currently find ourselves, it is complexity. The difficulty, for example, of making forecasts regarding the impact of high inflation and interest rate rises on activity and growth, bearing in mind the diversity of factors that coexist and upset monetary policy.

As I review 2022, I would like to reiterate that the company, as in recent years marked by the health crisis, has continued to operate in an environment of uncertainty and complexity, with variables such as high inflation, the increase in the cost of supplies, raw materials and energy. And it has done so with the capacity to adapt and enhance which it has always shown, attentive to all the monetary and fiscal policies and the adjustment and stability measures which have been adopted, constantly supervising the financial and non-financial impacts.

At the close of 2022, Saba was present in 180 cities in 9 countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Chile, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Andorra) managing 333,379 parking spaces in 950 car parks. It has over 2,000 people on its payroll.

Among the most notable operations was the award of a five-year contract in the United Kingdom for the management of the car parks at Transport for London stations, the local body responsible for most of the London transport network, including the Underground, buses, taxis, trams and some train lines. The contract includes the management of 79 car parks throughout the network, with 10,567 parking spaces, all of them with a barrierless system, which makes vehicle entrances and exits more agile. This access, exit and payment method is possible thanks to the new technologies implemented by Saba in its car parks, with similar experiences in this country and in Germany.

It was in Germany, in fact, that Saba carried out the first test of barrierless technology (apart from the railway station car parks in the UK) in the city of Düren, with a capacity of 407 spaces. The rental contract for the car park of the City Galerie shopping centre (1,611 spaces) was also awarded, in the city of Aschaffenburg, where the same system has been deployed.

We continue to be active in the process of requesting rebalancing of the concessions in order to correct for the impact of COVID-19, bearing in mind that Saba continued to provide services throughout the pandemic, despite drastic traffic restrictions, since they were deemed to be essential.