In 2018, Saba underwent a significant change in its shareholding structure. CriteriaCaixa acquired 48.7% of Saba Infraestructuras from Torreal, KKR and ProA, going on to control 98.8% of the company’s share capital. After carrying out some additional purchases of shares at the end of the year, CriteriaCaixa now owns 99.5% of the company, demonstrating its continued support for the Saba project as it has done, together with a group of minority shareholders, since 2011.

In last year’s Annual Report, I underlined how the company had undergone a transformation process, both from an internal perspective, with a sustained increase in the Group’s operational efficiency, as well as from an external perspective, with the integration of the infrastructures managed by Saba in the ecosystem of Smart Cities. All this with a constant focus on technological innovation and commercial vision.

Two priority lines of action that Saba consolidated and strengthened in 2018, while also focusing decisively on the drivers of growth and geographical diversification. The best example of the company’s commitment to the expansion roadmap set out in 2011 is the finalization of the transaction that signifies the company’s entry in December 2018 in four new countries—the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic—which practically doubles the size of the company’s structure.

With this purchase, Saba now manages 384,500 parking spaces in 1,200 car parks in nine countries in Europe and Latin America, with 2,300 employees and a concession life of around 25 years. It is a quantitative leap of the 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. It also represents a significant qualitative leap, taking into account the strategic platform that the new countries offer for expansion in northern and central Europe. Since 2011, Saba has invested more than 800 million euros in order to become the leading operator worldwide.

Now, we are facing new challenges resulting from this increase in scope that will require the efforts of every department of the company, which must be handled along with the management of the current network. And we will do so with the firm belief in the guiding principles under which Saba has always operated.

In terms of the Group’s operating efficiency, we can safely say that it was been consolidated in 2018, with a profitability in terms of EBITDA on income of 48%, the highest of any company in its sector. If the new countries are taken into account, where management contracts have a greater specific weight, the margin stands at 41.5%, which continues to be the highest.

In terms of external transformation, we remain convinced of the need to work towards a model of sustainable, equitable and efficient urban mobility, in which the car park is a service hub integrated into the mobility policy of the city and in which new technologies mark the way forward. The essence of our business today, which could be called Smart Parking, is about establishing an ecosystem of businesses associated with the facilities and the people who use them, and in this regard, of note was the deployment in 2018 of 3G mobile coverage in our car parks. In addition, we have reached an agreement with Endesa to establish the largest electric vehicle charging network in car parks in Spain. And along the same lines, it is worth mentioning Saba’s efforts in the technological transformation of the business, promoting the sale of products that are 100% digital and rolling out the new e-commerce web model to Italy and Portugal.

We continued to work in 2018 on the approval and implementation of different regulations and procedures with the aim of ensuring that transparency, efficiency, responsibility and sustainability are basic pillars guiding the company’s ethical actions. In this regard I would like to mention the deployment in all Group countries of the Crime Prevention Handbook approved in 2017.

We continue to carry out our activity within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, integrating these principles into the strategy, culture and daily activity of the business. Regarding the environment, once again last year we carried out improvements to reduce the impact of our activity on climate change, with a 3% reduction in electricity consumption compared to 2017 and the extension of our ISO 50001 Energy Management Certification to Italy.

We will continue to be committed to the evolution of cities and to contribute to sustainability and corporate responsibility, supporting social and environmental projects, with a clear focus on protecting the most disadvantaged groups of society. In 2018, in addition to the already well established projects in which Saba participates such as the SJD Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona or the new Advanced Neonatology Centre of the Vall d’Hebron hospital, we have signed new collaboration agreements with Cáritas and Aldeas Infantiles, among others, and we continue to work with the Incorpora programme, part of the Welfare Projects of La Caixa Banking Foundation.

And we will continue to move forward, looking ahead to the future with a management team and staff whose commitment and dedication to day-to-day management and to major projects such as the integration of new countries I would like to highlight. And in this regard, we must be up to the task of offering opportunities for growth and professional development, but above all of integrating cultures, managing diversity as a source of wealth for innovation and continuous learning.