Saba earns 234 million and approaches pre-Covid figures

Saba recorded revenues of 234 million euros in 2021, 18% more than in the previous year and 22% less than in 2019. The car park operator thus confirms the gradual recovery of its results, still conditioned by the pandemic, but which have improved with the decrease in restrictions. This reactivation of activity is being maintained in the first quarter of 2022, the company points out, with a 39% growth in revenues, already only 13% below those of 2019. The group reported this at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders.

Saba's rotation activity, majority-owned by CriteriaCaixa, was another variable that improved in 2021, with a 29% increase compared to 2020, although it was still 30% below 2019. For its part, the number of subscribers in 2021 was 3% higher than in the previous year and remained 9% less than in 2019. During the first quarter, these variables have grown by 78% and 17%, respectively.

In 2021, Saba invested 25 million euros. The group has closed the year with operations for the development of new projects and renovations in all countries where it operates. In Spain, the CEO, Josep Martínez Vila, highlighted the concession contracts for the Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital car park, in Madrid, and the Muelle Delicias car park, in the Port of Seville. He also pointed out the agreement, already in 2022, for the remodeling and improvement of the Plaça d'Europa car park, in Platja d'Aro (Girona), a project in which the company will invest 1.8 million euros. During the previous year, it also closed development operations in Italy, Portugal, Chile, United Kingdom and Czech Republic. In total, it manages more than 380,000 spaces in 1,051 car parks in 179 cities in nine countries.

Despite the gradual recovery from the impact of covid, the company now faces a new complicated context, with the war in Ukraine. "In this new scenario, many variables of our environment, and of our business, appear modified, especially those affecting consumption and the volatility experienced by financial markets, with a significant increase in inflation and energy prices," explains Saba's president, Salvador Alemany.

Urban mobility services hub

Saba works to convert car parks into hubs for urban mobility services, including charging for electric vehicles, sharing, personal mobility, and goods delivery. Specifically, it acquired a stake in Geever in 2021, an operator specialized in last-mile distribution. The company wants to create a network of small hubs distributed throughout the city, mainly car parks, from which to carry out distribution with sustainable personal means within a maximum radius of 750 meters. Currently, Geever operates in Barcelona through 40 points, most of them in public car parks, with the aim of consolidating a network based solely on car parks, with 60 distribution points or microhubs in the city.

Beyond goods delivery, Saba also reinforced its role as an electric infrastructure point last year. The deployment began in 2018 and, after a boost in 2021, the company has more than 500 points in 118 car parks in five countries (Spain, United Kingdom, Portugal, Chile, and Italy). It also has 2,450 sharing and rent a car spaces in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Chile, and 117 lockers for collecting e-commerce products in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.

Likewise, the group chaired by Alemany continues to promote other strategic business initiatives, such as the launch of access and payment by license plate in more than 60 car parks, and the expansion of e-commerce services on its website and its app.