Saba invoices 12% more and is awarded the parking lots of Adif stations

Saba managed to surpass all pre-pandemic metrics in 2023. According to the financial statements for the year approved at the general shareholders' meeting held this Wednesday, operating revenues reached 308 million euros last year, a figure representing a 12% increase compared to 2022. In parallel, EBITDA also increased by 12%, to 143 million. Both figures are higher than those recorded in 2019, definitively leaving behind the years marked by the health crisis and the consequent mobility restrictions. At the meeting with its shareholders, Saba confirmed that it has won the tender called by Adif for the operation of all its car parks, which will allow the company to continue managing 23,000 spaces located in 55 train stations across Spain.

According to the company's president, Salvador Alemany, the EBITDA to revenue ratio is 46%, placing it among the highest in the sector internationally. "This is a clear reflection of the company's high level of efficiency," states Saba, which made investments worth 26 million in the last fiscal year. The rotating car park division grew by 6%, while the number of subscribers advanced by 3%, both also above 2019. This positive trend has continued in the first quarter of 2024, with revenues growing by 5% and EBITDA by 6%.

At the close of 2023, Saba's net financial debt was below 500 million, meaning the group has repaid more than one hundred million since 2019 despite the impact of the pandemic. At the shareholders' meeting, CEO Josep Martínez Vila announced that the company "is on track to successfully complete the novation of the group's main financing contracts," that is, the refinancing of its debt.

Saba belongs 99.52% to CriteriaCaixa, the holding company of the "La Caixa" Banking Foundation. The company operates in 183 cities in nine countries, where it manages a total of 1,079 car parks totaling more than 356,000 spaces. The Barcelona-based group employs 2,176 people and in 2023 managed to renew or be awarded more than 51,000 spaces. Specifically, it has managed to grow in all countries where it is present thanks to the signing of 27 new contracts and the renewal of another 43. Notably, new significant operations have been signed in countries such as the United Kingdom, where Saba has begun to manage the car parks of Transport for London stations, which includes the metro, bus, taxi, and tram network. The contract includes 79 car parks incorporating 10,500 spaces.

There have also been new contracts that have allowed the network to expand in Spain and countries such as Italy, Portugal, Chile, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Although it has already been in 2024, in the Spanish market, the recent renewal of one of the company's two largest contracts, that of the Adif network, stands out. "Adif has informed us that we have submitted the best offer for the operation of the car park network at its stations, and only the signature is pending for the formal award of the concession," explained Salvador Alemany. The fifteen-year contract will begin on July 30 and includes 23,000 spaces in 55 stations, expandable to 30,753 spaces and 64 stations. Saba, which has managed Adif's car park network since 2014, emphasizes that this renewal "was a strategic objective" for the group.