MANAGEMENT REPORT MANAGEMENT REPORT ON THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS FOR THE 2017 FINANCIAL YEAR
Dear Sirs, We have the pleasure of presenting to you the consolidated accounts of the Interparking Group as at 31 December 2017. The past financial year has seen a rise in consumer confidence after a year 2016 marked by terrorist acts in Belgium, France, Spain and Germany and a difficult economic context. Our Group’s activity is clearly linked to the economic trends affecting the European countries in which we are active and, more particularly, to private consumption indices. Our diversification and long-term investment policy has ensured that our income is characterised by recognised growth thanks to the variety of needs with which our car park operations are associated (city centre, leisure, shopping, work, airports, train stations, hospitals, etc.) and the range of policies pursued by the cities and regions in which we work in Europe.
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Overall, the Group’s consolidated sales, excluding non-recurring items, increased from €410.3 million in 2016 to €437.8 million, that is, growth of 6.7%. Including new acquisitions, as of 31 December 2017, Interparking operated 811 off-street car parks in 378 cities in nine European Union countries, including seven in Euroland, and managed over 373,000 parking spaces compared to 782 car parks and 355,000 parking spaces at the end of 2016. The most significant specific risk that can affect our Group’s development is the risk related to the use of the car and the accessibility of city centres using this means of transportation. We strive to meet these mobility challenges, particularly by improving our parking guidance systems and by developing true partnerships with the cities in which we are present.
The cost of using the car as well as an awareness of ecological issues lead the population to a more rational use of the car and to modify certain behaviours. Confronted to this attitude, the cities and leisure or shopping centers that wish to maintain their attractiveness feel the need to continue to redevelop their conviviality spaces, which have, until now, often been occupied by a poorly organized or even disorganised parking, mitigating thus - at least partially - the effects of this change of behaviour on the operation of our car parks. The commercial, economic and cultural attractiveness of each of the locations of the Group’s car parks is also essential. Interparking therefore favours operations in quality cities that have a strong and diversified attractiveness. The Group continued to expand in 2017 with the acquisition of new operations.
During the past financial year, our Spanish subsidiary took over the parking part of a construction company, reinforcing thus its portfolio by 14 car parks in the north of Spain. Moreover, the Group was also very active on the Italian market, where it acquired two major car parks in Trieste and in Firenze, improving herewith our geographical presence in the north of Italy. In Belgium, we achieved the works on the new car park VIP at Brussels Airport which marks a new stage in the development of high-end services. End of July, after 58 years of operation, the very first car park, Parking 58 in the center of Brussels, closed down permanently before being destroyed. In the other countries, we keep on reinforcing our position thanks to the consol-