B:SM will break its investment record this year with 62 million euros

Barcelona de Serveis Muncipals (B:SM), the main company of the City Council of the Catalan capital, has just closed the 2023 financial year with the best figures in its history. The group led by Marta Labata and chaired by the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet (PSC), received 188.6 million euros, 13.5% more, and its investments grew almost 150%, up to 47 million euros .

This year, the holding company foresees a new increase in investment effort, with 62 million, as established in its accounts, which the board of directors of B:SM validated in January without any vote against. This Saturday the budgets of the City Council and its public sector for 2024 will be automatically approved, once the mayor, Jaume Collboni (PSC), has been endorsed in office a month after the motion of confidence to which he submitted to remove forward the accounts.

In statements to EXPANSIÓN, Labata is satisfied with the evolution of the business of a group that manages facilities such as the Port Olimpic, Park Güell, the Zoo, the Tibidabo or the Fòrum site, and services such as the crane, civic agents or Bicing, and which is the first parking operator in the city: one in every four spaces depends on it.

One of the singularities of 2023 was that, for the first time, "culture, leisure and nature surpassed mobility as the main business unit," says Labata. The leisure division highlights the progress of the Montjuïc Olympic facilities. Its turnover went from 9.5 million in 2022 to 23.4 million last year after reaching two million visits, "twice as many as a year ago," says the board.

This increase is not only due to FC Barcelona's decision to move its matches to the Estadi Lluís Companys while the Camp Nou is being renovated. "Nine large-format concerts have been held, such as those by Coldplay or Beyoncé, padel or trial competitions, and corporate, family and cultural events," details Labata.

One of the recent developments has been the opening at the Estadi Olímpic of an incubator for emerging companies in the sports sector and throughout this year another dedicated to the blue economy will be opened at the Port Olimpic, whose management was assumed in 2020 by B :YE. In 2023, this infrastructure was the one that received the most investment, with 26.15 million, and in 2024, it will be like this again, with 27.5 million. When B:SM acquired this equipment, it decided to undertake a comprehensive renovation to renew it and adapt it to the climate crisis. The execution of the works has been accelerated by the America's Cup sailing.

The second division that is attracting the most investment effort is parking, with the remodeling of two existing ones - Gaudí Avenue and Litoral - and the launch of a new one in the Ciutadella del Coneixement, fully digitalized, which will attract more than 22 million throughout several exercises. "We want it to serve to promote the modernization and digitalization of the entire sector," explains Labata.

Park Güell was the second most visited facility in the city in 2023, with 4.4 million visitors. From this year, tickets are only sold through the website. At the Zoo, the commitment to update it with a new model has resulted in 800,000 visits, "the highest figure in six years."

For its part, the Tibidabo amusement park, which La Masia has renovated, attracted investments of 3.7 million in 2023 and this year it will receive 2.5 million euros.

In 2023, Bicing broke record numbers in trips -close to 18 million- and users -148,000-. In mobility, a strategic bet is the network of charging points for electric vehicles Endolla, which has placed the city "among the top five in Europe," adds Labata.

B:SM's profits in 2023 exceeded the 20 million barrier, with 21.2 million euros, the second best figure in its history, only surpassed by the year in which its most central parking lots were segregated into Bamsa, a company in which Saba entered as a reference shareholder.