Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. We would like to thank you for attending Ferrovial's Ordinary General Shareholders Meeting, held at second call, as yesterday sufficient quorum was not reached so that it could be validly constituted on first call. At the Board of Directors' request, we have notary Mr. Javier Navarro-Rubio Serrés of Madrid to record the minutes of the meeting. I'm going to give the floor to the Secretary of the Board of Directors and of this general shareholders meeting, Mr. Santiago Ortiz Vaamonde, who will read the legal notice of the meeting and the provisional data collected on attendance of shareholders. Good morning.
The notices of the call for the annual shareholders meeting have been published pursuant to Article 27 of the Articles of Association and 516 of the Capital Companies Act on the website of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on February 28, 2019, on Ferrovial's website on March 1, 2019, and in the daily newspapers ABC, El Mundo, El País, Expansión, Cinco Días, and El Economista on March 2, 2019. Given the length of the text for the call, in accordance with Article 19.3 of the Regulations of the Shareholders Meeting, we will summarize its content. The call includes the agenda, potential supplements, shareholders' electronic forum, right to information, where documents made available to shareholders are listed, attendance rights, representation, remote attendance, and representation and voting using remote communication means. It contains the rules on exercising those rights and on personal data protection. We will now summarize the agenda.
Matters for approval. First, examination and approval as appropriate of the individual financial statements and the management report of Ferrovial S.A., as well as the financial statements and the management report of the consolidated group for the financial year ended December 31, 2018. Second, application of results, financial year 2018. Third, examination and approval as appropriate of the management of the board of directors in that year. Fourth, the appointment of the company auditors and the group auditors. Fifth, reappointment, confirmation, and appointment of directors, an item that's divided into 10 sections, each one subject to a separate vote. Six, share capital increase in the amount to be determined by issuing new ordinary shares at a par value of EUR 0.20 each against reserves, offering shareholders the possibility of selling the free of charge allocation rights to the company itself at a guaranteed price or on the market.
Second, share capital increase in the amount to be determined under the terms of the former. Eighth, approval of share capital reduction by means of the redemption of a maximum of 25,915,588 of the company's own shares. Nine, authorization to the board of directors to increase the share capital once or several occasions and at any time during a maximum term of five years by means of monetary contributions up to a maximum nominal amount of EUR 73,840,583.70, delegation of the power to exclude the preemptive subscription right up to a maximum of 20% of that amount.
Tenth, authorization to the board of directors to issue fixed income securities or debt instruments of a similar nature, convertible and/or exchangeable for shares, grant bondholders a share in corporate profits up to a maximum limit of 75% of the company's equity shown in its latest approved balance sheet, and in the case of preferred stock, up to a maximum limit of 25% of the company's equity shown in its latest approved balance sheet. 11, approval of the directors' remuneration policy. 12, approval of a share length remuneration system for board members who perform executive functions. 13, authorization to divest of all or part of the assets of the Services Division of the Ferrovial Group. 14, delegation of powers on the board of directors, the executive committee, the chairman, and the CEO for the execution and implementation of the agreements adopted by the General Shareholders Meeting. Matters for advisory vote.
15th, annual report on directors' remuneration. Matters for information. 16, information on the amendments incorporated to the regulations of the board of directors. That was the summary of the agenda. No use has been made of the rights that the law grants shareholders to request the publication of a supplement to the call or to propose recent proposals regarding matters already included in the agenda. Since the publication of the call, first, shareholders under the terms established in the Capital Companies Act have been able to consult the documentation in the registered office or request that the documentation be sent to them. Second, the company has continuously published on its website all the information covered by Article 518 of the Capital Companies Act. We will now hear the provisional attendance quorum data.
Present in this AGM, present or represented, 497,853,581 shares, which represents 67.18% of total subscribed and paid-up share capital, sufficient quorum for the valid constitution of the General Shareholders Meeting on second call. Later, we will give you definitive data. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, on behalf of the board and on my own behalf, I would like to thank you all for being here, and I would like to welcome you once again to this General Shareholders Meeting. Let me start off my presentation by reminding you that in May this year, it will be 20 years since Ferrovial started trading on the stock market on the 5th of May 1999. Our company started trading in Madrid with a share price of EUR 22.95. Now, that's equivalent to slightly
Less than a EUR 5.74 share price currently, because of the adjustment made through the split to the 4 times 1 split that took place in 2009. That at the time then, was a market cap of a little over EUR 3 billion. It's now EUR 15 billion. With our current share price, slightly over EUR 21, and the dividends that have been paid out throughout these 20 years, all of you who have accompanied us over the years in this trip have multiplied the value of your investment by 6.4 times, and you have obtained a cumulative annual return of 10.4%. That is during each one of those 20 years. Moreover, this year too, in 2019, it will be the 20th anniversary in April of our investment in the Toronto 407 Toll Road.
That was acquired from the government of the province of Ontario by a consortium led by Ferrovial for about CAD 3 billion, slightly above CAD 3 billion Canadian dollars. That operation, which was a very high figure, of course, at the time for Ferrovial, was a milestone in the international development of the company and a transaction that would give us the security and the capability to be able to take on other key investments in infrastructure and services in other Anglo-Saxon countries. In the last financial year, those investments were translated into dividends received by Ferrovial of a total of EUR 487 million. That figure can be raised to EUR 623 million if we include in that figure the dividends corresponding to services projects.
That would allow us to propose for its approval further ahead in this meeting today, a total shareholders' return equal to the figure for 2017 of a total amount of EUR 520 million. Another relevant milestone that was announced to the market just a few weeks ago was the decision that has been taken by the Board of Directors to put up the services division for sale. This is because we want to concentrate our material and human resources in what we know how to do best. That is developing and promoting private infrastructure. This has been a substantial change in our strategy, which has been welcomed by the market. Although this is something that has just started very recently, we believe that the operation will be finalized by the end of the summer this year. This has had two key accounting impacts.
First of all, we have classified as available for sale the whole services division with everything that, A, goes outside of the consolidation scope and is being reported as discontinued operations. We have put in a provision of EUR 774 million corresponding to the impairment of the value of Ferrovial's stake in Amey. That is due to the impact of the budgetary constraints in the case of local governments in the U.K. and the litigation that Amey has currently with Birmingham City Council. That provision has no cash effect. As for operating results, on our net profit figure for continuing activities, a total of EUR 460 million, that's up 8.6% compared to 2017. Sales from those continuing operations grew by 11.3% during the same financial year to a total of EUR 5.73 billion.
That impetus that we have recorded in our turnover is because of the greater contribution of the construction division, which benefited from the start of some major works in the United States. Our EBITDA was EUR 484 million, and our net result for the financial year after discounting that provision was minus EUR 448 million. We are addressing these changes with a very solid financial position. Ferrovial closed 2018 with a net treasury position of EUR 1.23 billion, excluding infrastructure projects, but including the projects relating to services. At the end of the year, our consolidated net debt figure was EUR 3.64 billion. Between the dividends that we have received from our projects, I would highlight perhaps the contribution made by the 407 ETR. That's EUR 273 million. Also the contribution made by airports. That was EUR 191 million. So EUR 144 million from that figure came from Heathrow Services, contributed EUR 131 million.
Our CapEx investment totaled EUR 332 million, and divestments, EUR 330 million. In the framework of our asset rotation policy for our material assets, I would highlight the sale of our stake in the Greek highways, Central Greece and Ionian Roads. That was EUR 84 million, and another EUR 111 million that came mostly from the sale of PFIs by our services division in the U.K. Our portfolio, our backlog last year finished at a figure of EUR 30.37 billion. About EUR 10.96 billion came from construction. 89% of that backlog is international. EUR 19.41 billion correspond to our services division, which was up 3.3% compared to 2017. If we look at the proportional integration criteria for our accounting, I think that more accurately reflects the reality of the company.
You can see that today, 86% of our sales and 88% of our EBITDA come from activity outside of Spain. The United States, where our sales grew last year by a figure up to EUR 1.71 billion, including services, I think is worth spending a moment on. We have started work on the I-66 Virginia toll road and the Denver Airport, and this year we will be opening the I-77 toll road in North Carolina and Canada. We also started operating the 2A segment of the 407 East extension. In Australia, the partial opening of 24 km, that section in Toowoomba. The full opening is scheduled for the second half of this year.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit in the U.K., the expansion of Heathrow Airport, I believe, is going to be one of the biggest private investments that will take place in Europe over the next few years, although there is still a long way to go to complete the process of obtaining the necessary authorizations. Turning to financing sources. As usual, over the last few years, I can tell you today that diversification of our financing sources is, of course, a priority for us. Last year in August, the company signed a liquidity facility, including sustainability criteria for a total of EUR 900 million. That line, which replaced the previous one of EUR 1.25 billion, has also maintained improvement in our financial cost and also extended out the maturity of our debt to 2023 with the option to 2025.
We have also taken advantage of the favorable low interest rate environment to close or complete rather, at the end of 2018, a commercial paper issue on the Irish Stock Exchange that was a total of EUR 1 billion. The 407 ETR also issued senior bonds, a total of CAD 500 million. That was 3.72% interest rate, maturity 30 years. Heathrow obtained additional financing through different facilities for a total amount of GBP 2.3 billion. That is in sterling. With regard to our credit rating, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have maintained Ferrovial's corporate debt at investment grade with a triple B rating and a stable outlook. Despite the 6% drop in our share price, Ferrovial's share once again outperformed in 2018 on the IBEX 35, which fell by 15%. The company closed the financial year 2018 with a market cap of EUR 13.06 billion.
Since the end of last year, investors and analysts seem to welcome the new direction taken by our strategy. So far in 2019, Ferrovial share price has appreciated in value by 20.1%, once again outperforming the IBEX. That means that our market cap at the end of market trading yesterday totaled EUR 15.692 billion. The general consensus among analysts is that our share price is EUR 23.35, and that's with an upside of around 10%. Shareholder returns now. The remuneration to our shareholders, as I said before, grew in 2018 to EUR 520 million. That's the same as in 2017, of course, if this is approved by the meeting. The figure also includes payment in cash, that scrip dividend option, EUR 240 million, and a share buyback for treasury stock, EUR 280 million.
As you know, the resolutions that are being put to this meeting today include the approval of that flexible dividend, similar to the one that we've had over previous years, the last five years. What that would mean would be that there would be two options for the capital increase through the issue of freed-up shares. We're also putting to you on this agenda a reduction of capital through the amortization of treasury stock, the main impact would be an increase in the return per share for the company. That is what we will decide today. Recent events for shareholders. Transparency and integrity are corporate governance practices in Ferrovial. We are a company of values and convictions, and we want to be among the best there, right from the level of the board of directors down to the newest employee.
As part of our Ferrovial compliance model in 2018, we improved a due diligence procedure for the ethical integrity of our suppliers, together with the same process that we have ethical integrity for our business partners that was improved in 2017. The idea is to actually send out the values and principles that are included in our code of ethics to our suppliers and partners. In line with previous standards, we've also approved a procedure of due diligence for the selection and hiring and mobility of candidates to the company. Last year, Bruno Di Leo joined the board of directors as an independent director. Mr. Di Leo has a successful track record professionally in IBM.
With his appointment, together with the appointments of Hanne Sørensen and Philip Bowman over the last few years, what we have done has been to strengthen the presence of independent directors on the board. We now have six out of the 12 members of the board that are now independent directors in line with best practices with regard to board of directors composition as well as diversity of backgrounds, know-how, and experiences. We're also a company committed to the sustainability of planet and to developing the communities where we have a footprint. Our already historic presence in the international sustainability indexes, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, MSCI, FTSE4Good, Carbon Disclosure Project, and our recent incorporation to the Vigeo Eiris, I think show just how committed we are, this is something that we are increasing on a yearly basis.
We're also very much linked to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. These are key if we are to combat climate change, which is one of the key challenges affecting the future of all of us. For instance, over the last decade, we have been able to reduce by 54% our CO2 emissions, an example of our commitment there. We're taking water and sanitation to Africa, Latin America, with more than 213,000 people benefiting from those programs. As you would expect, we also believe in having a safe and healthy employment environment. Health and safety at work are commitments that have been taken on by the Board of Directors. Reducing our accident rates is our key objective.
In this respect, our year-on-year improvement of 10% in the accident frequency rate, and over the last five years, we have had a reduction of 48% in that rate, is something that spurs us on to guarantee the protection of all the people who work for us in this company. As you can see on the screen, Ferrovial has received a lot of awards and distinctions over the past year. These are acknowledgments of our business track record, as well as awards for our leadership in the areas of innovation, research, engineering, infrastructure, or entrepreneurship. They also reflect our commitment to social projects, to the volunteer movement, and so many other areas. I think they also are a testament to the high caliber of professionalism of all our divisions and employees. To conclude, the company has infrastructure assets in transport that are unique in the world today.
Ferrovial's strategy has always revolved around the development, construction, and management of this kind of infrastructure. The sale of the services division will allow us to focus our activity in this market, which is the market where we believe there will be the greatest opportunities for creating value for our shareholders. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I'd like to thank all of you, and all of our clients and suppliers for the trust that you have vested in us, for your support for the company, and to all of the people who work on a day-to-day basis in Ferrovial, thank you for your dedication, your endeavors, and your commitment with regard to the new opportunities ahead of us. Thank you very much for your attendance today.
We'll now give the floor to Mr. Santiago Fernández Valbuena, Chairman of the Audit and Control Committee, who will report on the activities of this committee throughout 2019. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good morning to you, ladies and gentlemen, to you shareholders. I'm talking today in my capacity as the chairman of Ferrovial S.A.'s Audit and Control Committee, which is the board committee whose job is to supervise the financial reporting, control systems, and the risks in the group, as well as other aspects relating to corporate governance. The committee has three members, and all of the members are independent directors. The committee takes into account, when it operates, the recommendations of the practical guide from the CNMV with regard to audit committees for entities of public interest. Let me talk to you about the most key relevant activities in financial year 2018.
The functioning of the committee is, of course, described in more detail in the report that has been prepared by the committee itself and approved by the Board of Directors. It's available to you on the website. The committee has revised and reported on, favorably, the financial reporting of the company prior to its presentation to the board and before it's sent to the authorities and market. We have had the collaboration of the external auditor, who was present in five of the meetings that were held during the financial year. The auditor informed us about the limited review of the financial statements, the half-yearly statements closed 30th June 2018, and on the audit of the annual financial statements closed 31st of December 2018, and he issued an unqualified opinion.
With the aim of the result of the audit contributing to guaranteeing the integrity of financial information reporting, the auditor focused on the following points. He informed the committee about the work plan for the auditing, revised the key estimates and judgments of the impact on financial information, and also informed the committee about the main areas of risk with a potential impact on the reliability of financial reporting, and also looked at the key recommendations of internal control that were raised by the audit department, and they reported on the monitoring of them from the previous year. The committee has also received two reports. The auditor also left sufficient time to be able to report on the companies.
Following the best practices, the auditor also reported to us on the work that was done with regard to accounting situation and the risks in the group too. Company's management also reported to the committee on the functioning of the internal control system, and with regard to financial reporting and the work done to improve the controls in different areas of the group, and we have monitored how the work has progressed and looked at the previous recommendations as before. The committee has also had the support of the internal audit department supervising the actions taking place in 2018 and approved the audit plan for the following year, 2019. Now that department manages an ethical channel, which is a system that's been set up by the company to allow any employee or third party to communicate with full guarantee of confidentiality and anonymity as they decide any improper attitudes or behaviors.
We received two reports there. The risk management also appeared regularly to report to the committee on the key risks and contingencies in the company with regard to the systems to identify, manage, and control the risks. Lastly, with regard to activities in corporate governance and compliance, the committee examined, prior to its presentation to the board, the annual report on corporate governance, the functioning and effectiveness of the compliance model, and also prepared the report on related parties operations published on the website, and has also become aware of the key new areas in legislation on corporate governance. This has been the summary of the activities carried out during the financial year last year until 31st December 2018 on behalf of the audit committee. Personally, I'd like to say thank you for listening, and good morning to you.
Now we will give the floor to Mr. Íñigo Meirás, CEO of the company.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Once again, I would like to review with you the essential metrics and highlights of the year 2018. You've already heard a brief summary from our chairman of the most salient points. I would just like to emphasize the company's new focus strategy in the area of mobility and transport infrastructures, which is why we've decided to divest of the Ferrovial Servicios division. Going into the numbers for 2018, and in this new context, in ongoing activities, these figures have already been mentioned by our chairman. I'll just say that in terms of turnover, year-on-year and like-for-like terms, they would have gone up 14.3% instead of 11.3%, which is what you see there, the accounting figure. Also that the EBITDA, which shows a decrease of 6.2% now, in like-for-like terms, would have gone up 1.4%.
As for traffic in our main assets, in all cases, they've increased with just one exception, a reduction in traffic through the regional airports in the U.K., where you know we have a 50% stake. Traffic in those three airports, on average, fell 2.4% last year. I'd like to mention, on the positive side, the very strong growth of traffic in our new highways, which we've been operating in Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, or the NTE up 10.7%, or the LBJ up 11.9%. As for M&A activity in the year, the most significant was the announcement of the potential complete or partial divestment of our service business. As for our usual asset turnover strategy, we've continued to realize value on mature assets.
In this case, in the year, we divested of our minority stake in two roads in Greece we invested in over 10 years ago, as well as some investments in our service business, particularly PFI contracts in the U.K. within the perimeter of our service business. As for cash flow, you can see what each of our businesses generated and also what the split is. I'd like to mention that toll roads represent 45% of our cash flow, and is now our biggest business in terms of cash flow. Airports also went up from 25% to 29% in the year. Services down from 38% to 24%, although it's still bringing in positive cash flow, as you can see. Then construction, which has had a significant drop, is now down to only 2%.
As for shareholder remuneration, last year, we paid out, I should mention, as far as payments made in 2018, as you know, we opted to give you the opportunity to choose cash or stock options, and 54% of you decided to be paid in shares and 46% in cash. As for total shareholder return, it's -2.5%, that's because there's been a fall in the share price of 6.5% and a 4% reduction in the dividend payment. Which means in terms of value creation, as you can see, in 2017 and 2018, we had a fall in our market cap of 6% due to the fall in the share price, as I explained before.
I should mention, even though of course it's now positive for the result of 2018, that in this year, 2019, as Rafael mentioned before, there has been an increase of just over 20%. As for how the market perceives us, and in this case, looking at analysts' view, currently they're
Valuation is at over EUR 23.3 per share. If we look at the different businesses of Ferrovial, you can see that toll roads represent a big part of the total, 70%. It was 64% last year, and 11% for airports. Which means that the mean analysis valuation at the end of 2018, including the service business, two infrastructure businesses represented 81% of Ferrovial's value. Already last year it was 77%. Moving on to the breakdown by businesses. In this case, of ongoing activities without including, in this case, the services business. The consolidated figures, highways is only 8% and construction is 91%. In the case of EBITDA, it's quite a different picture as you can see there. Highways, in this case, contribute 65% of our EBITDA, and construction 35%.
As for our geographies, I'd point out on the chart on the left that the top country is now the U.S. and Canada combined, with 30%, just ahead of Poland, which is our second-largest market with 30%. The third largest market right now for Ferrovial is Spain with 18%. Last year, Spain was 23%. As for our EBITDA however, Spain still our biggest market, consolidated terms, with 46% of our EBITDA. If we move now to how we see ourselves and the way we manage our business with proportional integration of our businesses, which means adding the 25% stake in Heathrow, the percentage we have of the 407, which are consolidated through the equivalence method, and we subtract the 45% we don't control in Budimex.
As you can see, the picture changes quite significantly with respect to the previous slide, with revenues of over EUR 6 billion, construction down to 69% of our turnover. Highways up to 15% and airports 16%. In our EBITDA, the change is even bigger, with highways representing 47%, airports 43%. Together, toll roads and airports represent 90% of the group's EBITDA, and construction is 10%. As for the geographical distribution of that analysis, our biggest market, as you can see, the U.S. and Canada in revenues with 32%. Last year it was only 15%. Our second biggest market is still the U.K., although this year it's 22%, when last year it was 32% of the total. As for our EBITDA, I explained before that consolidated level, Spain was the biggest contributor.
With the proportional integration method, as you can see, the picture is rather different, with the U.K. contributing 43%. This is mostly due to the contribution of the Heathrow figures in the proportional integration method. The U.S. and Canada, with 33%, is the next biggest market in contribution to our EBITDA. In our net cash position, as you can see, there's been a change between 2017 and 2018, including in this case, the services cash flow, as you can see there. I'd like to remind you of the figures the chairman has just mentioned. We have closed with this net cash position after investing EUR 332 million in the year, paying out a dividend of EUR 520 million to our shareholders, and having made divestments, which in this case contributed EUR 230 million. Let me now review with you more relevant highlights of each quarter of 2018.
In the first quarter, I'm not going to go into each and every one. I'll focus on the first, which was a really important contract with the Ministry of Defense, which we were awarded to Broadspectrum in the service business for an amount of just over EUR 300 million. In Q2, I'd like to highlight the last one, which is the parliamentary approval of the Heathrow extension. It's not the final step in the process, but it is in terms of government approval. In Q3, I think it's important to mention that on July 19th, we opened our third managed lane toll road in Texas, in the same area as the previous two, where it says NTE 35W.
In Q4, I'd like to highlight the financial closure or the funding closure of our highway in Colombia, which is really good news for Cintra, but also for construction, who've already begun the construction of that project. Moving on to each of the businesses and starting with our toll road business. As you can see there, dividends coming in from our main assets, EUR 296 million, which is 7% up in the year. I'd also like to mention that in 2019, the NTE sections one and two will start to pay out dividends for the first time. This is a toll road we opened five years ago, and according to the funding contract, it can now start to pay out dividends to its shareholders.
As a result of the fact that we've had significant increases in traffic in our main assets, particularly in this case, in Cintra, in our toll roads, that has meant a revenue increase in 407 of 10%. In the case of the NTE of over 25%, and in the LBJ of 24%. As for openings to traffic, I already mentioned those managed lanes in Texas, as well as a partial opening of the Toowoomba toll road, which as our chairman has explained, we hope to complete in the second semester of 2019. We sold our stake in the Greek toll roads. As I said before, we've also secured funding for the Colombian toll road. As for our profit, the turnover in our toll roads was EUR 471 million. That's up 2.3% versus the previous year because of the excellent performance of our investments in the U.S. mostly.
Our EBITDA, in like-for-like terms, went up 13.8%. Our EBIT was EUR 239 million. That's up 14% in like-for-like terms without taking into account exchange rate impacts and with a comparable perimeter. I should mention that 52% of the interest revenues currently come from our toll roads in the U.S. Moving on to revenues by geography. There you can see our main markets. Canada, in the proportional integration method, still a very relevant contributor with 44%, and Spain is the second market with 22%, still growing. In the U.S. last year it was 13%. This year it's 16%, and our current forecast is for it to continue to grow in its relative contribution to our revenues. Moving on to the airports business. I should mention, speaking of Heathrow, that we've had record passenger figures once again. For the last 26 figures, passenger numbers have been growing in Heathrow.
Over two years of consecutive growth, which had not happened in Heathrow since Ferrovial acquired this asset with other partners, as you remember. Dividends paid by Heathrow to Ferrovial, €144 million, because Heathrow paid GBP 500 million to 100% of its shareholders. Moving on to AGS. Dividends of [€300 million], no extraordinary dividend, which we did have in 2017. I should mention that in Denver Airport, which is an asset we incorporated to our portfolio in 2017, we commenced construction in July 2018. As for our results, these figures are for 100% of the assets and in GBP. I'd like to highlight the improvement, both in Heathrow and in the regional airports of our operating income. Our EBITDA, EUR 1.8 billion, is 69% of our revenues, when last year it was 61.1%.
The regional airports this year, their EBITDA was 45.5%, when last year it was 44%. Moving on now to the construction business. I'd like to highlight growth in our revenues, up 12%, particularly because of the excellent performance in the U.S. and Poland. On the negative side, we must admit that there has been a fall in profitability since our EBITDA last year was 3.5%, and this year it was only 2.5%. On the right-hand side of this slide, you can see the biggest awards in the year. The biggest in each of our strategic markets are listed here, which mean, looking at the results, revenues of €5.19 billion. In this case, I'm not going to give you like-for-like figures because they're actually very similar to the accounting figures you see here.
As I mentioned before, our EBITDA down versus the previous year, our operating cash flow also significantly down from EUR 134 million to EUR 16 million. We believe that part of this is due to the change in the economic cycle and a greater pressure on costs. We've made some changes anyway, and we hope to see our profitability rise again to the right level. As for revenues by geography, our main market for Ferrovial Agroman right now is Poland, with 32%. Second biggest market's already the U.S. and Canada, with 29%, grew already last year, was 27%. Again, our third largest market, Spain, with 16%, which was 17% last year. As for our backlog, which is the way we see the future, that's why I said we're going to continue to grow in the U.S.
Our backlog in the U.S. and Canada represent 47% of our total backlog at Ferrovial Agroman. Last year, it was 45% already. In this case, our second biggest market, still Poland, 22%, which is the same level as the previous year. A slight fall in Spain with 11% of the backlog, when last year it was 12%. As for trends in this backlog, we've managed to maintain a very similar figure to the previous year. As we've said before, we're not particularly focused on growing our backlog too much. I have to mention two points. Civil works represent 78% of this backlog. On December 31st, 2018, in this backlog, we did not consider some preliminary awards which have been finalized in Q1 this year for an amount of over EUR 2.2 billion.
Finally, as for the services business, I mentioned that this is actually a great company operating in nine countries. Very focused, however, in the U.K., Spain, and Australia, and we're currently reviewing opportunities to sell for over EUR 65 billion. It has a backlog of EUR 19.4 billion and operating cash flow ex Birmingham. Because Birmingham impacts the results of the whole division, would be EUR 234 million. On the right-hand side, as well as the different contract awards, I'd like to refer to the accident frequency rate, which the Chairman mentioned before. It's come down again. We're still improving. It's never enough. We want to have a zero accident rate. Last year we improved our rates already, but we still think there's room for further improvements.
Also, the business is still profitable even though we have now decided it's no longer part of our core business, and we're going to divest of it. We now have our management in the U.K. and Australia working on cost optimization efforts in order to improve its margins for the future. As for results, revenues last year were EUR 6.78 billion, slightly down versus 2017, which is not a concern. Our EBITDA, as you can see, is down significantly, as is our EBIT, although if we didn't include Birmingham, those drops would not be as significant because in this case, our EBITDA would only be down 12.6% and our EBIT would be down less than 10%. Looking at the revenues by geographies, our main market's still the U.K. Last year, the U.K. and Australia had a very similar percentage.
In this case, the U.K. has a higher percentage with 38%. Spain, our second largest market, with 29%, up versus the previous year. Australia down from 31% last year to 25% this year. As for our backlog by geography, our main market there is still the U.K. with 48%. Very similar number to the previous years. Second biggest market was Spain with 24%. Australia, the third largest with 21%. The breakdown is very similar to that of 2017. As for trends in our backlog from a peak in 2016, when we incorporated the whole backlog after the Broadspectrum acquisition, fell last year to EUR 19.3 billion. As you can see this year is basically at the same level. Here, if we look at the breakdown by countries in like-for-like terms, the market in which our backlog has grown more is Australia, up 9.6%.
To wrap up, let's speak about our priorities for 2019. I think we should say to start that our ongoing businesses are growing 11.3%. Profits are up 8.6%. We have a robust financial position with net cash EUR 1.2 billion. Our construction backlog, very large, EUR 10.9 billion. Our estimated liquidity is over EUR 4.5 billion. What do we want to do with all this? Basically, I think we still, within our new strategic approach, want to focus even more on transport infrastructures, essentially toll roads and airports, with the aim of always growing profitably. We're not interested in growth for growth sake. To do that, it's important to have great financial discipline in all of our investments. Within that, of course, we are an industrial group which always seeks operational excellence.
It's focused on innovation because the world is changing faster and faster, and we need to keep up with that. Always being very focused on sustainability and the environment. As for health and safety, I already mentioned the accident rate is down. In the cumulative figures, we've improved our health and safety ratios by over 40% from 2014. Of course, it's never enough, and we have to continue to invest more in training and prevention to improve those accident frequency rates. In sustainability, our CO2 emissions is down 54% since 2009. We are currently reviewing our targets and hope to set more ambitious targets. Have over 100 innovation projects underway. We've invested over EUR 18 million in 2018. We have also invested in our communities, in our corporate social responsibility area, as our chairman has described. We're still very pleased with our employee engagement level.
They seem to be very happy with us, since 91% of them state that they feel highly engaged and committed to the company. Thank you very much.
We now have the final attendance list that I'll read out to you. Attending this general shareholders meeting, we have 477 shareholders who are present. They hold 133,511,816 shares. That is equal to 18.08% of our share capital. That figure also includes those shareholders who have voted remotely. We also have attending the meeting 3,561 shareholders who are represented here. They hold 364,948,379 shares, equal to 49.42% of the company share capital. That means that we have as a total number of shares attending this meeting, including shareholders present and represented, shares that add up to 67.5% of the total subscribed and paid-up share capital. That is a sufficient quorum for the valid constitution of this general shareholders meeting at second call. Take into account that final attendance quorum that has just been reported to you by the secretary.
The meeting is declared to be validly constituted on second call, that it can deliberate and decide on all of those matters included on the agenda. Let me call on the notary. You have the floor. Are there any reservations or protests to be made, ladies and gentlemen shareholders, relating to the statements made by both the chairman and the secretary regarding the number of shareholders and share capital present or represented among the shareholders attending? As there are no reservations, let us move on to the time that we have reserved for shareholders who would like to speak or verbally request information or clarification regarding matters included on the general shareholders' meeting agenda. On the information that is accessible to the public that has been provided by the company to CNMV since the holding of the last general shareholders meeting or the audited report.
You now have your time to take the floor, and you will take turns at Articles 197 and 520 of the Capital Companies Act. Shareholders have had the opportunity to seek clarification and also ask written questions as deemed relevant to such points until the fifth day prior to the general shareholders meeting in accordance with Articles 20 et seq of the regulations of our general shareholders meeting. The following system will be used to organize the turn shareholders will be able to take the floor. Shareholders who wish to exercise their right to speak should first identify themselves to the notary. When they go to speak, they should go to stand in the area that has been reserved for that purpose in this hall where there is a microphone that they can use it to speak.
If any shareholder would like to request that his or her speech be recorded verbatim in the minutes of the meeting, he or she must deliver this speech in writing to the notary at the time of identifying themselves to the notary that it can be cross-checked when they stand up to speak. All of those speeches that are made shall be answered at the end of the round of speeches. If it is not possible for a reply to be given at this time, or if it is perhaps more convenient to clarify or to complete the reply given at a later point, then this should be done in writing within the next seven days, according to Article 197.2 of the Capital Companies Act. You now have the floor, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. It is your turn to speak.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, directors, executives, and employees of Ferrovial, it's a pleasure for me to speak again, a shareholder of this company, to express my gratitude for the excellent work done in order to continue the project initiated by your founder, Mr. Rafael, and all the other members of the founders. Mr. Rafael del Pino, of course, was very fond of sailing and was actually a ship captain. As well as founding Ferrovial, was an excellent lead executive and guided the company through an excellent course until he decided to pass on his command. Now, as shareholders, we're very fortunate to have his son at the helm of this great ship that Ferrovial has become.
He's been able to chart an excellent course at times of severe storms for a very long period with a firm hand, maintaining his cool, difficult times, until he could guide that ship to a safe harbor. Him and all the company's executives and directors have looked after the company's shareholders, who have maintained their support for the company, even in difficult times, and have done everything necessary so that the company could continue to grow and succeed. Of course, provide excellent results for all its shareholders and employees, who are all part of a big family. For this reason, I would like to once again thank those who have made this possible, and repeat my trust in the company, its top management, and everyone involved.
I, of course, am committed to continue to support you in anything that you might need from me as a shareholder. I would just like to finish by hoping that in the future, we will have equally committed and capable people at the helm of this company so that it can successfully face whatever challenges arise. I would like to have my comments reflected in the minutes.
Thank you very much to you, shareholders. As this time for turns for taking the floor has concluded, the items that make up the agenda should now be examined. The items on the agenda for approval should be examined first. Let me call on the secretary to take the floor. The secretary will discuss certain practical aspects concerning the adoption of the agreements and will read the proposed resolutions on the published agenda to proceed separately to their vote.
The procedure for the reading and approval shall be as follows. In accordance with Article 24.1 of the regulations of the general shareholders' meeting, and given that the company has already made available to shareholders the text of the proposed agreements at the beginning of the meeting, a summary of their contents will be made as their full reading is not necessary because of their length. After the reading from the speaker the relevant agreement or of its summary, the chairman shall require shareholders attending to decide on their approval.
According to Article 24.4 of the regulations of the general shareholders' meeting, it shall be understood that a vote is given in favor for the agreement proposed by all the shareholders, present or represented, that do not expressly state that they vote against that proposal, or cast a blank vote, or abstain by communicating or expressing their vote or abstention to the majority for it to be reflected in the minutes. Provided that after the vote corresponding to each item on agenda, there is evidence that there are enough votes for an agreement to be approved, this shall be deemed as approved. The exact details of the votes, the votes for and against, the abstentions, and the blank votes shall be duly indicated in the material minutes of the general shareholders' meeting. Furthermore, the adopted agreements and the voting results should be published on the company's website.
Item one on the agenda. This item is divided into two sections, as the mercantile regulations require separate approval of the consolidated non-financial information statement. First item, section one on the agenda, 1.1, to approve the financial statements, balance sheet, profit and loss statement of changes in net equity, cash flow statement, and notes to the financial statements of Ferrovial S.A. and its consolidated group, as drawn up by the board with regard to the financial year ended 31st of December 2018, and the management reports of its consolidated group. Is it approved? The first item, section one of the agenda is approved. First item, section two on the agenda, to approve the consolidated statement of non-financial information with regard to the financial year end of 31st December 2018, and that forms part of the consolidated management report of Ferrovial S.A.
Is it approved? The first item, section two on the agenda is duly approved. Item two, to approve the allocation of financial year 2018 income, which amounts to EUR 48,321,239.91 in its entirety voluntary reserves. Is it approved? Item two on the agenda is duly approved. Item three on the agenda, to approve the management carried out by the board of directors during financial year 2018. Is it approved? The third item on the agenda is approved. Item four, to reappoint Deloitte S.L. as the auditor of the accounts of Ferrovial S.A. and of its consolidated group for a period of one year, that will be financial year 2019. Is it approved? Fourth item on the agenda is approved. Item five.
This fifth item is divided into 10 sections, which allow the resolutions relating to the composition of the company's board of directors be voted on separately, in compliance with mercantile regulations. Item 5.1 on the agenda, to reappoint Mr. Rafael del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo as a board member, as an executive director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section one on the agenda is approved. Item 5.2, to reappoint Mr. Santiago Bergareche Busquet as board member in the category of external director for three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? Fifth item, section two on the agenda is approved.
Item 5.3 on the agenda, to reappoint Mr. Joaquín Ayuso García as board member in the category of external director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section three on the agenda is approved. Item 5.4, to appoint Mr. Íñigo Meirás Amusco as board member in the category of executive director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section four on the agenda is approved. Item 5.5, to appoint Mrs. María del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo as a board member in the category of proprietary director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section five on the agenda is approved.
Item 5.6 on the agenda, to reappoint Mr. Santiago Fernández Valbuena as board member in the category of independent director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section six on the agenda is approved. Item 5.7 on the agenda, to appoint Mr. José Fernando Sánchez-Junco Mans as board member in the category of independent director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section seven on the agenda is approved. Item 5.8 on the agenda, to reappoint Mr. Joaquín del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo as board member in the category of proprietary director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section eight on the agenda is therefore approved.
Item 5.9 on the agenda, to reappoint Mr. Óscar Fanjul Martín as board member in the category of independent director for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? The fifth item, section nine on the agenda is approved. Item 5.10 on the agenda, to confirm the appointment of Mr. Bruno Di Leo as an independent director appointed by co-opted nomination by the board at its meeting of 26th of July 2018, and to appoint him as director within that same category for the three-year term under the bylaws, counting from the date of this resolution. Is it approved? Yes. The fifth item, section 10 on the agenda is approved. Item six on the agenda. Let me summarize the content of this proposed resolution.
To approve a capital increase charged to reserves for the amount resulting from multiplying the nominal value of EUR 0.20 per share of Ferrovial S.A. by the total number of new shares to be issued. The provisional number of shares to be issued will be equal to the amount of the alternative option divided by the weighted average price of Ferrovial share in the five trading sessions prior to the day on which the resolution to execute the capital increase is adopted. The amount of the alternative option is the market value of the capital increase and is set at EUR 236,305,867.84. Each share of the company in circulation grant one free of charge allocation right. Those rights may be traded on the market during the period to be determined by the board of directors with a minimum of 15 calendar days.
The number of free of charge allocation rights or existing shares needed to obtain one new share shall be equal to the number of shares in circulation divided by the provisional number of shares to be issued. The price that Ferrovial undertakes to pay for each free of charge allocation right will be equal to the weighted average price of Ferrovial share in the five trading sessions prior to the day on which the resolution to carry out the capital increase is adopted, divided by the number of rights required for one new share. The Board of Directors is authorized to sub-delegate the implementation of the capital increase to the Executive Committee, the Chairman or the Chief Executive Officer. Is it approved? Yes. The sixth item on the agenda is approved. Item seven. This proposed resolution is analogous to the previous item.
In this case, the amount of the alternative option is set by the Board of Directors, depending on the number of shares in circulation and the remuneration paid and expected from the shareholders charged to the financial year 2019 so far, which cannot exceed EUR 312,852,770.58. Is it approved? Yes. The seventh item on the agenda is approved. Item eight on the agenda. Let me summarize the content of this proposed resolution. To reduce the share capital by amortization of the sum of the nominal value of, on one hand, 6,915,588 shares of EUR 0.20 that the company has as treasury stock, and also shares of EUR 0.20 that are acquired through a buyback program addressed to all shareholders and that must be approved by the Board of Directors.
The final figure of the reduction shall be set depending on the final number of shares acquired in the buyback program. The acquisition of shares through the buyback program shall be made under the terms of public information, price, and volume set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 by which the above is completed. The buyback program should be subject to two quantitative limits. One, the maximum investment of the program will be EUR 275 million, and two, in no case will the number of shares to be acquired exceed 19 million shares, representing 2.57% of the company share capital at the date of the formulation of this proposed agreement. The Board of Directors shall establish a term within the buyback program, which may not exceed one year.
The treasury shares acquired by the company under the buyback program must be amortized within the month following its termination. The capital reduction must be carried out within this period, and in any case, it certainly must be carried out within the year following the date of this agreement being adopted. The Board of Directors delegated, and the Board can also sub-delegate to the Executive Committee, the Chairman, and the CEO, the power to determine all that is not specifically provided for in this agreement. Is it approved? Yes. The eighth item on the agenda is approved. Item nine. Let me summarize the content of this proposed resolution. The Board of Directors is delegated the power to increase the share capital by means of monetary contributions on one or more occasions pursuant to Article 297.1.b of the Capital Companies Act. The maximum term of the delegation is five years.
The maximum amount of the increase is €73,145,583.70, corresponding to half of the company's current share capital. Powers are delegated to the Board to exclude the preemptive subscription right of shareholders pursuant to the provisions of Article 506.2 and other related articles of the Capital Companies Act. This power is limited to share capital increases carried out under this authorization up to the maximum amount corresponding as a whole to 20% of the current share capital. All of the powers attributed to the Board of Directors may in turn be sub-delegated to the Executive Committee. This delegation replaces the delegation that was [re-rolled] by the General Shareholders Meeting on 26th of June 2014 under item nine of its agenda. Is it approved? Yes. The ninth item on the agenda is approved. Item 10. Let me also summarize the content of this proposal.
To authorize the Board of Directors to issue directly or through subsidiaries guaranteed by the company debentures, bonds, and other fixed income securities or debt instruments of a similar nature, including warrants that are convertible and/or interchangeable or that give the right to participate in the company's profits. The term of the delegation is five years. The maximum amount of issues is 75% of the company's equity shown in its latest approved balance sheet. That limit shall not apply to issues of preferred stock, which shall be governed rather by the specific provisions applicable to them and without the outstanding balance at any time exceeding 25% of the company's equity shown in the last approved balance sheet. It shall be for the Board of Directors to determine for each issue its amount, its place of issue, its currencies, interest rate, the redemption rate, and the applicable legislation.
The proposal establishes the obligation to inform its shareholders at successive General Shareholders Meetings of the use, if any, made of this authorization up to that time. All of the powers attributed to the Board of Directors may in turn be sub-delegated to the Executive Committee. This authorization replaces the resolution on the same subject adopted by the General Shareholders Meeting of 26th of June 2014 under item 10 of its agenda. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 10th item on the agenda is approved. Item 11, to improve, in accordance with provisions of Article 529 novodecies of the Capital Companies Act, the directors' remuneration policy of Ferrovial S.A. for its financial years 2020, 2021, and 2022. The full text of which will, along with the management report of the Nominations, the Remuneration Committee, has been made already available to shareholders on the date of the notice of convening the General Shareholders Meeting. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 11th item on the agenda is approved. Item 12, let me summarize the contents of this proposed resolution to you. The proposal is for a share delivery plan of Ferrovial S.A. for its executive directors. It consists of allocating two beneficiaries, a number of units that will be served as the basis for determining the final number of shares they'll be able to receive. The plan will be valid for one year. The value of the shares delivered shall be determined in accordance with the weighted average exchange rate of the shares of Ferrovial S.A. in the trading session corresponding to the respective delivery date. The total number of shares that may be granted annually under this plan may not exceed 200,000 shares, representing 0.027% of the company's share capital.
As a condition for the delivery of the shares, they must remain in the company for a period of three years, that's the maturity period, starting from the date on which the units were allocated. In addition, it's also a condition or prerequisite for delivery that during this maturity period, the ratios calculated on the basis of, one, the profit we retained, and two, the total return for the shareholders in relation to a comparison group are met. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 12th item on the agenda is approved. Item 13, the Board is authorized to proceed with the sale of the services division of the Ferrovial Group, and therefore the companies it comprises. The sale may be carried out in one or several transactions and may affect all of the assets that make up the division, or only part of them. The Board, depending on the market situation and the interest shown by any potential buyers, will determine how to proceed as it considers best in the interest of Ferrovial and its shareholders. The sale process, either total or partial, must be competitive and led by a reputable international investment bank. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 13th item on the agenda is approved. Item 14, to summarize, the proposal is to delegate to the Board of Directors with powers, two, to sub-delegate to the Executive Committee, the Chairman and the CEO, the power to interpret, correct, and execute the resolutions adopted at this general shareholders meeting, and to delegate to the Chairman, the CEO, and the Secretary of the Board so that any one of them may formalize and record such agreements in a public document. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 14th item on the agenda is approved. Item 15, to approve on a consultative basis, the annual report on directors' remuneration for the financial year 2018. Is it approved?
Approved.
The 15th item on the agenda is approved. Item 16 on the agenda, a document which records the amendments to the regulations of the Board of Directors since the date of the General Shareholders Meeting, the last one, has been made available to the shareholders. Those amendments were approved by the Board of Directors meeting on the 18th of December 2018. The results of the votes corresponding to each item on the agenda have been announced, and of course, the votes will be duly recorded in this notarial deed and will be published on the website, the meeting is closed. Thanking all of you attending the Shareholders Meeting of Ferrovial S.A. Good afternoon to you all.