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ACS Group reported robust financial results for the second quarter of 2025, with significant increases in revenue and profit. The company’s focus on digital infrastructure and strategic investments in data centers has contributed to a positive outlook.
Key Takeaways
- Total sales rose to €24.1 billion, marking a 28.6% year-on-year increase.
- Ordinary net profit increased by 17%, reaching €392 million.
- Significant investments in data centers and digital infrastructure are driving growth.
- The order backlog grew to €89.3 billion, with a 12% FX adjusted growth.
Company Performance
ACS Group demonstrated a strong performance in Q2 2025, with substantial growth in both sales and profit. The company’s strategic focus on digital infrastructure, including major data center projects, has positioned it well in the market. The engineering and construction segment reported an 11.5% increase, while Turner delivered exceptional results with a 64% profit increase.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: €24.1 billion, up 28.6% year-on-year
- Ordinary net profit: €392 million, up 17% (19.4% FX adjusted)
- EBITDA: €1.4 billion, up 23.9%
- Net operating cash flow: €1.8 billion
- Net debt: €2.2 billion
Outlook & Guidance
ACS Group is targeting a 17% growth in ordinary net profit for 2025. The company plans to continue its focus on advanced technology infrastructure, managed lanes, bolt-on acquisitions, and global infrastructure investments. The order backlog and book-to-bill ratio of 1.2x indicate strong future demand.
Executive Commentary
Juan Santamaría, CEO of ACS, emphasized the company’s commitment to building a diversified business model and a global footprint. He noted the astronomical demand in the digital infrastructure sector and identified semiconductors and batteries as key growth areas.
Risks and Challenges
- Potential supply chain disruptions could impact project timelines.
- Market saturation in certain regions may slow growth.
- Macroeconomic pressures, including inflation and interest rate hikes, could affect profitability.
- Regulatory changes in key markets may pose challenges.
- Competition in digital infrastructure and construction sectors remains intense.
Q&A
During the earnings call, analysts focused on ACS’s data center investment strategy and opportunities in the U.S. market. Discussions also covered Abertis infrastructure investments and AI-related construction opportunities, highlighting the company’s strategic focus on high-growth areas.
Full transcript - ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS) Q2 2025:
Javier Crespo, Head of Industry Relations, ACS Group: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us in the 2025 first half results call of ACS Group. This is Javier Crespo, Head of Industry Relations. As usual, the call will be led by our CEO, Juan Santamaría, who is joined here by our Corporate General Manager, Ángel García Altozano, our CFO, Emilio Grande, and the rest of the management team. After the presentation, we will host the usual Q&A session and look forward to hearing your questions. Juan, the floor is yours.
Juan Santamaría, CEO, ACS Group: Thank you, Javier. Good afternoon, all, and thank you for being with us today. The group has performed strongly in the first half of the year, with solid growth in sales, backlog, and net profit, backed by strong cash flow generation. Moreover, we’re making solid progress in executing our strategy, increasingly leveraging our global footprint and engineering expertise to drive sustainable growth. We’re actively capturing high-potential equity investment opportunities across both traditional and next-generation markets, consistently creating long-term value for all our stakeholders. Let me give you an overview of a few key highlights for the period. Ordinary net profit of EUR 392 million shows an increase of 17% or 19.4% FX adjusted. On a reported basis, net profit stood at EUR 450 million. Sales and EBITDA were up by 28.6% and 23.9% respectively, driven by robust momentum across segments. Operating margins evolved positively across the board.
Net operating cash flow, adjusted for factoring variations, reached EUR 1.8 billion in the last 12 months. This is up EUR 265 million year-on-year and represents a CAGR of 45.8% for the past four years. As a result of this strong cash flow generation, the group’s net debt position as of the end of June was EUR 2.2 billion. This is after allocating EUR 1.1 billion to strategic investments and shareholder remuneration in the first half. The strategic investments included EUR 436 million acquisition of Dornan and EUR 476 million in net equity investments and other M&A, mostly including the investment of EUR 315 million in data center projects. Meanwhile, shareholder remuneration amounted to EUR 148 million. New orders during the first half reached EUR 31.7 billion, up 18.1% FX adjusted, translating into a healthy book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 times.
The order backlog grew by 12% FX adjusted, reaching EUR 89.3 billion, equivalent to approximately two years of work, supported by sustained demand in data centers by pharma and defense. Looking ahead, we remain highly confident in the group’s outlook and reiterate our ordinary net profit growth target of up to 17% for 2025, underpinned by strong fundamentals. Let’s take a closer look at the group’s consolidated performance for the period. Sales rose by 28.6%, reaching EUR 24.1 billion, driven by the exceptional performance of Turner, which achieved 34.1% organic growth, 36.7% FX adjusted, and particularly driven by digital infrastructure and biopharma projects. This momentum was further supported by the integration of Dornan and the full consolidation of TIS since Q2 2024. EBITDA increased by 23.9% to EUR 1.4 billion, with margin expansion across all segments stable on an overall basis due to businesses’ mixed effects.
Profit before tax amounted to EUR 708 million, up 25.4%, and was particularly fueled by Turner’s outperformance and the solid contribution from Flatiron. We delivered strong net profit growth of 17% year-on-year on a comparable basis to EUR 392 million, in line with the top end of our full-year guidance for EBITDA growth. Turning now to the ordinary net profit split, I would like to underline the following. Turner delivered an outstanding performance, with its contribution rising 64% to EUR 227 million, driven by strong growth in high-tech markets and biopharma. CIMIC delivered EUR 101 million, supported by strong growth in data centers and impacted by FX effects. Engineering and construction shows a very strong result, growing at 21.4% year-on-year, reflecting a higher contribution of Flatiron and solid results in HOCHTIEF Europe.
Infrastructure had a resilient operational performance in the period, despite known operational impacts at Abertis and ramp-up effects at Iridium. During the period, the group implemented efficiency measures that involved EUR 16 million in restructuring costs aimed at streamlining operations and unlocking synergies that will enhance performance in the coming years. Slide 5 highlights the group’s strong and consistent cash flow generation. Last 12 months, net operating cash flow, after adjusting for factoring variations, amounted to EUR 1.8 billion, up EUR 265 million and supported by the strong momentum of Turner. Over the past four years, last 12 months’ net operating cash flow after factoring has grown consistently at a CAGR of 45.8%, driven by EBITDA growth, sustained cash conversion, and expertise diversification into cash-generative businesses. On a half-year basis, cash flow reflects the typical first-quarter seasonality.
The group’s cash generation remains solid, and we anticipate a seasonal rebound, as usual, along the second half of the year, driven by strong operational performance. Our net debt position as of June 2025 stood at EUR 2.2 billion, showing an increase of approximately EUR 600 million since June 2024. This variation is primarily the result of expertise capital allocation initiatives and foreign exchange effects, and benefits from the group’s strong net operating cash flow, slightly impacted by the lower use of factoring. The current position reflects the following key uses of capital in the last 12 months: EUR 1.2 billion in net equity investments and M&A, including the acquisition of Dornan Engineering, an additional stake in HOCHTIEF, and targeted investments primarily in data centers. EUR 652 million in shareholder remuneration, EUR 317 million related to FX movements and other effects.
Our disciplined approach to capital deployment supports our long-term growth strategy while maintaining solid financial positions. Moving on to Slide 7, our order backlog stands at EUR 89.3 billion as of June 25, representing a year-on-year increase of around 12% FX adjusted. This growth was underpinned by a very strong order intake of EUR 31.7 billion, up 15.3% or 18.1% FX adjusted, resulting in a healthy first-half book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 times. This very positive performance reflects the group’s continued success in securing high-quality projects across strategic growth markets, particularly in data centers, defense, and biopharma. Notably, digital infrastructure now accounts for 14% of our total backlog, driven by the exceptional momentum in data centers, which have grown at a CAGR of 98% over the past two years.
We’re also seeing a strong traction in Germany, where our positioning allowed us to benefit from the country’s increased focus on infrastructure investments. New awards in Germany grew by approximately 40% year-on-year in the first half, reinforcing our ability to capture opportunities in these key markets. In the following slide, we can see a selection of recent awards. Some key projects to highlight would be in digital and advanced technology. As you know, we will be building a large data center for Made in Louisiana as part of the largest campus to date from the company that will have a total value of $10 billion. We also will be building a high-density liquid cooling-ready data center in Malaysia.
And very recently, we announced that we will lead the construction of a state-of-the-art data center in Pennsylvania for CoreWeave, the artificial intelligence hyperscaler, as part of a $6 billion investment to support cutting-edge AI workloads. In the energy sector, we have been appointed for Darwin LNG life extension, ensuring continued gas processing and marine loading service in Northern Territory, Australia. In Germany, we secured a planning contract for four advanced onshore converter stations, part of a high-voltage line that will carry wind power from the north to the Ruhr region. In biopharma health and social infrastructure, we were awarded a new Danelan Hospital in New Zealand, our largest hospital project to date. We also won two major building contracts in Germany: a research center for the University of Duisburg-Essen and the conversion of a historic boiler house in Krefeld into a modern event venue.
As recent as today, we announced that Turner joint venture has been awarded a $700 million modernization project for Memphis International Airport. In transport infrastructure and sustainable mobility, we were awarded a Long Bridge Northern Rail project in Washington, D.C. In Germany, we secured two major rail infrastructure contracts: one for refurbishing the 42 km double-track section for Deutsche Bahn and another for building the second main line of Munich’s S-Bahn network, connecting Ostbahnhof and Marienhof stations. In critical metals and natural resources, Sedgman is leading the design and construction of the Queensland Resources Common User Facility in Townsville, a government-backed initiative to accelerate vanadium and other critical minerals processing. We also received the award of a five-year extension at the Karlawinda Gold Mine in Western Australia.
In defense, in addition to the large Pearl Harbor dry dock replacement project in Hawaii we are working on, it is worth mentioning that we are leading the state’s two upgrades of maintenance, logistics, and airfield infrastructure at the RAAF Base Townsville in Queensland, Australia. Let us now have a look at the performance by segments. On Slide 10, we begin with Turner, which is delivering exceptional results, consolidating its leadership in strategic sectors. Sales grew by 41.2%, reaching EUR 12.2 billion, driven primarily by strong organic growth in digital infrastructure and biopharma projects. This solid performance was further supported by the contribution from Dornan, performing even better than anticipated. Profit before tax amounted to EUR 392 million, representing an outstanding increase of almost 60%. This was accompanied by continued margin expansion of 36 basis points to 3.2%, reflecting Turner’s successful strategy focus on advanced technology projects.
Net operating cash flow increased in close to EUR 400 million. Net cash as of June 2025 was EUR 2.7 billion, up almost EUR 300 million even after the acquisition of Dornan Engineering. Turner’s commercial strength is demonstrated by its new orders of EUR 16 billion in the first half of the year, an increase of 22.7% year-on-year, or 25.1% FX adjusted, driving order backlog to EUR 33.1 billion. Moving on to operations in the Asia-Pacific region, we turn to CIMIC. Sales registered strong growth in strategic areas such as advanced technology, healthcare, and defense, and were 26.3% higher, supported by the full consolidation of TIS with a stable underlying performance overall. EBITDA margins remain stable, underpinned by strong contribution from high-tech jobs across both UGL and Leighton Asia.
Ordinary profit before tax increased by 20.3% year-on-year to EUR 232 million after adjusting the first half of 2024 for the one-off non-cash gain net of provisions. On a comparable basis, adjusting for TIS consolidation, ordinary PBT grew by 4%. Achievable net profit grew by 7.2% FX adjusted year-on-year. Comparable net operating cash flow before factoring remains stable, while the reported figure was impacted by the global consolidation of TIS and lower factoring levels. Our order backlog was solid, reaching EUR 23.2 billion at 5% FX adjusted, driven by solid growth across all segments, particularly in data centers and defense. Turning now to engineering and construction segment on Slide 12, we can see solid growth with consolidated sales increasing 11.5% year-on-year to over EUR 5.2 billion, driven by the strong performance in North America and the robust contributions from both Dragados and HOCHTIEF engineering and construction.
EBITDA margin increased by 53 basis points to 5.7%, supported by a significant contribution from Flatiron Dragados. Ordinary profit before tax grew significantly by 45.6% to EUR 136 million, supported by a positive financial performance. Net operating cash flow level was impacted by the lower use of factoring and a high comparison base due to strong collections recorded in the first half of 2024. The engineering and construction backlog rose 8.2% FX adjusted to EUR 30 billion, reflecting a strong order intake of EUR 7.9 billion, with notable momentum in sustainable mobility and transportation infrastructure. Importantly, our book-to-bill ratio remains strong at about 1.2 times. Looking forward, the outlook remains very positive, and I would highlight that we’re particularly well-positioned to benefit from the infrastructure investment plan in Germany. Continuing now with the infrastructure segment on Slide 13. Abertis has had a strong operating performance.
The contribution to NPAT was impacted by the changes in the tax regulation of concessions in France and FX movements. Abertis distributed a dividend of approximately EUR 600 million in the Q2 2025. Iridium meanwhile increased its sales by 26.9% thanks to the additional contribution of the A13 and a general positive performance across operating entities. On the next slide, we take a more detailed look at the Abertis numbers. Traffic has grown at 2.6%, supported by a strong performance of heavy vehicle traffic. We saw strong results, particularly in Spain, France, Brazil, and Chile. On a like-for-like basis, the company delivers strong revenues and EBITDA growth at 6%, underpinned by the geographical diversification of the portfolio and inflation-linked tariffs.
Regarding Abertis’s portfolio development, as you know, Abertis acquired a 51.2% stake in the A63 toll road in France, which is now fully consolidated since 1 June, with full impact in balance sheet about one month in P&L. In Chile, the Santiago Los Villas concession has begun its operational management and full consolidation from the 1st of April, further strengthening our presence in Latin America. Abertis has improved its liquidity and financial strength, with our net debt set at EUR 23.4 billion and ample group liquidity of EUR 6.9 billion. On Slide 15, we show the breakdown of key figures by country for Abertis’s profile. To conclude our review of the first-half results, let me highlight the key achievements of the group.
We have delivered a strong operational performance, with sales reaching EUR 24.1 billion, up 28.6% year-on-year, and ordinary net profit of EUR 392 million, up 17% or 19.4% FX adjusted, aligning with the upper end of our guidance. Our cash generation remains robust, with last 12 months’ net operating cash flow adjusting for factoring variations plus EUR 1.8 billion, growing at a CAGR of 45.8% over the past four years. Our order backlog stands at EUR 89.3 billion, up circa 12% FX adjusted, supported by EUR 31.7 billion in new orders. Looking ahead, we remain focused on our strategic growth markets and disciplined capital allocation. We see significant greenfield investment opportunities, particularly in advanced technology infrastructure and managed lanes, and continue to pursue bolt-on acquisitions to strengthen our engineering capabilities. Through Abertis, we’re also advancing brownfield investments in core infrastructure assets.
We’re swathed to build a diversified business model and a global footprint, which enables us to respond effectively to evolving market dynamics. With solid fundamentals, strong momentum across key markets, and a clear focus on long-term value creation, we’re well-positioned to navigate the current macroeconomic environment and continue delivering sustainable growth and attractive shareholder returns. Thank you once again for joining us today. I now look forward to your questions. Ladies and gentlemen, the Q&A session starts now. If you wish to ask a question, please press star five on your telephone keypad. Thank you. The first question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead with your question. Good afternoon. Hello, everyone. Thanks a lot for taking our questions. I had two detailed questions. Apologies for that.
The first one is, when I look at the headquarter costs at the EBITDA, the headquarter EBITDA, and therefore inclusive of headquarter costs, I see a EUR 41 million positive impact in the first half of last year, whereas I see a minus EUR 20 million at present. So I’d like to know if you can provide a bit more detail on why that big swing is there. And the second question is, you highlighted in the results report EUR 14.14 million worth of HOCHTIEF share purchases, I assume, in H1. And what I would like to know is if I should assume, or where has that taken place? Is it Q1, Q2? And should I assume that there will be no more share purchases at these share price levels for HOCHTIEF going forward? Thank you. Thank you so much, Luis.
Starting with the headquarter cost EBITDA, so the EUR 41 million deflate that you see is the unwinding of the revaluation of data center landlord in Australia, which we had to unwind at ACS level, and that was included in the headquarter cost. On the EUR 14 million that you saw, that was back in April 2023. Whether we are going to continue or not, it will be opportunistic. I mean, I cannot really say anything at this stage. But we don’t have any plans at this stage to increase or not to increase. All right. Thank you for that one. We now move on to the next question, coming from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead with your question. Hi, good afternoon. Two questions for me. One, you mentioned in H1 you have spent EUR 315 million in data center projects.
Can you maybe elaborate on what this is, maybe new land or developing the existing land? And then the second question is around the U.S. Here, if we exclude data centers, just looking at the market, the non-residential construction market seems to be flat to small down year-on-year in Q2. Yet Turner is still growing significantly, even when we exclude the data centers, both in terms of revenue and order intake. My question is, how is this possible, and is this performance sustainable in the next quarters? Thanks. Thank you, Dario. Starting with EUR 315 million in data center spent. So far, we have probably spent between EUR 2.4 billion and EUR 2.5 billion in data centers. It is a mix between new land, development, energy, fiber, permitting, so there is a mix. All of this is part of the 2.1 gigawatt development that we are working on.
Eventually we will give more details about the status of the 2.1 gigawatt, the additional pipeline that we have always spoken about, additional 6 gigawatts, and right now we are looking at 11 gigawatts, so that is growing significantly, and how we are managing all of that in terms of investments and the future business case. When it comes to the U.S., data centers have grown significantly. I mean, that is a fact, and plenty of projects. However, we are seeing positive momentum in most of the areas. If you look, for example, starting in the outlook for Turner in the U.S., we see sports education with an expected growth of 37% from 2025 to 2029. We see data centers continue this pace of growth within the following years.
Batteries, for example, have been impacted in the short term in the last two to three years because of changes in technology, questions on demand of EV vehicles. We saw a lot of unwinding in that sense. However, that is going to catch up and ramp up again. It is not certainly that has affected Turner’s revenues within the last two to three years, but we expect that to come back. Semiconductors, I mean, that is a very positive trend. We believe that there will be around EUR 260 billion investment through 2030. We are in several tender processes around semiconductors globally, and we expect and we hope that that market will start ramping up very soon and with positive news for us. Healthcare, we’re expecting that to grow 32%. And that’s basically based on population growth. And industrial manufacturing, both in the U.S.
and everywhere else, that’s going to continue growing. And that’s in terms of the future. When you look at the current impact in Turner’s backlog, we see huge growth in data centers, huge growth in biopharma. And biopharma from previous year, I mean, year-on-year, has grown 64.5%. And we see significantly growth back in commercial and social infrastructure. Sports, etc. So we see growth in that area as well. And where we see somehow steady, potentially even a slowdown in the backlog was semiconductors and batteries, which, in our opinion, and always after data centers, which will continue to be the big trend, semiconductors and batteries will be the two new horses in the race of growth. Thanks, Juan. We now move on to a new question coming from Philippe Leitch from Gaisha Bank. Please go ahead. Hello everyone. I have two questions.
The first one is actually a follow-up on the holding cost question. Because dividing it between first and second quarter of this year, second quarter, the contribution of holding was minus EUR 22 million when in first quarter it was a EUR 2 million positive. Can you elaborate on this big swing and how we can see or assume this minus EUR 22 million on a quarterly basis for the upcoming quarters? And the second question is related with tax. And if you can also elaborate on the reasons for such low tax or tax rate this quarter. And perhaps related with that, also, if you can explain the footnote where you announced a one-off result in that quarter related with recognition of tax position. So if you can explain this also. Thank you. Okay. So let’s start with the one-off, right? So, and this is on the holding cost.
So there’s, I mean, as we say in the report, basically, there’s an elimination of the fair value change gain of the investment property, and this is a data center in Melbourne, Australia, under CIMIC. So at CIMIC, I mean, it’s land that we were developing a data center, and we accounted for it using the fair value methodology, and the revaluation reflects the substantial progress in the development phase. While at HOCHTIEF, it’s a cost model applied, right, to investment properties of this type. As such, at the CIMIC level, I mean, at HOCHTIEF level, we eliminate in the first half 2025 results. That’s basically the thing, and this applied in the second quarter of 2025. Now. The second one was about the tax gain. Of the one-off and the credit. And this was basically. This is, I mean. Reevaluations of the tax credit position. At holding level.
Unfortunately, we have some technical issues. Please hold the line. Please hold the line. We’ll be back in a minute. We’re having some technical glitches. Thank you. Sorry. Hello. Can you hear us back? Yes, we can. Please go ahead. Okay. So sorry, not sure. Let me go again through the second one because I’m not sure where. I left it. But basically. From PBT to NPAT is just a revaluation of the tax position and some resolutions from the TAC. That we got. So there’s nothing. Abnormal or extraordinary. All right. We move on then to the next question. Coming from. Martin Karol Wojtal from Bank of America. Please go ahead. Yes, hello. So some couple of questions here. Do you have any update for us on your plan to introduce a financial partner into your data center business?
And also, are you still planning to host a presentation explaining your strategy in data centers in the second half of the year? My first question, and my second question, it’s actually on your order backlog recognition policy. Could you just remind us how do you treat these very large contracts that you have been receiving on data centers? For example, EUR 10 billion at the end of last year for Meta in Louisiana. Is all of that, or the share of Turner, is all of that already in the backlog, or you are recognizing that progressively over several years? Thank you. Okay. So Martin, starting with the first one. So we are well advanced. On the platform. And it’s going in the right direction. I would prefer. To keep all the details around the data center platform, the future, and the business plan for.
The capital markets day that we’re planning in October, and we will announce the date very, very soon. Regarding the order backlog. For Louisiana and the latest projects, we haven’t—so let me start with the policy in general. As we have been moving. Into some of these projects that require a lot of engineering. The reality is that long-term projects. So we do have a lot of the announcements that we’ve been doing, such as the one you’re asking for, out of our backlog. Because right now, we have very, very, very minimal engineering cost in our backlog, which is only the first part. So that’s not in our backlog. And the same happens with a lot of our projects. Our backlog is not reflecting the number of projects awarded or even the number of projects that we’re working on in which we are prepared here.
They are very long-term in the making with a lot of engineering cost associated to those projects. That’s why we have a significant amount of backlog, real backlog, not reflected in the presentation yet. Could you maybe quantify what that amount is? Yes, of course. In the case of Turner—give me just one second. Let me take the paper. In the case of Pennsylvania, we have nothing in our backlog yet. In the case of Louisiana, we have so far out of EUR 3.3 billion, EUR 800 million. That’s very clear. Thank you. Next question. Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Yeah, thanks very much for the questions. I’ve got three, if that’s okay. I just wondered, Juan, if you could speak to your thoughts. I appreciate you have a partner in this business.
In terms of where you see the midterm for the Abertis business and where it develops to from here, is it just a case of bolstering the portfolio, extending duration, and maybe the odd capital injection from the parent? Is there some more to the story that might become evident in the next few years that will bring it closer to the market? Second question, just on some of your assets that you have held for sale, just wanted an update there. Class A as well. Just a quick update on where you stand on those assets would be helpful. Maybe just a last question. We’ve seen some positive signals from the U.S. administration around AI acceleration development, particularly related to the construction sector in recent weeks. If you had any thoughts on that and how it supports the business in the U.S. Thanks. Thank you, Juan. Starting with Abertis.
In Abertis, as you rightly say, there’s more to a story that will evolve during the next month here. We are, yes, I mean, we will continue working on our base case, which is optimizing CapEx, OpEx, and continue. There’s a few renegotiations in progress to extend the life of current assets, number one. Number two, we have identified opportunities that, like the A63, could come to Abertis in the near future, and we’re working on that. Let me re-emphasize that, I mean, first, Abertis continues to be our highest priority. From 2018 to 2024, we got an EBITDA increase by EUR 1.8 billion, right? There’s EUR 1 billion organic growth. We have also. Strengthened the backlog to net debt ratio from 5.5 times in 2023 to 6.1 times in 2024. The net debt EBITDA ratio has delivered from 6.6 times to 5.4 times, right?
From 2024 to 2033, we’re planning to continue EBITDA replacement. In the capital markets day, we announced EBITDA for 2024 of EUR 4.3 billion and EUR 4 billion for 2033. Right now, after the latest acquisitions and renegotiations, our EBITDA for 2024 has grown from EUR 4.3 billion to EUR 4.4 billion, and our prospects for 2033 from the capital markets day have grown from EUR 4 billion to EUR 4.75 billion, right? This is without what I just explained, that we are planning to do additional and bring additional opportunities to Abertis. Our objective continues being to have perpetual long-term assets, extending significantly the life of the assets in Abertis and making sure that the EUR 600 million dividend that Abertis is delivering at a 100% level, that continues growing significantly. Now, in terms of the asset for sales that you were talking about.
What we said in the capital markets day is two things in terms of the sources and uses of funds. One is the net operational cash flow that we’re generating, EUR 700 million-EUR 750 million, and this is going in line. Then there was the monetization of up to EUR 3 billion. Of the EUR 3 billion, we already secured EUR 1 billion last year, and that was to 88 under realities. We believe that we can get another EUR 2 billion, including what you just said, for example, the industrial assets that we have for sales. That’s part of it. Another non-core asset that we have in the business. That continues being part of the plan. The third question that has to do with the U.S. administration. In the U.S., I’m putting aside all what we’re seeing in digital.
In the current data center plans, we see additional funding and additional initiatives both in the U.S. and in Europe about AI. That has to do, in the case of Europe, with the AI factories. In the case of the U.S., additional injections for AI training and AI development. The demand is astronomical, and we’re working on that, first through the engineering construction and second with the two development platforms that we will announce in October. One for the big ones, the other one for AI processing, right? We will give a lot of details around that. Certainly, in the U.S., there’s a huge plan for AI investments. I mean, we are very well positioned to capture it.
On top of that, in the U.S., between the one big beautiful deal announced with significant tax cuts in the country, between all the investment that they want to continue doing in the civil space. With all the additional investment in defense, in critical metals, etc., we believe that there’s going to be a lot of growth besides AI. Thanks. That’s a very helpful one. Thanks. Thank you for your question. And now we move on to. Nicolas J. Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Yes. Good afternoon, guys. Just a couple of questions. First one on. The performance of the Dragados, of the Turner Dragados, especially in the U.S. What did you see in the first half? Do you continue to—I mean, the order intake has been a little bit volatile, Q1, Q2. But overall, how do you assess basically the health of the pipeline, of the.
Tender process? That would be the first question. Second question, just going back on. Net debt and the free cash flow networking capital, there was a little bit of a drawdown in the second quarter in your core business. X factoring. Would you say the payment cycle is maybe a little bit less. Positive, at least in terms of payment from customers and so on in Q2, especially in the U.S., or is it just basically the normal seasonality? Thank you. First, on Turner Dragados. Whether we refer to the business or to cash flow. It’s pure seasonality. Because the growth is there. There’s a lot of collaborative contracts that we’re working on, and they have a very—I mean, they are very slow in the making. So.
Hopefully, I mean, it depends by when we secure some of those projects that a lot of them were announced, but they are not even in our backlog because they are very slow in the making. It’s all negotiations, going through design, negotiating contracts, etc. That’s why. It’s very seasonal. All of a sudden, they can come two at once, and sometimes on a certain quarter, we’re not seeing some of those, right? It’s not like the traditional design deal where every quarter we tender so many, and we have a success ratio, and then we continue winning, right? Having said that. That’s on the backlog perspective. From a business perspective, we believe that the business is going very well. I mean, there’s a 19% increase on EBITDA. In the Dragados quarterly performance versus last year in comparable terms.
The EBITDA margin improvement was up 66 basis points, up to 5.6%. So, I mean, just the impact that excludes one-off restructuring costs in the first half increased by 6%, up to EUR 35 million. When it comes to operating cash, the net operating cash flow in comparable terms increased by EUR 83 million in Q2 2025, right? And this is year on year. It’s not bad. Having said that, we expect the second half with a much better performance than this first half. Thank you for your question. Apparently, there are no further questions. Therefore, I give back the floor to the management of ACS. Please go ahead. Just to say thank you, everyone, for your attendance today and for following the presentation. Please, as always, if you have any further questions, feel free to contact us anytime. Thank you.
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