Earnings call transcript: ACS Group sees 28.6% sales rise in Q2 2025

ACS Group reported strong financial results for the second quarter of 2025, with a significant increase in sales and net profit. Sales rose by 28.6% to 24.1 billion euros, while ordinary net profit increased by 17% to 392 million euros. The company’s strategic focus on digital infrastructure and data center investments contributed to this robust performance. According to InvestingPro data, the stock has delivered an impressive 35.56% return year-to-date, significantly outperforming broader market indices. The company maintains a GOOD overall Financial Health Score of 2.96, reflecting solid operational performance.

Key Takeaways

• Sales increased by 28.6% to 24.1 billion euros.
• Ordinary net profit grew by 17% to 392 million euros.
• Strong performance in digital infrastructure with a 98% CAGR.
• Strategic expansion in the U.S. market, particularly in AI infrastructure.
• Reaffirmed 17% net profit growth target for 2025.

Company Performance

ACS Group demonstrated a strong performance in Q2 2025, with significant growth in sales and net profit. The company capitalized on its diversified business model, which spans infrastructure, construction, and technology sectors. Key drivers included a focus on digital infrastructure and strategic investments in data centers, which are experiencing rapid growth.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: 24.1 billion euros, up 28.6% year-over-year.
• Ordinary net profit: 392 million euros, up 17% year-over-year.
• EBITDA: 1.4 billion euros, a 23.9% increase.
• Net operating cash flow: 1.8 billion euros.
• Net debt: 2.2 billion euros.

Outlook & Guidance

ACS Group reaffirmed its target of 17% ordinary net profit growth for 2025. The company plans to continue focusing on strategic growth markets and greenfield investments in advanced technology. A Capital Markets Day is scheduled for October to detail the company’s data center strategy. With a beta of 1.06, the stock shows slightly higher volatility than the market. Based on InvestingPro’s Fair Value analysis, the stock appears slightly overvalued at current levels. Discover more detailed valuation insights and access the comprehensive Pro Research Report, available exclusively to InvestingPro subscribers.

Executive Commentary

Juan Santa Maria, CEO of ACS Group, emphasized the company’s progress and strategic direction. "We are well advanced on the platform, and it is going in the right direction," he said, highlighting the company’s focus on AI infrastructure. He also noted the demand in this sector, stating, "The demand is astronomical, and we’re working on that."

Risks and Challenges

• Potential supply chain disruptions could impact project timelines.
• Market saturation in certain sectors may limit growth opportunities.
• Macroeconomic pressures, including inflation and interest rate changes, could affect financial performance.
• Competition in the digital infrastructure space remains intense.
• Regulatory changes in key markets could pose challenges.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the company’s data center backlog recognition policy and potential financial partners for its data center business. The CEO also discussed the Abertis strategy and potential developments, as well as opportunities in the U.S. market, particularly in AI infrastructure.

Full transcript - ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS) Q2 2025:

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us in the twenty twenty five First Half Results Call of ACS Group. This is Javier Crespo, Head of Investor Relations. As usual, the call will be led by our CEO, Juan Santa Maria, who is joined here by our Corporate General Manager, Anja Garcia Dozzano our CFO, Emilio Grande and the rest of the management team. After the presentation, we will hold the usual Q and A session and look forward to hearing your questions. Juan?

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 €392,000,000 shows an increase of 17% or 19.4% FX adjusted. On a reported basis, net profit stood at $450,000,000 Sales and EBITDA were up by 28.623.8%, respectively, driven by robust momentum across segments. Operating margins evolved positively across the board. Net operating cash flow adjusted for factoring variations reached €1,800,000,000 in the last twelve months.

This is up €265,000,000 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 June was €2,200,000,000 This is after allocating €1,100,000,000 to strategic investments and shareholder remuneration in the first half. These strategic investments include a €436,000,000 acquisition of Dornan and €476,000,000 in net equity investments and other M and A, mostly including investment of €315,000,000 in data center projects. Meanwhile, shareholder remuneration amounted to €148,000,000 New orders during the first half reached 31,700,000,000 up 18.1% FX adjusted, translating into a healthy book to bill ratio of 1.2x. The order backlog grew by 12% FX adjusted, reaching €89,300,000,000 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 €24,100,000,000 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 this since Q2 twenty twenty four. EBITDA increased by 23.9% to €1,400,000,000 with margin expansion across all segments stable on an overall basis due to business mix effects.

Profit before tax amounted to $7.00 €8,000,000 up 25.4% and was particularly fueled by Turner’s outperformance and the solid contribution from Zagados. We delivered strong net profit growth of 17% year on year on a comparable basis to €392,000,000 in line with the top end of our full year guidance for NPAT growth. Turning now to the ordinary net profit split, I would like to underline the following. Turner delivered an outstanding performance with its contribution rating 64% to €227,000,000 driven by strong growth in high-tech markets in biopharma. CIMIC delivered €101,000,000 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 Drogados in solid results in HOCHTIVE Europe. Infrastructure had a resilient operational performance in the period despite nonoperational impacts at Abertis and ramp up effects at the regions. During the period, the group implemented efficiency measures that involved €16,000,000 in restructuring costs aimed at streamlining operations and unlocking synergies that will enhance performance in the coming years. Slide five highlights the group’s strong and consistent cash flow generation. Last twelve months, net operating cash flow after adjusting for factor variations amounted to €1,800,000,000 up €265,000,000 and supported by the strong momentum of Turner.

Over the past four years, last twelve months net operational cash flow, refactoring, has grown consistently at a CAGR of 45.8%, driven by EBITDA growth, sustained cash conversion and expedite 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 CHF 2,200,000,000.0, showing an increase of approximately CHF 600,000,000 since June 2024. This variation is primarily the result of hedge party 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 twelve months: €1,200,000,000 in net equity investments and M and A, including the acquisition of Dornan and additional stake in HOCHTIF and targeted investments primarily in data centers €652,000,000 in shareholder remuneration million related to FX movements and other effects. Our disciplined approach to capital deployment supports our long term growth strategy while maintaining solid financial position. Moving on to Slide seven. Our order backlog stands at €89,300,000,000 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 €31,700,000,000 up 15.3% or 18.1% FX adjusted, resulting in a healthy first half book to bill ratio of 1.2x.

This very positive performance reflects the group’s continued success in securing high quality projects across broad day 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 allow 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 Medellin Louisiana as part of the largest campus to date from the company that will have a total value of $10,000,000,000 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 CorWheath, the artificial intelligence hyperscaler as part of a $6,000,000,000 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 the planning contract for four advanced onshore convert stations, part of a high voltage line that will carry wind power from the North to the Rio region. In biopharma, health and social infrastructure, we were awarded the new Danadan 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 Dusseberg Essen and the conversion of a historic boiler house in Krefeld into a modern event venue. And as recent as today, we announced that Turner joint venture has been awarded a $700,000,000 modernization project for Memphis International Airport. In transport infrastructure and sustainable mobility, we were awarded a Long Bridge North Rail project in Washington, D. C. In Germany, we secured two major rail infrastructure contracts, one for refurbishing the 42 kilometer double track section for Deutsche Bahn and now for building the second main line of Munich’s S Bahn network, connecting Osborne Hof and Marien Hof stations.

In Critical Metals and Natural Resources, Zedgeman 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 Karla Winda Gold Mine in Western Australia. In defense, in addition to the large Pearl Harbor dry dock replacement project in Hawaii we’re working on, it is worth mentioning that we’re leading the stage two upgrade of maintenance, logistics and airfield infrastructure at the RAF based downfield 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 its strategic sectors.

Sales grew by 41.2, reaching €12,200,000,000 driven primarily by strong organic growth in the ITAL infrastructure and Biopharma projects. This solid performance was further supported by the contribution from DORNA, performing even better than anticipated. Profit before tax amounted to €392,000,000 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 increasing close to €400,000,000 Net cash as of June 2025 was 2,700,000,000.0 up almost €300,000,000 even after the acquisition of Torna.

Torna’s commercial strength is demonstrated by its new orders of €16,000,000,000 in the first half of the year, an increase of 22.7% year on year or 25.1% FX adjusted, driving order backlog to €33,100,000,000 Moving on to operations in the Asia Pacific region, we turn to CIMIC. Sales registered strong growth in new strategic areas such as advanced technology, health care and defense and were 26.3 higher, supported by the full consolidation of this with a stable underlying performance overall. EBITDA margins remained stable, underpinned by strong contribution from high-tech jobs across both GTL and Light and Asia. Ordinary profit before tax increased by 20.3% year on year to two thirty two million euros after adjusting the 2024 for the one off noncash gain net of provisions. On a comparable basis, adjusting for this consolidation, ordinary PBT grew by 4%.

Attributable net profit grew by 7.2% FX adjusted year on year. Comparable net operating cash flow before factoring remained stable, while the reported figure was impacted by the global consolidation of these in lower factoring levels. Our order backlog was solid, reaching €23,200,000,000 up 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 €5,200,000,000 driven by strong performance in North America and the robust contributions from both Dragados and Octave 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 €136,000,000 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 2024. Engineering and Construction backlog rose 8.2% FX adjusted to €30,000,000,000 reflecting a strong order intake of €7,900,000,000 with notable momentum in sustained mobility and transportation infrastructure. Importantly, our book to bill ratio remains strong and above 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 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 €600,000,000 in the Q2 twenty twenty five.

Iridium meanwhile increased its sales by 26.9%, thanks to 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 authorities’ numbers. Traffic has grown at 2.6%, supported by 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 delivered strong revenues and EBITDA growth at 6%, underpinned by the geographical diversification of the portfolio and inflation linked tariffs.

Regarding Abertis’ portfolio development, as you know, Abertis acquired a 51.2% stake in the A63 Toll Road in France, which is now fully consolidated since June 1, with full impact in balance sheet but one month in P and L. In Chile, the Santiago Los Villas concession have begun its operational management and full consolidation from the April 1, further strengthening our presence in Latin America. Abertis has improved its liquidity and financial strength with our net debt set at €23,400,000,000 and ample group liquidity of €6,900,000,000 On Slide 15, we show the breakdown of key figures by country for our business 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 €24,100,000,000 up 28.6% year on year and ordinary net profit of €392,000,000 up 17% or 19.4% FX adjusted, aligned with the upper end of our guidance.

Our cash generation remains robust, with last twelve months net operating cash flow adjusting for factoring variations was €1,800,000,000 growing at a CAGR 45.8% over the past four years. Our order backlog stands at €89,300,000,000 up circa 12% FX adjusted, supported by €31,700,000,000 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.

Our strategy is to build a diversified business model and a global footprint, which enabled us to respond effectively to evolving market dynamics. We saw its 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.

Moderator: The first question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead with your question.

Luis Prieto, Analyst, Kepler Cheuvreux: Good afternoon. Hello, everyone. And thanks a lot for taking our questions. I have two detailed questions. Apologies for that.

The the first one is when I look at the headquarter costs, the EBITDA the headquarter EBITDA, therefore, inclusive of of the costs, I see a 41,000,000 positive impact in the first half of last year, whereas I see a minus 20,000,000 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 14,000,000 worth of Hakti 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 that Q1, Q2?

And should I assume that there will be no more share purchases at these share price levels for HOGTIES going forward?

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Thank you so much, Luis. Starting with the headquarter cost EBITDA. So the €41,000,000 that see is the unwinding of the revaluation of data center land drop in Australia, which we had to unwind at ACS level, and that was included in the headquarter cost. On the €14,000,000 that you saw, that was back in April 2025. Whether we are going to continue or not, it will be opportunistic.

I mean, I cannot really say anything at this stage. But we’re not we don’t have any plans at this stage to increase or not to increase.

Luis Prieto, Analyst, Kepler Cheuvreux: All right. Thank you very much, Juan.

Moderator: We now move on to the next question coming from Dario Maggiore from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead with your question.

Dario Maggiore, Analyst, BNP Paribas: Hi, good afternoon. Two questions for me. One, you mentioned in H1, you have spent €315,000,000 in data center projects. 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. So if here, if we exclude data centers, just looking at the market, the nonresidential construction market seems to be flat to small down year on year in Q2. Yet, Parnell is still growing significantly, even when we exclude the data centers, both in terms of revenue and order intake. So my question is, how is this possible? And is this outperformance sustainable in the next quarters?

Thank

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: you, Dario. Starting with €350,000,000 in data center spend. So far, we have probably spent between EUR 24,000,000 and $25,500,000,000 in data centers. It’s a mix between new land, development, energy, fiber, permitting. So there’s a mix.

But all of this is part of the 2.1 gigawatt development that we are working on. Mean, I eventually, we’ll give more details about the status of the 2.1 gigawatt, the additional pipeline that we have always spoken about, the additional six gigawatts. And right now, we’re looking at 11 gigawatts. So that’s 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, so let me yes, data centers has grown significantly. So I mean, we that’s a fact and plenty of projects. However, we’re seeing positive momentum in most of the areas. So if you look, for example, I mean, starting in the outlook for Turner in The U. S, we see sports education with an expected growth of 37% from 25 to 29%.

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, three years because of changes in technology, questions on demand of EV vehicles. So we saw a lot of unwinding in that sense. However, that’s going to catch up and ramp up again. But it’s not certainly that has affected Turner’s revenues within the last two, three years, but we expect that to come back.

Semiconductors, I mean, that’s a very positive trend. We believe that there will be around €260,000,000,000 investment through 02/1930. 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. Health care, 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, etcetera. So we see growth in that area as well. And where we see somehow steady, potentially even a slowdown in a 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.

Moderator: We now move on to a new question coming from Philippe Leitch from CaixaBank. Please go ahead.

Philippe Leitch, Analyst, CaixaBank: Hi, hello everyone. I have two questions. The first one is actually a follow-up on the holding cost question dividing it between first and second quarter of this year, second quarter, the contribution of holding was minus €22,000,000 when in first quarter, was a €2,000,000 positive. Can you elaborate on this big swing? And at least we can see or assume this minus €22,000,000 on a quarterly basis for the upcoming quarters?

And 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, if you can explain the footnote where you announced the one off result in headquarters related with recognition of tax position. So if you can explain this also. Thank you.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: 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 see in the report, basically, there’s an elimination of deferred value chain gain of the investment property and the Zadara Centre in Melbourne as well under CIMIC. So at CIMIC, I mean, it’s a land that we were developing in 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 HOCHTIVE, it’s a cost model applied, right, to investment properties of this type. So as such, at the CIMIC level is I mean, cockpit level, we eliminate in the first half twenty twenty five results. So that’s basically the thing, and this will apply in the 2025. Now the second one was about the tax gain of the one off and the credit. And this one basically, this is I mean, revaluations of the tax credit position at holding level.

Moderator: Unfortunately, we’re having some technical issues. Please hold the line. Please hold the line. We’ll be back in a minute. We are having some technical glitches.

Thank you.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Sorry, hello, can you hear us back?

Moderator: Yes, we can. Please go ahead.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Okay. So sorry, not sure. Let me go again through the second one because I’m not sure where we I left it. But basically, from PBT to NPAT is just a revaluation of the tax position and some resolutions from the DAC that we got. So there’s nothing abnormal or extraordinary.

Moderator: All right. We move on then to the next question coming from Martin Voigtl from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Martin Voigtl, Analyst, Bank of America: Hello. 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? Would be my first question.

And my second question is 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 from data centers, for example, dollars 10,000,000,000 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? Okay.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: So Martin, starting with the first one. So we are well advanced on the platform, and is 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 mini or the Capital Markets Day that we’re planning in October, and we will announce the date very, very soon. Regarding the order backlog for Luciano 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. So our backlog is not reflecting the number of projects awarded or even the number of projects that we’re working on in which we have preferred beer because they are very long term in the making with a lot of engineering costs associated to those projects. And that’s why we have a significant amount of backlog, real backlog not reflected in the presentation yet.

Martin Voigtl, Analyst, Bank of America: Could you maybe quantify what that amount is?

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Yes, of course. So in the case of Turner, give me just one second. Let me take the paper. So in the case of Pennsylvania, we have nothing in our backlog yet. In the case of Louisiana, we have so far out of €3300000000.0.800000000

Martin Voigtl, Analyst, Bank of America: Okay. Well, it’s very clear. Thank you.

Moderator: Next question, Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Graham Hunt, Analyst, Jefferies: Yes. 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, and I appreciate you have a partner in this business. But 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?

Or 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, Cletho as well. Just a quick update on where you stand on those assets would be helpful. And then 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. Just if you had any thoughts on that how it supports the business in The U. S?

Thanks.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: Thank you, Ram. So starting with Abertis. So in Abertis, as you rightly say, there’s more to the story that will evolve during the next month here. We are yes, I mean, we will continue working our base case, which is optimizing CapEx, OpEx and continue there’s a few renegotiations in progress to expand the life of current assets, number one. And number two, we have identified opportunities that like the eight sixty three could come to Abertis in the near future, and we’re working on that.

And let me reemphasize that, I mean, first, I mean, Abertis continues to be our highest priority. I mean, from 2018 to 2024, we got an EBITDA increase by €1,800,000,000 right, which there’s 1,000,000,000 organic growth. But we have also strengthened the backlog to net debt ratio from 5.5x in 2023 to 6.1x in 2024. And the net debt to EBITDA ratio has deleveraged from 6.6 times to 5.4 times, right? So from ’twenty four to 02/1933, we’re planning to continue EBITDA replacement.

So in the Capital Markets Day, we announced EBITDA for 2024 of four point three billion euros and €4,000,000,000 for 02/1933. And right now, after the latest acquisitions and renegotiations, our EBITDA for 2024 has grown from 4,300,000,000.0 to $4,400,000,000 and our prospects for 2033 from the Capital Markets Day have grown from $4,000,000,000 to 4.75 right? So this is without what I just explained that we are planning to do additional bring additional opportunities to Abertis. But our objective continues being to have perpetual long term assets extending significantly the life of the assets in Abertis and making sure that the €600,000,000 dividend that Abertis is delivering at a 100% level, that continues growing significantly. Now in terms of the asset for sales that you are talking about, so 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. We’re generating $70,000,000,750,000,000 dollars and this is growing in line. And then there was the monetization of up to $3,000,000,000 Of the $3,000,000,000 we already secured $1,000,000,000 last year, and that was $288,000,000 under royalties. And we believe that we can get another €2,000,000,000 including what you just said. For example, these natural assets that we have as for sales, so that’s part of it, and other noncore assets that we have in the business.

So that continues being part of the plan. And the third question that has to do with the U. S. Administration. So in The U.

S, we there’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. And Europe about AI. And that has to do in the case of Europe with the factories, in the case of The U. S, additional injections for AI training and AI development.

So the demand is astronomical, and we’re working on that, first, through engineering construction and second, with the two different platforms that we will announce in October. One, for the big ones, the other one for AI proceed, right? So we will give a lot of details around that. But certainly, in The U. S, there’s a huge plan for AI investments.

And I mean, and we are very well positioned to capture it. On top of that, in The U. S, between the one big, beautiful bill announced with very significant tax cuts in the country between all the investment that they want to continue doing in the civil space with all the investment additional investment in defense, including metals, etcetera, we believe that there’s going to be a lot of growth besides

Graham Hunt, Analyst, Jefferies: Thanks. That’s very helpful, Juan. Thanks.

Moderator: Thank you for your question. And now we move on to Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Nicolas Mora, Analyst, Morgan Stanley: Yes. Good afternoon, guys. Just a couple of questions. First one on the performance of the Lagardos, Flatiron and Lagardos, 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 the basically, health of the pipeline of the tender process? That will be the first question. Second question, just going back on net debt and the free cash flow net working capital.

There was a little bit of a drawdown in the second quarter in your core business

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: ex factoring.

Nicolas Mora, Analyst, Morgan Stanley: Would you say the payment cycle is maybe a little bit less positive, at least in terms of payment from customers in Q2,

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: especially

Nicolas Mora, Analyst, Morgan Stanley: in The U. S? Or this is just basically the normal seasonality?

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: First, on Santander, Gagados. 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 we 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 to be signed, negotiating contracts, etcetera.

So that’s why it’s very seasonal. And all of a sudden, they can come two at once. And sometimes, on a certain quarter, we’re not seeing some of those, right? So it’s not like the traditional design build where every quarter, we tender so many and we have a success ratio and then we continue winning, right? Having said that, and that’s on the backlog perspective, from a business perspective, we believe that the business is growing very well.

I mean, there’s 19% increase on EBITDA in the Joraz quarterly performance versus last year in comparable terms. And EBITDA margin improvement was up 66 basis points, up to 5.6%. So I mean, that’s the end, but that excludes one off restructuring cost in the first half, increased by 6% up to 35,000,000. When it comes to operating cash, the net operating cash flow in comparable terms increased by €83,000,000 in the Q2 twenty twenty five, right? And this is year on year.

So it’s not bad. Having said that, we expect the second half with a much better performance than this first half.

Moderator: 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.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO, ACS Group: I have to say thank you, everyone, for your attendance today and for following the presentation. Please, as always, if you had any further questions, feel free to contact us anytime. Thank you.

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