Good morning to everyone, and thank you very much for joining us today and attending our 2024 financial results presentation for the ACS Group. I'm here with Ángel García Altozano, who's our Corporate General Manager, and Mr. Emilio Grande, who's the CFO for the Group. And as usual, following the presentation, there'll be time for a Q&A session so that we can clarify any points you'd like to raise. And if you're following us through streaming on the website, you can also send in your questions through the usual channel. Let me start off with the first slide on the screen this morning. ACS had what we think was an excellent year 2024 with regard to the operational evolution of our businesses and cash generation. It was very satisfactory with regard to the relevant corporate transactions for the Group's strategy. Ordinary net profit totaled EUR 684 million.
That's up 14%, comfortably outstripping the target, which was envisaged at between 8% and 12%. Now, these are the ordinary figures. They do not include non-recurring items, which are essentially the capital gain for the sale of 57% of the SH-288 in 2023 and the impact of the book capital gain in CIMIC and the termination of the SH-288. These are both net of provisions and non-recurring results in 2024. Net profit totaled EUR 828 million, and earnings per share was EUR 3.23 per share. That's equivalent to an increase of 7.8%. In like-for-like terms, the before-tax profit increased by 23.6%. That was driven by Turner's growth because Turner saw growth in top profit by 37%. So this year, we have recorded exceptional net operating cash flow generation. That was EUR 2.1 billion.
That's EUR 1.1 billion more than in 2023, thanks to the excellent operations and strong growth in our EBIT, as well as solid cash conversion. Consequently, our net debt position at the close of the financial year 2024 was just over EUR 700 million, even after the accounting impact of the consolidation of Thiess, EUR 1 billion debt, and after remunerating our shareholders with a payout of EUR 862 million. We've also made strategic investment and net investment for a total of EUR 1.15 billion. Our order backlog has reached a record figure, EUR 88.2 billion, and that's an increase of EUR 14.7 billion, or 20%. That's equivalent to almost 25 months of sales, thanks to the projects awarded to us for a value of EUR 51.5 billion in the financial year. So today, our leadership in high-growth markets is reflected more and more in an order backlog that is focused on those sectors.
50% of the awards come from those sectors. This presence, this footprint, and our know-how in the sector of engineering is giving us these major opportunities for capital investment. So because of all those reasons, we're optimistic about the future of the Group, and we're going to increase our ordinary net profit growth target for 2025 to a range of between 8% and 15%. So let's take a look at the Group's consolidated results. Sales grew strongly by 16.5% to a total of EUR 41.6 billion, driven by strong production in strategic markets, particularly digital infrastructure bio pharma and health, which were up 21% in year-on-year terms. EBITDA, totaling EUR 2.45 billion, was up 28.7% and impacted by the full consolidation of these since the second quarter, rather, of the year and the termination of the SH-288. EBITDA, ordinary EBITDA, like-for-like terms, totaled EUR 2.642 billion.
The ordinary comparable profit before tax adjusted because of non-recurring impacts also showed solid growth, 23.6% to above EUR 1.2 billion and 31 basis points improvement in the margin to 2.9%. Net attributable profit, EUR 828 million, thanks to the solid operational performance and earnings per share for the period, EUR 3.23, up to 7.8%, so adjusting the figures for the extraordinary impacts in both periods, our ordinary net profit figure grew by 14%, higher than that target range for growth of 8%- 12%. Our sales, for a value of more than EUR 41.6 billion, are concentrated in North America, which accounted for 61% of those sales, followed by Asia-Pacific with 24% and Europe with 14%. The next slide shows our ordinary net profit. That's the attributable profit by segments. All of the figures show positive evolution: Turner, EUR 327 million, and a year-on-year growth figure of 45.8%.
Now, that is the segment that has recorded the highest growth in the Group. Today, Turner is contributing 48% of the Group's results: engineering construction and EUR 156 million. That's up 6.6%. Abertis had an excellent operational performance last year with higher revenue, 9.8%, and higher EBITDA, 10.3%. Its contribution to the attributable net profit figure grew by 3.6%, even with the impact of the fiscal regulation for concessions in France. Cash generation was excellent in 2024. Net operating cash flow totaled EUR 2.1 billion. That is EUR 1.1 billion more, almost, than in 2023. So with that result, we have more than comfortably exceeded that annual average range, which was the target that we communicated to you during the Capital Markets Day in April 2024 for the years 2024- 2026. That figure was approximately EUR 1.2 billion.
So this figure is due to our robust operational performance and cash conversion in all of our businesses. This is slide six, and you can see our financial position in the Group at the close of financial year 2024. With barely EUR 700 million in net debt, we've improved the figure from September by approximately EUR 1.7 billion. Compared to the figure at the close of 2023, we can see an increase in net debt of EUR 1.1 billion, even after incorporating the book effect of the consolidation of the net debt in Thiess, and remunerating our shareholders, EUR 862 million was the figure. Net strategic investment totaled EUR 1.14 billion, included the capital contribution in Abertis, the acquisition of 10% of Thiess, and the acquisition of the additional stake in HOCHTIEF, and other complementary strategic acquisitions and capital investment in concessions.
This is a solid financial position to be able to address the investment opportunities that may come up for the Group. Slide seven now. Our order backlog totals EUR 88.2 billion. That's up 19.9%. Strategic expansion in new generation infrastructure is still a key component of our growth strategy, and in 2024, represented approximately 50% of all our new contract awards. The book-to-bill ratio, which is an advanced indicator of that growth, stands at 1.2x , while the visibility of our backlog is still more than two years. In this next slide, you can see a selection of significant contracts awarded to us recently. I would highlight to you the energy sector, where we have been chosen to design and build the second phase of the 270 MW battery storage system, Western Downs project, in Queensland for Neoen, which is one of the top world producers of solely renewable energies.
Data centers, now. Turner has been selected as the key contractor for Meta's data center campus in Louisiana, which will be the biggest one the company has to date. Now, this project includes several data center buildings that are optimized for artificial intelligence, with a total capacity of more than 2 GW. It's important to highlight to you that this project is still not included in the figures for our backlog or in the figures for the contract awards for the period. Turning to the semiconductor sector, we have been awarded a number of contracts, including the expansion of assembly and testing facility for chip lithography machines in the United States, and the installation of a construction, which is for semiconductors in Germany using clean tech technology. I can't give you more details at the moment because it's still confidential.
In biopharma and health and social infrastructure, we've been selected for the expansion of the North District Hospital in Hong Kong, and also for the modernization expansion of Terminal 3 West in San Francisco International Airport. Turning to sustainable mobility and climate-resilient infrastructure, we have been awarded part of the water canal project in the Hoboken Terminal, New Jersey. In traditional infrastructure, although this project isn't included in those backlog figures either, I still think it's worth mentioning the project. It's the SR 400 Express Lanes in Atlanta, Georgia, with a construction value of more than $4.6 billion. Lastly, let me underscore another project to you, the Stobie Mine in Canada, which is for critical minerals such as nickel and copper, in response to the world's demand growing for these essential resources. Let's turn to the next slide. This is the evolution by segments. Turner, first of all.
Turner has recorded very strong growth in before-tax profit, 37% up to EUR 570 million, thanks to annual growth of 19%, and which is also accelerating in the fourth quarter, and continued significant margin expansion. So before-tax margin was 3%, sorry, 3%, in line with the target that was communicated last year during our Capital Markets Day. Net operating cash flow also has grown significantly, totaling EUR 712 million, 254 million more than in 2023, with the net cash figure at the end of the year standing at EUR 3.1 billion. Last month, we completed the acquisition of Dornan, which will strengthen our expansion strategy there in Turner, in the European advanced technology market. Lastly, strong growth in contract awards, up 31%, driven by EUR 6.2 billion in digital infrastructure awards, has given us a new record figure for the backlog, EUR 31.9 billion.
CIMIC, incorporating the consolidation of Thiess since the second quarter of the year, after acquiring a 10%, which was additional, of the 10% additional stake in the shareholding ordinary net profit, up 7.2%, adjusted because of the non-recurring contribution of Ventia in 2023 during the year. We have also made a number of strategic investments in order to incorporate technical capabilities that will be giving us access to new opportunities in energy, critical metals, and digital infrastructure. Net debt, EUR 1.7 billion, reflects the strategic investments and also the consolidation of Thiess net debt around EUR 1 billion. The order backlog totaled EUR 24 billion, up 2.8%, adjusted because of exchange rates. The awards, which were slightly lower in building, were more than offset by more contracts awarded in data centers and health. Let me move on to the next slide, engineering and construction. This is slide 12.
Consolidated sales in the engineering and construction segment totaled EUR 9.5 billion, up 6.8%, thanks to the good evolution of our production in data centers and high-speed transport. The EBITDA margin improved by 5.4%, while before-tax profit increased by 17.4% to EUR 192 million. That was underpinned by less amortization and better financial efficiencies. Sound cash generation allowed us to close the year 2024 with almost EUR 1.8 billion in net cash. The backlog increased by 10.2%, thanks to the EUR 29.3 billion, thanks to the high level of awards in Dragados, particularly in sustainable mobility and transport. The integration of Flatiron and Dragados, North America, was completed last month, and we're moving towards implementation of synergies, which we can tell you will, as we announced, be around 30-40 million annual. This is dollars annual figures. The next slide showing the evolution of Dragados. This is the engineering and construction sector.
Sales grew by 4.9% to EUR 5.9 billion, driven by an uptick in defense project production. EBITDA totaled EUR 332 million. That was a significant improvement in our margin, up to 5.6%, thanks to the good business performance in North America. Before-tax profit increased by 21.4%, thanks to the improved financial efficiency and lower amortizations. Net operating cash flow grew by EUR 387 million in the year, with excellent cash conversion. The backlog grew by 15.1%, result of a high level of contract awards, especially in Canada, which grew by 110% compared to the year before.
On slide 14, we can see how HOCHTIEF engineering and construction increased its stake up to 10%, up to EUR 3.6 billion. Sustainable mobility continues to be a key engine for growth in Flatiron, with several important projects.
While the growth of HOCHTIEF Europe is thanks to infrastructure, digital, and energy projects, the pre-tax profit increased by the same proportion to sales, maintaining stable margins. The net cash flow position is at EUR 1.175 billion by the end of the year. The portfolio of almost EUR 11.6 billion grew by 3.9%, adjusted by the exchange rate, thanks to awards for EUR 4.4 billion. Now, if we continue with the infrastructure segment on slide 15, we can point out that Abertis has had a very good operating performance, with a growth in revenues and EBITDA of 9.8% and 10.3%, respectively. The contribution of Abertis to the net attributable ordinary profit grew by 3.6%, including with the impact of the fiscal regulation and concessions in France. Iridium increased its sales by 77.5%, thanks to the additional contribution of the A13 and Skyports.
The contribution of Iridium to net profits is consistent with the stake of 44% in SH-288 up to October 2024, and it's worth mentioning the award to Iridium this year of the project SR 400 Express Lanes in Atlanta, Georgia. Through Iridium, HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions, and Pacific Partnerships, we are an investment and development of greenfield assets platformed with a sound international presence, which is diversified, and we have presence in the USA, thanks to Iridium, with Iridium and HOCHTIEF PPP, and a leading position in Australia, thanks to Pacific Partnerships. We are diversified in our backlog, mainly thanks to a reasonable value of EUR 1.2 billion in motorways, trains, and social infrastructure. We're investing in digital infrastructure and data centers of a large scale, in edge data centers that are sustainable through HOCHTIEF, where we are contributing capital of EUR 28 million.
Later on, I'll refer again to our strategy for investments in data centers. And finally, we should underline our presence in sustainable mobility through our investments in Skyports and Glydways for a total of EUR 149 million. Now, continuing with slide 17, with the performance of Abertis. Abertis has shown a sound performance, with a growth in revenues of 9.8% and EBITDA of 10.3%. Traffic has grown with the support of heavy vehicles and a good performance in Spain, Mexico, and Brazil, the traffic of which has grown way over 3.5%. Throughout the year, there have been acquisitions such as the Autovía del Camino and 50% of Trados M-45 in Spain, the extension to 12 years of Intervias in Brazil, or the acquisition of Santiago Los Vilos in Chile. With these transactions, the average life cycle of those concessions has grown, allowing for the replacement of cash flow.
Again, the strategic section of the presentation will allow me to talk about the current situation of Abertis again within the context of its perpetual growth model. Abertis has improved its liquidity and financial soundness, reducing its net debt by EUR 3.3 billion and issuing EUR 1.8 billion in bonds since January 2024, including the emission of a hybrid bond for EUR 750 million over 5.25 years. In slide 18, we show the breakdown of the key figures by country for the backlog of Abertis, where we can see significant growth in traffic in significant markets such as Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Next, as happens every year, we dedicate a brief section to going over our strategic lines of business.
Firstly, we've capitalized our leadership position globally in high-growth segments with attractive margins such as digital infrastructure, energy, defense, mobility, the biopharma sector, and health and critical metals, at the same time as we're maintaining our position in the more traditional business line. Secondly, we are including capabilities that are specialized in engineering and systems, both organically and inorganically, to carry out complementary activities in the value chain. Thirdly, we are investing capital in traditional infrastructure projects and state-of-the-art infrastructure, with digitalization and responding to the demand for energy and demographic changes, and at the same time generating value for our shareholders in the short and long term. There are great opportunities ahead of us, thanks to our capability in engineering, our global presence, and our access to our customers. And fourthly, we continue to promote operating efficiency through strategic integration, streamlining of resources, and simplification.
Finally, we continue to reduce the risk profile of our portfolio, increasing the weighting of our collaborative contractual frameworks. On a financial level, our target continues to be to continue having a financial soundness in the group and generating value for our shareholders, both in the short, medium, and long term. We can see on the next slide that our strategy to include specialized capabilities for engineering and systems in an organic and inorganic fashion is as follows. We have four fundamental pillars for this. On the one hand, technological innovation and the integration of systems and platforms in the group. Secondly, know-how and key competitive edge, and the application of our know-how in global logistics to transform traditional processes. Finally, financial experience and experience in managing large-scale projects. We have carried out several complementary acquisitions in key sectors.
Turner has acquired the Irish engineering company Dornan, which is the third biggest electromechanical company in Europe, and it will strengthen our strategy for expansion in the European market with a pipeline of more than EUR 20 billion in identified opportunities. Sedgman has also strengthened its position as a global service provider in mining and refining of essential minerals for the energy transition and with the incorporation of Prudentia Engineering and MinSol Engineering. And Thiess has increased its global portfolio for mining in complementary acquisitions in the sector of critical metals with Pybar and Mintrex. And later, Asia has acquired Maverick Engineering Consultancy Company for digital infrastructures, advanced technologies, and high-rise buildings. Next, in slide 22, we can see how we want to channel investments in traditional infrastructures and state-of-the-art infrastructures, taking advantage of our new know-how and engineering capabilities.
The ACS Group has achieved a sound position on a global level, focusing on data centers and adopting a comprehensive approach and coordinating between companies. It has adopted measures in 2024 to execute our investment strategy in data centers in the market. This market is growing very fast all over the world, thanks to the expansion of cloud computing and the exponential growth of artificial intelligence. In the United States, it is expected that the digital infrastructure market will grow from EUR 102 billion in 2023 to EUR 149 billion in 2029. In Europe, it is expected it will reach $65 billion in 2029. The Asia-Pacific region will be the area of most growth in the next few years, with the strongest growth in highly populated countries. Currently, we have an investment portfolio of 2.1 GW in projects already underway in 2025 in the U.S., Spain, and Australia.
In addition, we are evaluating more than 4 GW in our key regions, mainly the USA. And in addition to this, HOCHTIEF is following a complementary strategy for edge data centers, deploying smaller-scale facilities in urban areas to reduce latency, particularly in processing AI and cloud services within closed networks. Currently, we are building a sustainable data center jointly close to Essen in Germany to expand to 15 data centers on a smaller scale. And as we mentioned beforehand, you will get more details about our strategy and data centers during the investor day that we are planning closer to the end of the year.
In the field of managed lanes in the United States, we are opting for a pipeline and different tender concessions, and we have four key elements: the success of the SR project, which strengthens our position as a key player, Flatiron Dragados is our preferred contractor in the U.S. market, and our capability to optimize toll solutions and revenues through [Foreign language] , and finally, our proven experience in managing key and big infrastructure projects. On the next slide, we can see the strategy of the group in integration strategy and streamlining and simplification to improve our operating efficiency. The group is carrying out projects of different sizes in the world to do with supply chains to optimize synergies, optimize the supply chain centralized functions, and to strengthen the climate of exchange of knowledge between companies.
An example of this is Flatiron Dragados, which will be completed this strategy in 2025. It's a leading company in engineering and civil construction in the USA, strengthening our position in the sector, and we are already implementing and adopting important synergies. I'd like to mention the perpetual growth model in Abertis, which is mentioned in our strategic framework and Capital Market Days last year. I'm going to explain what is being achieved. Abertis is basing its strategy on the optimization and extension of the life cycle of the current portfolio of assets through mutually beneficial agreements with the awarding administrations. The inorganic growth is focused on brownfield assets in key countries. In addition, the sound financial discipline is underlined to achieve an investment-grade rating, offering attractive returns.
On the next slide 25, we can see the performance of some important metrics as part of our strategy that's being achieved. Since 2018 until 2024, Abertis has managed to increase its EBITDA by approximately EUR 900 billion, at the same time as it's been able to extend its EBITDA that it's expired over these years. And at the same time, the average duration of concessions has increased by two years, and there has been a deleverage of 6.6x up to 5.4x . Finally, we can see that the relationship between EBITDA backlog and the sum of forecast EBITDA for all these assets at the end of its concession life cycle over the current net debt has been strengthened.
The growth model at the end of 2024 means that we find that there has been a platform. The platform has grown and has replaced the EBITDA that had expired and has increased the average life cycle of concessions and has deleveraged significantly. Let's go over these sound operating results, financial results for 2024. We can see we've made great progress in our strategy towards a proposal for growth and profitability for our shareholders. The sales of the group reached EUR 41.6 billion, growing by 16.5%. We have had an excellent conversion of cash flow throughout the year, generating net operating cash flow of EUR 2.1 billion, 2x the figure of 2023, with a net debt at the end of the year of EUR 700 billion. We have a sound financial position to invest in future growth. Our portfolio has reached the record figure of EUR 88.2 billion.
In addition, we have sound forecasts for future growth, thanks to a global leadership position in strategic sectors for growth. This gives us access to important greenfield opportunities, such as the managed lanes project or tender process in the US and investment in digital infrastructures in our regions. We have completed significant corporate transactions that support our strategic plan, such as the acquisition of Dornan on behalf of Turner to strengthen our capabilities in Europe, the integration of Flatiron Dragados in USA, which will generate important synergies, and other strategic opportunities of mergers and acquisitions in the field of natural resources and critical metals. The ordinary net profit of EUR 684 million has increased by 14%, exceeding the range it has grown from eight to 12.
We have met our growth and financial objectives, and we are diversifying our portfolio towards high-growth segments and high margins. And to expand our technical capabilities, invest in traditional infrastructures and look for operating efficiencies. And we trust in our capabilities to be able to continue growing with our proven strategy. And we are in a position to continue growing that net ordinary profit. And thank you very much for all your attendance. And we'll go on now to the Q&A session. Thank you.
[Foreign language].
I'm sorry, before we get started with the Q&A session, we do have an announcement to make, and we've just published this, that this morning, Abertis has agreed to acquire a 51.2% stake in a French highway, A63, which is a key highway between Spain and the north. And it's 104 km connecting up Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
It's very close to the Spanish border, the A63. It's also a key highway for road haulage, and it links up Bordeaux with more than 1 million inhabitants and some significant scientific engineering centers. This strengthens the sound position there. There's a potential of growth for 26 years of the remaining life there. EUR 170 million in revenue was the figure for the A63 in 2024. The concession finishes in 1950, in 2050, rather, thanks to this new acquisition. Abertis is strengthening one of its key markets, contributing to its growth strategy and replacing the cash flows in the company, extending the concessionaire life of the group. This operation, together with the recent acquisitions in Puerto Rico, Spain, and Chile, shows Abertis's capability to be able to maintain a balanced backlog with a good mix of currencies, the dollar, euro, and also in stable legal certainty countries.
There is still a regulatory approval process to go through, but in total, there'll be EUR 400 million in capital that will be contributed to shore up the balance sheet of the company for this acquisition and others in the future. Thanks.
[Foreign language].
Good morning. My name is Victor, and I'd like to thank you for that presentation. I have a number of questions. The first one, let me start off by asking you about Abertis. You've just made that announcement. How much money are you talking about? How much investment there? The second question is about Turner, about data center strategy. How much equity invested in the ACS Group would be the figure if you separate out HOCHTIEF from ACS? I believe, Juan, that you gave the equity committed figure for HOCHTIEF. I think it was EUR 400 million, more or less. So what would the figure be now?
Then linked to that data strategy, I have another question. What competitive advantages do you see that there will be in the group? But when you're competing with your top competitors, what advantages do you have within the group to ensure that you can get more growth than your peers? And also with regard to data strategy on the basis of equity investment, with your experience in the sector, Juan, I mean, can you tell me about your IRR and the multiple that you're looking for for the deals and these investments? Emilio, I have a question too about Turner, the EUR 3 billion in cash that there is there. How could you use that money for the group's purposes? It's a big cash pool there. How could you use the cash more efficiently within the group to improve the group's or the company's ratios?
Lastly, Juan, talking about the cash flow for the group, you did say that the current cash flow growth has been very strong above the average figure. So can you tell us about your guidance there, and especially about the dividend to be paid out? You talked about the Capital Markets Day, and you said that it might be going up this year. By how much? Thank you. Thank you very much. Just before you take the microphone away from me, could you just repeat that second question for us? Yeah, the first one was about Abertis, and the second one, I think in the HOCHTIEF's conference call last week, there was a slide about the equity committed at the level of HOCHTIEF and the equity invested for infrastructure, data centers, PPPs, etc., etc.
So the question is, can you give us the same figure for the ACS Group to compare there what the investment is, the equity committed and invested by the ACS Group at the level of the subsidiary HOCHTIEF and your projections looking forward? Thank you.
Well, thank you. Yes. Let me start off with that last question, and then I'll talk to you about Abertis. EUR 400 million was the figure for HOCHTIEF for you. There are two parameters that we have to add here. One, the investment commitment of about EUR 1.1 billion in Georgia. And we think we'll be investing in data centers, in land, and in energy and fiber, about EUR 700 million for the next year. Then you're asking about competitive advantages for data centers compared to our peers or competitors. Let me see.
Every day, we are trying to move closer to the capability of engineering and technology of people like Jacobs. You can see that in critical minerals because we're competing very strongly in a number of sectors, and we have made a number of strategic acquisitions to be able to compete at that level. We're still doing that in digital infrastructure and in some other sectors. Semiconductors is one, and we hope to be able to compete in nuclear as well very soon. What we do have, and I think this is the right assessment, is construction capabilities, and we have that in the North American market, and that means that we have a footprint in 47 states in 2024. EUR 26 billion was our revenues there, 100% from North America, and we hope that we will be above EUR 30 billion in the next year.
That is, I think, proof of our strength there in infrastructure, digital infrastructure, for batteries, for semiconductors, industrial infrastructure, or civil engineering infrastructure. That's really important. That's North America for you, but that goes for all countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific and also in Australia. Turning to the multiples there, there's multiple with regard to, or the multiples for Iridium. They vary a lot. If you pull out the managed lanes project, it might be 1.1-2.5, I think, for the projects. The managed lane projects have performed much better, more than 10 times more than what we invested. The managed lanes strategy we have over there is so important. In the 288, we're investing EUR 360 million for equity. TxDOT said that it would be EUR 4 billion that it would be worth when it decided to take the infrastructure away.
Really, it was EUR 2.7 billion, but those multiples are no different from the managed lanes projects that we have in the rest of the U.S. So what is it, EUR 1.2 billion or EUR 1.3 billion we're investing in Georgia? So we think we could get those same multiples there in the next few years with the stake that we have. There's a big project in Virginia, North Carolina, in Georgia, Tennessee as well. We're at the pre-qualification stage at the moment. And so it's important for us not just to compete in these projects, but also to have a presence in construction and to be successful there. The next project, or rather the next question. You're asking for guidance there about the dividend. The dividend, the board of directors at the end of March will make the proposal.
We can't say anything about that now, and it will be approved by shareholders at the AGM in May, so I can't say anything about that, and we can't give you any more information at the moment there. Let me finish off talking about Abertis. Let me think aloud about Abertis. I think it's a good thing to do here now. We have mentioned Abertis. I did say in the presentation what we have been doing in Abertis, but the backlog to net debt ratio is really important. It has been strengthened. It was 3.4 in 2018, and it's now 5.5 in 2023. That was 2023, and now it's 6.2 in 2024. What does that mean? It means, and this is really important, that with our backlog, we could pay 6.1 x our debt compared to the 3.4x our debt that we could pay off in 2018.
Let me share another thought with you about Abertis. Abertis backlog in 2023 that we announced in the Capital Markets Day for 2023, rather, was about EUR 4 billion. That was the forecast then. And with the acquisitions that we have made since that Capital Markets Day, including the contracts awarded in Spain and the A63 highway, and especially the extensions and renegotiation of contracts, so the way things stand today, less than one year after the Capital Markets Day, we think it will be EUR 4.75 billion. Of course, if you look at the 2024 backlog, it would be EUR 4.3 billion. And I'm looking ahead. So without Sanef, we're projecting EUR 4.75 billion in backlog compared to the EUR 4.3 billion that we already have now. So that's also very important because there are a lot of questions out there in the market about what will happen after Sanef.
And there's a lot of speculation about what will happen. And the other figure that I think is very important, it was also on one of the slides, is that in 2018, if we take into account the concessions that had expired, our bid would have been EUR 2.6 billion in 2018. We had EUR 900 million more, but I'm going to take those out because some of those concessions have expired. So if we do like-for-like comparison here, the EUR 2.6 billion can be compared with the EUR 4.3 billion in 2024. So you're talking about EUR 1.7 billion more in a bit than 2018, even though the AP7 expired, etc., etc.
So I hope that with these figures, I can give you the visibility on Abertis because everyone's always saying, "What's going to happen after France?" or, "What's happening with their debt?" Well, certainly here in 2024, and we're talking about this, we're still renegotiating a lot of our current contracts, and there are a couple of short-term acquisitions there. And we think if we have that increased EUR 700 million and projected a bid in 2023 in less than a year, that's what's happened since the Capital Markets Day. Just imagine what's going to happen next. I say that because a lot of questions are always about Abertis, and I think you have other questions from Emilio. Thank you.
We think that as we have the accountability and responsibility there for all of the businesses, over their businesses, when it comes to optimization from the outside, you may think that we could have more cash centralization, more optimization, but we feel that it's much more beneficial to have that solid position in each one of the different business units for many reasons, fronting with customers when you sign contracts, for instance, better access to the local markets to get financing facilities, for many reasons. We feel that that is the best policy, and that is why the group maintains that philosophy. Now, that being said, of course, we do seek financial optimization at times, and there will be specific moments of time when we will do that.
[Foreign language].
Good morning. I have several questions. Well, lots of questions, actually, because the attendance of investors has been limited today.
There are many questions that we've received via the web. To start with the general questions, there are some that have been repeated. Some have to do with our investment plan, everything that we've talked about, Abertis, and the data center plans. How do we see the financial capability of the group to face up to these projects? Luis, for example, mentioned that the SR- 400 is a huge investment that is foreseen for the next few years. Will we have the capacity to be able to invest in those managed lanes in the next few years and the plan for data centers? What is our financial capacity to be able to face up to these investments?
I go back to the Capital Markets Day and what was said to compare the same figures that we gave then at the time versus those now and how things have evolved. It is true that we forecast between 1.1 and 1.3 in net operating cash flow at the time. It is true in 2024, we got EUR 2.94 billion. For this year, we have improved by EUR 94. We need to imagine that between 2024 and 2030, we get EUR 1.5 billion, just to have a conservative figure in mind. Let's believe that we will have a EUR 1.5 billion level. Multiplied by that period would give us approximately EUR 10.5 billion in cash flow generated. In the Capital Markets Day, we mentioned that we had a divestment plan and amortization of about EUR 3 billion. As we're talking from 2024 to 2030, we maintain that figure.
And it is true the EUR 3 billion have already executed EUR 1.5 billion and EUR 500 from the derivative. So we would still need to execute about EUR 2 billion. So if we think that with shareholder remuneration similar or growing versus last year, we would have to give between now and 2030 approximately EUR 5 billion. And all of this would leave us approximately with a generation of net cash flow of around EUR 8.5 billion. So what do we think we'll do with that EUR 8.5 billion? Well, there are different areas here. The first one is that all of our strategic plan for infrastructures that includes Georgia, the managed lanes, additional ones, that is, and includes the data centers and other projects, is around EUR 4.5 billion because it's quite a big project. And we have approximately EUR 2 billion for strategic investments.
That includes, for example, EUR 2,000 that has been executed in 2025 or some other acquisitions or others that we have in mind. So therefore, if we do our calculations, we have about EUR 2 billion surplus. This will probably go to Abertis and other acquisitions. That's an update on what we gave on the Capital Markets Day.
[Foreign language].
Another question that's coming up in a lot of the questions is the data center market, this whole issue about more digitalization, more strategy. There's been a lot of talk about future demand out there in the markets and about future investment and hyperscale there. We're asked about demand in short-term in 2025 and also mid-term demand. What are the bottlenecks? It's another question that we're finding in particular in the construction phase.
Financing is obviously clear, but there is a lot of noise out there about what the constraints that we may come up against when developing these projects. Well, in general then, growth in digital infrastructure, and I'm going back to the figures that I gave in the presentation, is something that we see exponential. And they're actually lower than the announcements that we're hearing about for hyperscale for 2026, 2027. And the plans that are being announced in the rest of Europe, apart from the Stargate EUR 500 million investment and the AI investment, EUR 2 billion out there for Europe. So to talk about figures in digital infrastructure, well, it's just the figures are stratospheric, aren't they, in their scope and size? So where do we see opportunities for us? Definitely in construction. At the moment, we have a EUR 7.5 billion backlog.
That EUR 7.5 billion order backlog does not include the latest contract awards, the most recent ones, because initially we go into a design phase, and that lasts for a certain length of time before we actually sit down and sign the contract, which is why we don't include it initially in the backlog. I would say we're way above the EUR 10 billion figure, and I'd be very conservative giving you that figure. Where do we see those opportunities? Quite obviously, everything to do with developing the land and everything to do with developing energy and also the permitting. Where do we see the barriers to entry?
A very clear initial one is that in just two years, data centers used to be about 50 megas to be a big one, and now we're talking about 2 GW for a big data center. That growth, it's just been done little by little. If you can't do it little by little, and I'm talking about three years, it's very hard to jump there from 500 to 600, and then suddenly you took it to one or 2 GW. Then the project in Louisiana is almost the size of Manhattan, the island of Manhattan, just to give you an idea of what 2 GB means for the data center. And then you've got your energy plant as well. So it's very difficult to have the engineering capacity, the process capacity, the systems capacity to be able to take on a project like that. That's the first point.
The second point, and this isn't just about construction, it's more about development. We see that it's very difficult for us to be able to develop land, change the land use, get the permitting complete, and get our environmental impact assessment. So we do this organically in-house, and we do this in all countries, don't we? But at the same time, whereas we're working on land that's adjacent for other clients, so for any platform, you're talking about millions and millions in investment. And also globally, you'd have to have the capability to do it globally and to be able to pay it. And that's a lot of money we're talking about. And you'd have to do it without having any lease agreement completed. So that is a barrier to entry because usually you invest when you're sure that you have a way out. So this would be a barrier.
Another of those barriers to entry. We also think it's a barrier because whether you go to colocation or whether you go to hyperscale lease, you don't usually sit down around the table until six or 12 months before because you want to be absolutely sure that you can move into the execution phase 12 months ahead, so there's a lot of money that has to be invested in engineering and construction before that, and either you know what you're going to get asked to do because you work with the clients, or you don't get any visibility on the project until 12 months before, and that would mean that you've already got the land, that you've got the design done, you've worked out the engineering side, and you've also started to place the subcontracting work before you get the contracted.
So either you're doing this on a day-to-day basis, you've got the experience, and it's very hard to do. So to conclude, there's a lot of investment there. But these are not necessarily obvious projects or obvious investments out there. So in our opinion, we still think that this is going to be a market that will continue to expand. Let me also take advantage of this question to say that this is one of the big growth markets, but we are also seeing tremendous growth in defense. Our order backlog is increasing at a rate of double-digit figures. Energy too, general energy, critical minerals is another one. And between natural resources and mineral resources as critical minerals, then we're talking about a backlog of more than EUR 10 billion. And we're still seeing big growth there. But commodities, of course, go up and go down, don't they?
There's a lot of volatility about the type of critical mineral that is leading this growth. But as we are so diversified right down our whole chain, we're seeing that overall, the market for us is growing significantly. We also see the managed lanes in North America, the opportunities in Abertis, and as I said before, and I do think that overall, in general, this is a good time for growth in the market.
[Foreign language].
There's another recurring question that has cropped up, and it has to do with the cash flow that we've achieved this year. There is some praise. It has been sound, I must say. And given that, well, what are the main components by which this cash flow of EUR 2.1 billion almost has? Why has it reached that figure when in the Capital Markets Day we talked about lower figures?
In particular, how much of ACS, without including HOCHTIEF, has performed better? What are the reasons for this? And above all, how do we see the future? How do we see the next few years, 2025 to 2026, in terms of the performance of cash flow? It is best to talk about this company by company to talk about the performance of cash flow versus last year. Basically, all areas in the group have had good performance. Turner stands out, of course, because last year, Turner achieved a net operating cash flow of EUR 458 in an excellent year. This year, it has gone to EUR 712, as I say. There has been a great improvement simply thanks to Turner. CIMIC has increased to EUR 161, and in construction, EUR 331. Dragados stands out. This year, it achieved EUR 316 versus the minus EUR 72 from last year.
This has been significant growth. And then there's the rest of the businesses in 2024. And we weren't actually expecting these figures. In fact, during the Capital Markets Day, our average was 1.1 and 1.3 per year. And when we talked about forecasts for the use of funds, it was an average of EUR 1.5 billion. But we're not seeing a slowdown in the market. Quite the contrary, we're seeing that there's growth that can be achieved and that the contracts are sounder for us because we're reducing risk. So we are finding we're not up against the surprises from the past, except for some unwinding of projects that are ending in CIMIC, for example. But other than that, we're not facing up to surprises like we did in the past where projects did suck up a lot of cash flow. Currently, that isn't on the horizon.
So I prefer to be cautious. I prefer to give updated forecasts from the Capital Market Days. But certainly, it's a good time for growth in all areas.
Another question is about our stake in HOCHTIEF, where we have about 80% we own. We saw a slight change last year. What is our vision with regard to our stake? Are we expecting to increase it even more? Do we have any additional corporate ideas there? What are we going to do? I always answer this question the same way. In reality, HOCHTIEF has an excellent performance, huge growth through Turner, through CIMIC, or through Flatiron, which after that merger with Dragados and Europe could also record growth, especially because we are starting off from a low base there. And we believe in Europe, and we want to make investments in Europe. So we are 100% convinced about HOCHTIEF.
We have that 100% trust in HOCHTIEF. Then, as for acquisitions, we will just pick up on any opportunities that we see out there, depending on what the share price is, EUR 150 at the moment. And we do think that there might be a lot of upside there. And when we see opportunities, we will analyze them. But at the moment, we don't have any predefined acquisition plan. And another question which tends to come up, Clece, are we going to continue with our plan to sell it off or not? What is the idea we have about Clece? Yes, Clece. It's in our project portfolio for companies that could be monetized. Clece is a great company. And it's a company that might also still grow significantly because of the market opportunities out there.
But what we do not want is to sell it off below the price that we have in mind. Even though there is a lot of interest, there has been a lot of interest in the company over the last few years. Until we get the value, the figure that we have in mind, we will not let Clece go.
There are some more technical questions about the hybrid bonds from Abertis and whether we think that with the new regulation, it'll affect the financing of Abertis. And we're asked also about the financing of Abertis and how we're going to support Abertis in its growth and whether this acquisition requires a capital increase in Abertis that we would go to with this acquisition of the A63. I think I'll give the first part to Emilio.
Anyhow, from the point of view of equity, I mentioned this before, and we expect for this and other acquisitions that we are potentially involved in a capital increase of EUR 200 million for us, that is, and I just want to mention that one of the good positive points that we've seen in Abertis is that in order to generate EUR 1.7 billion in EBITDA, the additional amount from 2018 to 2024, we've invested EUR 100 million, EUR 650 million. So when we talked about the capital increase, I was excluding that amount, and so that shows the good equity EBITDA ratio that we are achieving. And that is thanks to the fact that a large amount of growth in EBITDA is because of increase in tariffs, the traffic, the contracts, and through acquisitions as well. And therefore, this is why we've got such a good ratio there.
Currently, as I said before, we are actually looking into different acquisitions, but we do see there is an opportunity for renegotiation of the timelines and concessions in general, so therefore, to actually think about the needs that there'll be in Abertis for the next few years, we have to take into account that a large amount of the EBITDA growth will be through the extension of concessions and awards, and it is true that we do think that the EUR 400 million will push forward the A63 and other projects underway, and with regards to Abertis hybrids, do we expect an impact because of regulatory changes in the support to the capital structure of Abertis at all, or will there be any other technical changes in the hybrids, and part of the refinancing in Abertis has been significant.
In fact, there has been a refinancing, as you well know, of EUR 750 million, so we don't actually expect any changes there, and one last question, which is about our estimates or guidance for this year.
We have questions from a number of people that we've gone from EUR 812-EUR 817 for the range. What are the variables that are making us feel more optimistic about what's going to happen this year? In our operational business, we are naturally optimistic, and there's that gap there because we have to give that, don't we? It's guidance, isn't it? It's just guidance, and there's flexibility in there, but we are definitely optimistic about our operational figures, and we see growth right across the board in all of the areas over the next year. We have given practically the same guidance that we've given in HOCHTIEF.
The different elements will be Dragados, that's 30% of Abertis, Clece, and Iridium. That's the only elements that are not included in HOCHTIEF. We're very optimistic about all our business areas with those components too. That's it. There are no further questions. Thank you very much to everyone.