Javier Crespo, Head of Investor Relations. Today's call will be led by our CEO, Juan Santamaria, who is joined by our Corporate General Manager, Ángel García Altozano, our Chief Financial Officer, Emilio Grande, and the rest of the management team. As usual, after our CEO's presentation, we will open the line for Q&A and take your questions. Let me hand over to Juan.
Thank you, Javier. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. During the first half of 2026, the group continued to deliver strong operational and financial results, with solid growth in sales, backlog, and net profit, supported by outstanding cash generation and further strengthening of the balance sheet. This strong growth in operational performance, together with the group's improved outlook, support an increase in our 2026 operational net profit guidance to a range of between 30% and 35% growth, or up to EUR 1.15 billion. Looking ahead, ACS enters the second half of the year with strong momentum, supported by a record backlog of EUR 106 billion, a last 12 months book-to-bill ratio of 1.3 x, and broad exposure to markets where demand for advanced infrastructure continues to accelerate. Data centers remain a key driver, with a backlog of EUR 22 billion, up approximately 88% year-on-year.
On delivery of our strategic plan, three important data center milestones stand out. ACS Digital & Energy has taken a decisive step in developing its data center pipeline through the execution of an option to fully acquire the Waterford project in Ohio, a large-scale campus with 1.2 GW of secured grid capacity. ACS Digital & Energy has been involved in the project since August last year, achieving the power connection milestone while progressing commercialization discussion with a target to begin construction in 2027 and initial phase delivery in 2029. In parallel, Coravel, our global data center platform with GIP, has signed its first hyperscale lease at the Dallas Fort Worth campus, covering approximately 140 MW of IT capacity with a leading hyperscaler, with active discussions underway for a further 100 MW. The commercial terms are consistent with evaluation expectations we shared with the market at our Investor Day last November.
We will return to both milestones in more detail later in the presentation. Also, on the equity investment front, Abertis has delivered meaningful progress through successful organic negotiations. According to our estimate, we have created more than EUR 1.5 billion of equity value in recent agreements across our portfolio. As a broader reminder, since 2018, Abertis has materially strengthened its business profile. EBITDA backlog to net debt ratio has increased from 3.4x to 10.9 x. Just with the recent price extensions in the last six months, the ratio would increase from 5.9- 10.9. Our EBITDA estimate for 2033, post expiry of the French concessions, has risen to EUR 4.7 billion, from approximately only EUR 1 billion that was expected back in 2018. We have extended average concession life from 10.5 to more than 15 years. Additionally, other key highlights are as follows.
Operational net profit reached EUR 510 million, up 30% year-on-year or 34% on an FX adjusted basis. Net profit nominal also stood at EUR 510 million. Sales and EBITDA also grew strongly, up 12% and 14.2% FX adjusted, respectively. Cash generation remains strong, with net operating cash flow of EUR 2.3 billion over the last 12 months. On a pre-factoring basis, net operating cash flow has grown at a compound annual rate of more than 37% over the past five years. It is also worth highlighting that the EUR 1.7 billion accelerated bookbuilding offering completed in May supports acceleration of our investment strategy and strengthens the group's balance sheet. Consequently, the group's net financial position improved significantly over the last 12 months, increasing by EUR 3.2 billion and reaching a net cash position of EUR 1 billion at the end of June.
S&P upgraded today their credit rating of ACS to BBB and CIMIC to BBB. Let us now take a closer look at the group's financial performance. Sales rose by 12% FX adjusted to EUR 26.2 billion, driven by Turner's outperformance and continued growth in strategic markets, particularly digital infrastructure. EBITDA increased by over 14% FX adjusted to EUR 1.6 billion, with a strong margin expansion across the businesses and at a group level. Profit before tax was EUR 909 million, up around 32% FX adjusted. Operational net profit reached EUR 510 million, up more than 30% year-on-year. Our backlog reached a record EUR 105.9 billion, up 21% on a comparable basis, supported by a last 12 months book-to-bill ratio of 1.3 x, which provides strong revenue growth visibility for the coming quarters. Overall, this was an outstanding first half for the group with growth across our key operating metrics and continued improvement in profitability.
Turning to performance by segment, the strong first half results were driven by Turner and Engineering Construction, both of which maintain significant momentum. Turner delivered an outstanding performance with attributable operational profit increasing by 50.4% FX adjusted. This solid growth reflects the acceleration in digital infrastructure activity and continued margin improvement. CIMIC contributed EUR 93 million, growing stable year-on-year on a comparable basis. Engineering Construction also delivered a strong contribution with attributable operational profit increasing by 41% FX adjusted, driven by a higher contribution from Flatiron Dragados and solid performance at Hochtief Europe. Slide five shows the group's strong cash conversion. Operational cash flow reached EUR 455 million in the first half, showing a strong improvement year-on-year, supported by robust EBITDA performance, despite the usual first half seasonality.
On a pre-factoring basis, net operating cash flow reached EUR 2.1 billion on the last 12 months basis, representing a compound annual growth rate of 37.3% over the past five years. Overall, our cash flow performance demonstrates the quality of our earnings and the strength of the group's operational model. Let us now look at the group's financial position. The group closed June 26 with a net cash position of EUR 1 billion, improving by approximately EUR 3.2 billion year-on-year. This improvement was driven by outstanding net operational cash flow over the last 12 months, and disciplined capital allocation, resulting in net financial investment of EUR 433 million. Financial investments total approximately EUR 1.43 billion, including EUR 746 million in data center projects, both through contributions to Coravel as well as direct investment into greenfield developments like Waterford. EUR 345 million in other infrastructure equity investments, and EUR 139 million in M&A and other investments.
On the divestment side, proceeds total approximately EUR 960 million, including EUR 428 million in net proceeds from the creation of Coravel, EUR 300 million from the final settlement of UGL Limited , and EUR 229 million from the sale of 50% of UGL's transport business. The recent EUR 1.7 billion accelerated bookbuilding offering has provided the group with further financial flexibility and the ability to accelerate our investment strategy, including close to EUR 500 million invested in data center projects during the first half of the year. Lastly, EUR 408 million corresponds to shareholder remuneration. As you're probably aware, S&P announced this morning an upgrade in ACS, Hochtief, and CIMIC's rating by one notch, from BBB- to BBB. For our group, this is an important recognition of the structural improvements behind our stronger and more diversified business profile and enhanced credit profile.
S&P highlighted our simpler corporate structure, including reduced minority interest and full ownership of CIMIC, improved credit metrics, and enhanced visibility over stable cash flow generation. Over time, this should also help us access financing on better terms at a lower cost. Turning to slide eight, order backlog reached an all-time high of EUR 105.9 billion as of June 26, up 21% on a comparable basis. This growth was supported by strong order intake of EUR 36.6 billion, up 19.1% FX adjusted, resulting in a last 12 months book-to-bill ratio of 1.3 x, and more than 24 months of backlog visibility. This performance reflects the group's continued success in securing high-quality projects across our four key growth markets, particularly in AI, digital, and tech, where backlog increased by 89% year-on-year and now represents 22% of the group total.
Our growth sectors, such as defense, critical minerals, energy and sustainable infrastructure, and general building also remain very strong. They are collectively growing strongly at 34% year-on-year and currently represents 27% of total. The following slides highlight a selection of significant recent contract awards across our interconnected four key growth market. Together, they demonstrate our global scale, industrialized construction expertise, supply chain capabilities, and integrated operating model are enabling us to convert strong demand into high-value opportunities. Let me start with AI, digital, and technology, where we continue to strengthen our leading position. Momentum in AI-driven digital infrastructure remains exceptionally strong, supported by growing demand for cloud services, AI workloads, and high-performance computing. Our ability to grow in this market is underpinned by our engineering expertise, integrated delivery capabilities and global footprint.
In Louisiana, we're supporting the expansion of Richland Parish Data Center campus from 2 GW- 5 GW of IT capacity. In Europe, we secured a 36 MW data center project at EC2 in Berlin, further strengthening our European data center platform and presence in Germany. We were also selected as one of the key contractors for a large data center campus in Indiana, United States, valued at more than $10 billion. The 1 GW, 4 million sq ft facility will support core digital infrastructure in AI workloads. We also secured a contract for a repeat client for a data center facility of approximately 58 MW in Malaysia, further strengthening our presence in Asia. In Germany, we awarded water treatment plant interest then, that would provide essential industrial water infrastructure for the region's growing semiconductor industry.
Elsewhere in Europe, we were awarded a contract to build a 160 MW data center in the Netherlands to be delivered in four phases. Together, these awards reinforce our global leadership in data center engineering and construction, with increasingly large and complex projects across North America, Europe, and Asia. Energy infrastructure is another key strategic growth area for the group. Rising investment in energy security and transition to low carbon systems are driving sustained demand for advanced energy infrastructure. ACS is positioned across the energy value chain, from generation and storage, to transmission and advanced technologies, supported by global engineering expertise and integrated delivery capabilities. A key milestone came at the beginning of 2026 when we were selected to join Amentum's global delivery team for the Rolls-Royce SMR nuclear program, with a strategic leadership role in construction management.
This builds on our decades of experience in nuclear and complex infrastructure, as well as our expertise in modular assembly. We also secured the Gnaraloo Wind Farm project in Western Australia, involving the construction of Neoen's 179 MW wind farm to support the state's energy transition in growing demand for reliable, lower emissions power. At the Sellafield nuclear site in the U.K., we secured a framework contract worth EUR 685 million over up to 50 years, covering the design, engineering, and delivery of civil infrastructure for nuclear operations and decommission. These awards strengthen our position across nuclear, storage, transmission, renewables, building on our longstanding track record in supporting our expansion across the energy value chain. Turning now to transport and sustainable infrastructure. We have a longstanding global leadership position in transport, infrastructure, and sustainable mobility with demand supported by investment programs and the need to upgrade critical networks.
In Canada, we were selected for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, a multi-billion dollar expansion that will increase container capacity on the West Coast. In Europe, we secured the next phase of Prague Metro Line D, a EUR 1.23 billion project, as well as the Ostlänken high-speed rail project in Sweden, covering 26 kilometers of tracks. In the United States, we secured the Anderson Dam Tunnel project in California, involving the construction of a 1,700-foot outlet tunnel to strengthen dam safety, improve water management, and increase emergency drawdown capacity. In biopharma, health, and education, we continue to strengthen our leading positions, supported by technical expertise, the strength of our relationships, and well-established local presence. In the United States, for example, we secured projects including the University of Kentucky Central Utility Plant, the Quantum Institute in Princeton, and the expansion of Baptist Health Hospital in Florida.
These projects demonstrate our capabilities in technically demanding healthcare, education, and research infrastructure. In Germany, we awarded the Max Rubner-Institut PPP project in Kiel, covering the design, construction, and 30-year operations of one of the country's most advanced research facilities. Next, let me address critical minerals and natural resources. We're well positioned to capture growing demand for critical minerals driven by the energy transition, digital infrastructure, and defense through the global minerals processing and mining service capabilities of Sedgman and Thiess. Recent awards include the Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum Project in Western Australia, supporting the restart of iron ore production and reinforcing the strength of our mining services platform. In India, we secured 400 million Australian dollars in contracts from Hindustan Zinc for the country's first zinc tailings recycling facility, reinforcing our capabilities in sustainable processing and resource recovery.
In Australia, we secured a 700 million Australian dollar alliance agreement for the Eva Copper Mine project in Queensland, covering multiple packages of mining services. Our partnership with Vulcan Energy on the Lionheart Project in Germany is a key pillar of our strategy, giving us end-to-end role in lithium extraction and processing infrastructure. We also secured front-end engineering design work for lithium in France, supporting our expansion across critical battery minerals in Europe. Turning to defense. Defense infrastructure investment is expected to increase significantly worldwide, creating an addressable market opportunity worth EUR 80 billion annually by 2030. ACS is well positioned to capture this opportunity through its engineering capabilities and proven delivery track record. During the period, we secured a EUR 220 million project to modernize Čáslav Military Airport in the Czech Republic, covering runway repairs and upgrades to airport lighting and related infrastructure.
We are also involved as a project partner in the German Armed Forces University Campus in Hamburg, a EUR 1 billion collaborative contract spanning 10 years and combining our expertise in defense and social infrastructure. In Spain, we are involved in phase one of the General de Ejército Javier Varela Army Logistics Base in Córdoba, covering logistics and maintenance facilities for the Spanish army's new state-of-the-art logistics hub. In the United States, we are selected for a global construction services program for the US Air Force, while in Australia, we are progressing the army aviation program works at RAAF Base Townsville. Let us now look at performance by segment. Let me start with Turner, which continues to deliver exceptional performance and remains a key driver of the group's growth. Sales increased by 22.7% FX adjusted, driven particularly by data centers and supported by solid growth in sports, pharma, and airports.
EBITDA margin expanded by 64 basis points to 4%, driven by data center activity and Turner's end-to-end strategy, including supply chain, modularization services, and self-perform. Operational profit before tax reached EUR 551 million, up 49.1% if adjusted. Turner also continued to deliver a strong cash conversion, with net cash of EUR 3.7 billion, up EUR 918 million year-on-year. Commercial momentum remained very strong, with new orders up 38.7% if adjusted to EUR 21 billion, taking order backlog to a record EUR 46.1 billion. Digital infrastructure accounted for 44% of the total, with a related backlog of 90% if adjusted year-on-year. Following this outperformance, Turner's 2026 operational PBT guidance has been increased to between EUR 1.4 billion and EUR 1.46 billion, representing growth of 35%-40%. Let me now turn to CIMIC, which continued to deliver solid performance and make further progress in rebalancing its portfolio.
Sales amounted to EUR 5.2 billion, reflecting the shift towards strategic growth markets, particularly data centers, partly offset by the winding down of large transport infrastructure projects. Operational profit before tax reached EUR 236 million, up 8.5%, with the margin improving by 19 basis points as a result of the portfolio rebalancing. Net operating cash flow improved by EUR 122 million year-on-year, while net debt fell to EUR 945 million, an improvement of EUR 1.2 billion, supported by completion equity injection to finalize minority buyout, which closed on July 1. Order backlogs stood at EUR 23.7 billion, up 12% year-on-year after adjusting for divestment of the U.K. transport stake, with new orders of EUR 6.4 billion and a last 12-month book-to-bill ratio of 1.4 x.
Turning now to engineering construction segment, we are seeing strong momentum in the U.S. and Germany, where activity continues to develop positively and the outlook remains solid, supported by demand across digital infrastructure, defense, and other strategic markets. Sales increased by 8.1% if adjusted, supported by new sustainable mobility, digital infrastructure, and defense projects. EBITDA margin improved by 84 basis points to 6.5%, supported by a significant uplift in Flatiron Dragados' integrated engineering construction. Operational profit before tax reached EUR 162 million, up 21.3% if adjusted, while operational net profit increased by 45% if it is adjusted. Engineering construction also delivered a EUR 290 million year-on-year improvement in its net cash position. The segment backlog reached EUR 32.8 billion, supported by robust order intake of EUR 8 billion and a last 12 months book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 times. Moving on to infrastructure segment on slide 19.
Abertis' EBITDA grew by 6.3%, supported by traffic growth and tariff increases, while the year-on-year comparison was affected by a non-recurring positive financial contribution in the first half of 2025. Abertis paid a dividend of approximately EUR 600 million in April 2026, of which ACS received EUR 296 million. Iridium's profit before tax reached EUR 20 million, while ACS Digital & Energy continues to invest in data center projects, including Waterford and a joint venture with GIP Coravel. We now turn to our motorway operator, Abertis, which delivered a robust operating performance in the first half of 2026. Revenue increased by 5% and EBITDA by 6%, supported by traffic growth, inflation leading tariff increases, and contributions from net assets. Overall traffic increased by 0.6%, supported by resilient heavy vehicle traffic, which grew by 2.3% performance. It was partly strong in Spain, the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Brazil.
Abertis also continued to invest in its portfolio and extend existing concessions. During the period, it acquired the remaining 48.8% in Atlandes, which operates the A63 toll road, a strategic 104-kilometer corridor in Southwest France, with a concession running until 2061. In addition, Abertis secured a 19.5-year extension of tariff increases at FARAC, RCO's main concession in Mexico, and a strategic 799 km industrial corridor connecting Mexico City and Guadalajara. The agreement extends Abertis' average portfolio life from 12- 15 years and increases RCO's EBITDA backlog by 78%, further reinforcing its perpetual operator model. Slide 20 provides a breakdown of Abertis' key figures by country. As mentioned earlier, in April, ACS Digital & Energy executed an option to acquire full ownership of the Waterford site in Ohio at a pre-agreed price, following several months of development work since August last year.
The site, located in a tier 1 adjacent market, is designed as a 1.2 GW grid power data center campus, equivalent to approximately 810 megawatts of IT capacity. This is ACS Digital & Energy's first development of this scale, and represents a significant expansion of our data center portfolio, with approximately $400 million invested to date. The project has already achieved a critical milestone. Early engagement with American Electric Power, the local utility, enabled us to secure 1.2 GW of grid capacity and secure the energy supply agreement signed in December 2025. Permitting is well advanced, and commercialization discussions are underway. The asset is attracting significant market interest as it is well positioned to serve demand from leading hyperscalers, many of which already have capacity, commission, or projects under construction across these markets, with commercialization targeted to start in 2027. Turning now to Coravel.
We recently announced its first major commercial milestone, the signing of its first hyperscaler lease at our Dallas Fort Worth campus. The agreement covers approximately 140 megawatts of IT capacity across three purpose-built facilities, while active discussions are underway with the tenant to incorporate a further 100-megawatt IT across two additional buildings. Securing a leading investment-grade hyperscaler as a tenant underscores Coravel's ability to attract top-tier demand for large-scale digital infrastructure. Vertical construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026, with a staggered delivery into service throughout 2028. The lease duration is at the high end of industry standards and includes additional pre-agreed extension options, securing long-dated cash flows. Coravel will provide a full suite of operating and maintenance services with the tenant's energy consumption fully passed through.
The agreement secures high-quality long-term cash flows and validates the platform's EBITDA per megawatt IT target, which underpinning the valuation communicated at our investor day last November. This successful commercialization of Dallas Fort Worth reinforces our confidence in long-term demand for large co-located data centers and supports the continued expansion of our development pipeline. We remain very comfortable with the commercialization of the rest of our data centers. To conclude our review of the first half 2026 results, let me highlight the group's key achievements. We delivered a solid operating performance with EBITDA reaching EUR 1.6 billion, up approximately 14% FX adjusted. Operational net profit reached EUR 510 million, up more than 30% year-on-year. The group again delivered outstanding cash performance with net operating cash flow of EUR 2.3 billion over the last 12 months.
The data center end-to-end contracting business remains central to the group's strategy, with backlog of EUR 21.9 billion, up approximately 88% year-on-year in new orders of EUR 13.3 billion. Supported by this momentum in data center delivery, Turner remains a major driver of the group's performance, with operational EBIT growth over 49% FX adjusted and a first half EBITDA margin of 4%. The advanced stage of development of Waterford and the signing of Coravel's first hyperscale lease agreement at Dallas Fort Worth represent critical milestones in execution of our strategy. Waterford significantly advances the stage of development of our fully owned large-scale data center pipeline with secure power and commercialization underway with leading hyperscale tenants. Meanwhile, the Dallas Fort Worth lease demonstrates Coravel's ability to secure high-quality, long-term contracted cash flows and confirms the valuation expectations shared at our last investor day last November.
With the signed lease and ongoing discussions, we expect to reach around 250 megawatts of commercialized IT capacity by year-end within Coravel. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our ability to execute our strategy, building on a strong first half and clear momentum across our key growth platforms. Following this strong performance, we have increased our 2026 operational net profit guidance to a range between 30% and 35% growth, equivalent to EUR 1.1 billion- EUR 1.15 billion. With our backlog at an all-time high of EUR 106 billion, a 1.3x book-to-bill ratio, and a strong visibility, we are well positioned to deliver continued sustainable growth. Thank you again for joining us today. We will now open the line for 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.
Good afternoon, Juan, and the rest of the team. Thanks for taking my questions. Two, if I may. The first one is regarding the various press reports on your potential M&A interest in, for example, defense or chip companies. Could you be interested in opportunities in these sectors, or are they just remote speculation? The second one is, if you allow me to come back for a moment to one of the more forgotten building blocks of your capital allocation slide in the data center investor day last year in 2025. Divestments were shown to potentially amount to between EUR 1-EUR 1.5 billion, and we have seen little progress of true disposal. I mean, what is the situation of facility management services or industrial assets? Could they be sold by the end of the year or next year or any idea would be useful. Thank you.
Thank you, Luis. Starting with the first report around M&A, defense, and chips. Let me start with M&A strategy. From an M&A perspective, right now we are looking at one priority, which is to continue increasing our high-tech engineering expertise in all the high-growth areas. For it, we're looking at two things. One is engineering capabilities, and the second one is make and industrialize capabilities across the U.S., Spain, Germany, and Asia-Pacific. They are bolt-on acquisitions. They are not expensive, they are bolt-on, already identified, and they are going to enforce our capabilities. That is important, first, because it will continue allowing us to lead in a strong way, everything that is semiconductor park, biopharma, biotechnology, data centers, et cetera, in high-growth areas.
The other part is, because we want to continue growing our capabilities and growing our market in traditional energy like transmission lines, distribution, generation, transmission, and other core industrial sectors, which are going to grow specifically and especially in areas like Germany, U.K., and the U.S. I would include as part of that energy program, nuclear. That's a priority. On defense, our focus right now, that we continue growing, is infrastructure. In infrastructure, we take into account not just defense army bases or some of the dry docks, nuclear submarine bases, et cetera. But also resilient infrastructure. We've seen after what has happened in Iran that the Middle East, in particular, and after what happened in Ukraine, different countries in Europe are looking for a larger demand for resilient infrastructure.
Which is different ways to make sure that infrastructure becomes protected in the case of conflict. So there's a lot of solutions that were coming together, some of them authorized, some of them on site, incorporating technology on those solutions. We're talking about infrastructure in the other technologies. Right now, most of what we're doing is through partnerships. If there's anything that at some stage we believe that could incorporate it to the group, we'll analyze, and we'll be opportunistic. We will be opportunistic at that time. Regarding what has appeared in the media, on the chips front, it's an opportunity that we are looking at. We have the potential of become a big off-taker of that company.
But of course, we're looking at that opportunity from the European funds that it can get, from the funds that the government of Spain can provide, with potential alliances and potential additional off-takers. If all of that makes sense, we could become opportunistic of an opportunity considering that we could be a major off-taker. Taking into account that by 2030, chips could be an important biotech. At this stage, we're just looking. We're just analyzing, and we are studying that potential opportunity. But again, I would summarize what I said on, A, the priorities on M&A space, high-growth areas, high-tech, industrial. B, we could be opportunistic in other sectors, but right now we haven't made a decision. On the other front, on the 1.5, we have several operational assets and are non-core assets.
The truth is that it hasn't become a priority because we have very solid balance sheet. We have been able to conclude a very successful capital raise in the market, plus the placement of the financial derivatives. Right now it's not a priority for us. On the other side, we see that a lot of those assets, as we have been working on them and becoming successful, could some of them be very strategic as we grow our capabilities in some of the industrial side, water. As I said before, transmission, distribution, generation, et cetera. So it's something that we will continue to watch, and we'll get back to you.
Thanks a lot.
Next question comes from Dario Maglione, from BNP Paribas. You have the floor, sir.
Hi, Juan. Hi, team. Good afternoon, and congratulations for the excellent results. I have three questions. One on the Waterford data center campus. What was ACS involvement? Maybe give more details, when you started working on it, and how much you spent, and so on and so forth. Second question on the capital base. Total was EUR 1.7 billion raised. What is the plan with the money? I see the S&P rating upgraded. That rating, was that part of the reason to increase the, to raise the capital? More detail on what is the plan with the money. The third question is around the managed lanes, the U.S. managed lanes. The two bids are coming in the next few months. Any update there that we should have in mind? Thanks.
Thank you, Dario, and thank you for the congratulations. Starting with Waterford. In August 2025, last year, we secured the exclusivity option to acquire the asset at a pre-agreed price. Indeed, at that time, we got exclusivity, and since then, we have been involved in working with the utility, in this case, AEP, to secure the grid capacity and to get all the permits. We got the energy supply agreement in December 2025. That is why, in April 2026, we exercised the land option we had signed August 2025. With all the permitting advance, with the signature of the grid connection, and the energy supply agreement. Up to now, we have invested, I think, $400 million. It was $300 million as of June 2026, and that was for the acquisition, $+100 million for all the works around the energy that we have executed.
Right now, we are commercializing. It is a very, very unique market, and it is a very good asset. First, because it is one of the tier one markets in the U.S. All hyperscalers are exactly in that area, number one Number two it is one of the last assets connected to the grid. It is attracting significant market interest. We are working right now. We are talking to a few interested parties. We hope that by 2027, we will be able to commercialize that, and probably we will do that in phases. The engineering design works are ongoing. We want to target delivery of the initial phase by 2029. Again, the 30 miles from Columbus to New Albany is suitable for all the large hyperscalers. It is a very good market, and there is a lot of commission projects already executed around the area. That is on Waterford.
Let me talk, taking the opportunity about Waterford. There is an additional 850 megawatts under exclusivity agreements that we have as ACS. This is not Coravel. Waterford is not Coravel, and this additional 850 MW under exclusivity is not under Coravel, it is 100% ACS. That we are under the same structure that we have applied to Waterford, so exclusive agreement, substance, et cetera, that we are working. 650 MW are in the U.S., of the 850 MW. 125 MW is in Europe, and 40 MW is in Chile. This does not include any Gigafactory project that we are working on in Spain, which is additional to 125 megawatts, also at ACS level. We have an additional pipeline that we are analyzing, and that is in general. Some of that will go through Coravel, some of that will go through ACS, of around 90 GW mostly in the U.S.
On the S&P upgrades, the answer is no. Nothing to do. Completely separate. The upgrade from S&P has nothing to do with the EUR 1.7 billion increase. Nothing to do with it. On the managed lanes, we did submit the first two offers, the I-24 managed lane in Tennessee, the first tender, and the second one, I-285 in Georgia, recently. I believe that the results for I-24 in Tennessee will come out in August, and by October, we should know about I-285 in Georgia. Nothing else to say. We are waiting on the two tenders, and we will see. In any case, there is a pipeline of projects that is also down the road. That includes the I-25 West Express Lanes, which is 20 miles path towards the west. I think that the RFQ date will come at the end of this year. There is the I-485 Southside Express Lanes in Virginia.
I believe that the RFQ will come out in Q2 2027, and sometime mid to late 2027, we will see the Maryland American Legion Bridge. The I-37 in North Carolina is on hold right now, and it is on hold waiting for a reevaluation of the solution. They are not, right now, arguing the PPP model. They are not arguing the managed lane concept. They are arguing the technical solution because they want an elevated solution rather than the original design. It is not an opposition to the managed lane model, dynamic tolling, PPP model, however you want to call it. We believe that the project is good. It will go through the review, and it is more about the design. There is a potential re-vote. It will be put to vote, and if it gets delayed, it has the risk of having to reimburse the federal funds.
I think that we are at EUR 60 million up to now. I think that all that voting will come by end of the year, by September, if there is no delays. That is on I-70. There is a good pipeline. We already put the two first tenders, and continues being a priority market for us.
Thank you. Next question comes from Amal Patel from UBS. Please, sir, go ahead.
Hi, Juan. Thank you very much for the presentation, and congratulations on the great set of results. I have three questions, if I may. The first one on the lease agreement for the Dallas Fort Worth campus. If my math is correct, I calculate a power usage of 1.4. I guess this compares to your initial data center CMD slides of 1.45, and my understanding is some of the most sophisticated hyperscaler facilities are going as low as 1.05 or 1.1. I guess with this in mind, how should we think about targeted power usage across the rest of the Coravel platform, and also for Waterford?
Secondly, on Waterford, there were some press articles earlier this week suggesting that I believe it was the Democrats who wants to block data centers that don't meet requirements, including things like covering utility costs, sourcing labor from unions, so on and so forth. I appreciate this is not something which is currently being implemented, but in a world where this were to materialize, what would be the implications given the structure of the Waterford project? Would there be any forwards that could allow you to recover investments if the project were to be moved or not go ahead? Then third question, if I may, the extension of the share buyback program to July 2027. How should we think about the capital allocation framework and relative priority between buybacks, dividends, and new equity investments over the next 12-24 months? Thanks.
Thank you, Amal. Thank you so much. Starting with the first one, on the forward. So I believe that right now the ratio is around 1.4- 1.35 on the project. In general, whether it's Waterford or the ones in Texas, et cetera. I made that reflection the other day on the Coravel presentation about what's going on in the U.S. with the moratorium. The way we see it is that data center developments in the U.S. are highly concentrated. The estimates suggest that around 70% of all the U.S. data center capacity is located in 1% of the U.S. counties. That's around 41 counties. The most relevant markets are Louisiana, Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Virginia, and Nebraska. That's where a lot of these data centers, they concentrate.
Waterford is in Ohio, Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas, or Loudoun is in Virginia. So far, we are not seeing major opposition in this space. When we see them, it is about, well, not in my backyard, maybe third. That is why, in general, when we secure power, sometimes there are options around where the land is going to sit and different options, et cetera. Then there are different landowners with different views and different communities. But we are not seeing a major opposition. We have seen that in New York with the moratorium, but New York is not a data center state. It has some marginal. We were building one data center, small one, with Turner, and putting that on hold is marginal to our numbers. It has not really affected us. So we are not seeing any material impacts on projects under construction in general.
Of course, this is the other part of the equation. When you look at Turner, for example, the fact, and we always speak about the three buckets, right? The projects ongoing, the ones that we have signed, we are negotiating, that backlog, that working hand of 22 billion, in the case of Turner, that we have. Then you have the second bucket that we always refer to, that are secured, right? In the case of Turner, 20 billion overall, we are talking about, at ACS and in U.S. dollars, we are talking about 21.2. Versus the first bucket, which is 22 billion U.S. dollars at Turner and 25 overall ACS, we have the second bucket, which is awarded, not secured. That is around USD 20 billion U.S. at Turner, an additional 1.2 through the OpCos. Those are projects that have been awarded.
They will come to us. We are just working on the first phase, and will end up in our backlog. Then we have third bucket, right, which is around 15 billion right now, of projects that have been communicated to us. We are working on them, but we are still waiting for the first thing. Why we always talk about buckets? Because there is a very long-term planning process for these data centers, right? That takes into account community opposition, water, power, permits, environmental. It is a very long process. Typically, we are analyzing at the same time for every given client, three, four different locations. So one of them will happen, and maybe others are put on hold or they are delayed, et cetera. So, at the end, all of that gets into the equation. But we do have huge visibility of what is coming.
We all are surprised about the fear of the concerns about the decreasing CapEx from the hyperscalers. We are not seeing that. We are not seeing overall opposition to data centers everywhere in the world or in the U.S. As far as we know, we are comfortable with not just this year, but the visibility we do have for our work in hand, and we continue seeing all the hyperscalers investing. Google has increased 82% year-on-year, Microsoft Cloud 29% year-on-year. The backlog of Google, they are announcing more than $514 billion, which is two times what they said last year. Microsoft, 50% of an increase from what they said last year. We are seeing TSMC raising 2026 CapEx to $60 million-$64 million. We are seeing a lot of the cloud and AI CapEx overall from a $650 billion in 2026 to a $1.1 trillion in 2027.
But for some reason right now, there is a little bit of a move questioning the expenditure in data centers. I take the chance, and it was not part of your question, to talk about how diversified we are. Because on one side, we have all these data centers, but look at what we have been talking about from a construction perspective, 34% increase in the area of data centers before. Well diversified in sectors, well diversified in geographies, well diversified in high growth areas, plus all the assets as we continue to grow. We spoke about Vertiv, we spoke about Mana Plains, we have data centers, we have energy. Anyway, just wanted to answer broadly the question about the opposition and our concerns about it. Then moving to the third one, extension of the buyback. Well, it is an administrative extension.
We are not going to change our strategy, which is always opportunistic. But of course, do we see an opportunity right now with EUR 47.16? Yes, there is a clear opportunity, in my opinion.
Next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America. Please, sir, you have the floor.
Yes, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. Firstly, obviously you are talking a lot about data center developments and providing more information on specific projects. But I was wondering, what sort of annual run rate of equity investments into data centers we should be considering now for the next one to three years? Could you provide some indication? I think it is really important considering the scale of the opportunity. Some of these projects, they seem to be very large, that you are now incorporating in your forecast. My question number is regarding your guidance upgrade for net profit for 2026. What are the key drivers? Obviously, we saw Turner already a couple of days ago, but what other areas of ACS were upgraded in your projections, if any? If you could clarify. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Marcin. The last time we spoke in the investor day, of our firepower and all these projects, we were talking about EUR 2.4 billion expenditure in data centers from now to 2030. This was net of dividends, and this was net of some proceeds. We are talking about EUR 1.5 billion Mana Plains, and then other greenfield. Has it changed? I do not think it has. Maybe if we decided not to recycle, for example, 50% of Waterford, then we might have to increase that by EUR 1 billion from now to 2030. But that is a question mark, whether we want to do it or not. If we want to pass to Coravel or a third party, 50% of Waterford, that is an option that we have, and we will be considering at due time. The same thing for the additional 850 megawatts that we are developing.
Those are some of the decisions that we need to make. But at the end of the day, it depends on everything. How much firepower we want to have available for other opportunities versus how much we want to put this knowing, the ratios and the opportunity around these assets. If we move to the upgrade on the guidance I believe that, well, of course, there is a Turner thing. There is engineering construction. In engineering construction, we are quite bullish for two reasons. The first one is because of Germany and the U.S., number one, but also because we are going to start seeing that a big part of those organizations, I am talking about Flatiron, Hochtief Infrastructure, Dragados, Flatiron Dragados, et cetera, or CBEGL, they are going to be moving into industrial projects, right?
Eventually, and probably in the capital markets day by November, we will go through the split in what we are doing. We are quite bullish on the growth of those areas, especially the one in Germany. Yes, I would say that because right now we are not including on our valuation assets, of course, because this is guidance. But again, just to reemphasize, our big bet where the value is going to be in ACS are the assets, right? That is where we believe, and we will talk more in the capital markets day, that is where we are headed. That is the real value that we are going to generate in the next years. Data center platform in Coravel, data center platform in ACS Digital & Energy, managed lanes, operatives, and energy and industrial projects. That is where I do see the potential.
We have another question from Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Sir, you have the floor.
Thanks very much. Could I come back to Waterford, and maybe just on your point about recycling capital there, I just want to get a little bit more of your thoughts on when you might think to bring in a partner or whether you're happy to go it alone on the project, and how do you balance off those two things? Is it just about capital requirements? Just trying to understand your thinking there. Secondly, you may have said, so apologies, but just around that 850 MW, which is under exclusivity, what are the sort of points that we're waiting for there to progress? Just what should we be looking out for in the next six to 12 months on those opportunities? Last one quickly, just that I think GIP and Meta announced a partnership yesterday.
Just wondered if ACS had any involvement in that or if there was any sort of upside from your side, given both of those are strategic partners of yours. Thanks.
Thank you, Graham. Let me start with the Waterford one. The more we wait, the higher the valuation, right? As a minimum, we want to make sure we commercialize Waterford. Because that's when we're going to see the highest multiples, and that's involving, right? At that point, we'll make the decision, right? But we are not going to commercialize before that. Then, we need to see if we commercialize everything at once or in phases. So there's a few things that come into play. But again, the more we wait, the better. And right now, we have the firepower to wait and to wait as much as we want, even to develop ourselves 100% if we want to. Regarding the 850 MW, so the one in Chile that I mentioned, 40 MW, that's already purchased in a tier 1 location, power secured.
We're already in negotiations, waiting for commercialization. We had already discussions. The 145 MW in Europe, that's grid-connected power secured as well, which we're developing the last permits, which we are not seeing any problem. After that, we'll start commercializing. And the 1,650 MW in the U.S., that's where we are finalizing the power right now, and analyzing the potential options, right? So that's a little bit more premature. I think that by 2027, we should be able to have somehow a solution to the site. And then, the Gigafactory project, that's the one in addition, another 225 MW, although we do have a 16% stake, but that depends on the tender of the European Gigafactory. So I wouldn't value that one at this stage. First, the consortium needs to win the tender process before announcing anything.
That is the detail around that 850 MW under exclusivity. Regarding the Meta GIP announcement yesterday, we are not involved on that one.
Got it. Sorry, maybe just a very quick follow-up. On the share buyback, just following up on Amal's question, how much of that is already executed, if you have it to hand? Otherwise, I can follow up. No problem.
Sorry. If you are referring to how much we are executing on the share buyback that we have announced, nothing, because we have not started, right? It has just been announced. It is just an extension of a previous one, right? There is nothing. In terms of the percentage of the treasury stock that we have right now, over 2% we have right now treasury stock.
Okay.
Thank you.
Next question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please tell you have the floor.
Just for you guys, two quick questions from me if I may. First one may be big picture. Why are you developing so many megawatts outside of Coravel? Is there anything wrong with the JV? I am a little bit puzzled why you just set up that JV, now what, seven months ago, and you are already going on your own and not including these projects into that vehicle. That would be the first one. Second one is, you have been a little bit shy on giving us, putting a bit of meat on the bone on the 140 MW leasing agreement in Dallas. Could you be maybe a little bit more specific and explicit on the terms you are talking about, length of the agreement? Looks like it is 10 year plus. What about the EUR revenue per megawatt?
What about also the cost key to finish building within the backdrop where we see inflation in construction cost? That would be the second question. The very last one, on thinking about Turner and entering construction, and we are seeing the backlog beginning to accelerate, the book-to-bill is excellent. Yet, let us be honest, the top line is not growing as fast. Is this just about lengthening of the backlog because you are constrained, especially on staff, on supply? We heard that from Reactis today. Or are we going to see at one point a catch up and acceleration into, I don't know, the latter end of the second half 2026 or 2027 that you did? Thank you.
Thank you, Nicolas. Starting with the first one. Waterford had always been out of the negotiations in Coravel. From the very beginning, when we decided the assets that would go in and the asset that would stay out, that was always part of the framework, as it has been with some of the others. So, we will offer Coravel. They are out of the platform, but we will offer Coravel in the first place because it is our preferred platform, and that is where we are going to put the focus. But they were part out of the transaction. So Coravel has a right of first negotiation of any asset that Iridium produces. And because of our scale, because of our geographical spread, we have the capability of doing a lot of that organically, and we continue doing so, and we offer it to Coravel. There is only two exceptions, where Iridium develops.
The first one is they were not part of the original transaction, or two, Coravel rejects for whatever reason, if they were to reject one, and then we can proceed on our own if we were to consider. Coravel continues being our preferred option when developing the assets. On the last forward, the challenge is that we are bound by confidentiality agreement that we cannot disclose. What we can say, and there are several factors that could be considered when comparing yield on cost. The first one is that, it is a colo project. It is not Triple Net lease model. We are targeting a colo model with a single tenant colocation. That gives, that has already, in terms of yield and returns, those who are going to colo, which is about triple M. The uptake and credit risk profile is very good.
It is very, very good. We are not bearing the occupancy risk. The net yield on cost is pretty much in line with what we did communicate in the investor relations. It is a long-term, high-quality cash flow. It validates the EBITDA per megawatt, IT targets, and their pin evaluation expectations. In terms of leases, it is about 10 years, plus extensions. I guess that I cannot say much more beyond that. Extensions, it would be on top of that. It is about 10 years, and extensions will come on top of that. It is a good lease. Then on the third one, it is just timing, and you will see the acceleration on the Turner book-to-bill.
It seems that there are no further questions. Now I will give the floor back to the management of ACS.
Thank you. Thank you everyone for your time, your support, and as always, please feel free to call us anytime for any follow-up questions or additional detail. We will be glad to help. Thanks a lot, and have a nice summer.