Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining our conference call. We are starting on slide five, where we present an overview of our results in the first half of the year. Looking back at the year so far, one thing is clear: Strabag is on track for continued growth. The environment still presents some challenges, but our international presence, supported by the expansion to Australia, is helping us to stay strong and keep growing. In numbers, this translates to the following: Output volume is up by a solid 7% year-on-year. Our order backlog increased by more than EUR 3 billion in the year so far, reaching a new record of over EUR 28 billion, supported by strong contributions from all operating segments. All in all, this marks our strongest net income and the second highest EBIT for the first half in our company's history.
This clearly shows that our priorities under Strategy 2030 are translating into profitable growth. This gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction to achieve our goals for 2025. Turning to the market environment on slide six, we have seen positive trends across the infrastructure sector. This is especially true for mobility and energy infrastructure projects. In the energy sector, we have secured a broad range of projects, from solar parks, wind farms, and green hydrogen facilities to major grid expansion projects. We are also seeing mostly positive trends in mobility infrastructure. Germany, however, shows a more mixed picture at the moment. In general, Germany's outlook is strong, driven by the newly approved Infrastructure Investment Fund. We reaffirm our expectation that the first projects from this fund will be awarded in the end of 2026, with visible effects in our books starting in 2027.
On the other hand, the provisional budget following the federal elections is causing delays in public project awards. The approval of the federal budget for 2025 is expected in September. It will take some time before the corresponding project reaches the market. We do not expect that to happen before the end of 2025. This is currently slowing down short-term output development in Germany. On the positive side, Germany's federal motorway company, Autobahn GmbH, received essential funding in July to ensure that key infrastructure projects can be implemented in 2025. In total, infrastructure accounts for more than 50% of our output volume and continues to provide a stable foundation for our portfolio. Now to the building construction sector. Since Q3 last year, residential construction has stabilized and has been continuously growing, but still at a low level.
We have secured some landmark residential projects and are making good progress with our prefabricated serial timber hybrid solutions. In August, we launched our new serial construction solution, TETRIQX, starting at just EUR 1,950 per sqm . This innovation significantly reduces construction costs, shortens build times, and lowers CO2 emissions. With this product, we are making a clear contribution to affordable housing in Austria. We are seeing solid underlying demand in public and industrial construction, especially in sectors like high-tech facilities such as semiconductor plants, laboratories, or technology hubs. Since 2022, we have seen a shift from private to public contracts. In Q1 2025, this trend stopped for the first time. We believe it has reached its peak and will reverse as interest rates are expected to fall. Slide seven highlights some of the major acquisitions we have initiated this year.
In December 2025, we announced our intention to acquire significant parts of the German-based WTE Group. In June, the purchase agreement was signed, and the transaction is expected to close in 2025. This transaction will position Strabag as a full-service provider in water infrastructure, creating a combined water infrastructure portfolio with around EUR 400 million in annual output from up to EUR 100 million. In Germany, we are expanding our capacities and capabilities to meet the growing demand in the infrastructure market. In this context, we will take over the infrastructure specialist Stumpp Group, which will enhance our position in Southern Germany. As part of the integration, we will welcome 300 skilled workers into our team. Stumpp specializes in road construction and civil engineering and generates an annual output of around EUR 90 million.
With its operations in asphalt mixing and investments in gravel works, the acquisition also secures long-term access to raw materials in the region. Also in Germany, we are taking over significant assets of Hilgefort, expanding our capacities and expertise in bridge construction. As part of our subsidiary, ZÜBLIN Stahlbau, the integration of 70 skilled employees and large production halls will strengthen our position, particularly in steel bridge construction. For completeness, it should be noted that some acquisitions are still subject to various conditions, including antitrust clearance. On slide eight, we present key projects that we successfully acquired in the first half of the year. In Europe, we are delivering major projects in the semiconductor sector. We have a clear USP here, thanks to our long-standing expertise in construction under clean room conditions and our focus on technology leadership.
We have secured rail construction contracts worth around EUR 360 million in the Czech Republic, including the largest ever tendered by the Czech Railways, building on our strong track record in rail construction. So far this year, we have also won major railway contracts in Croatia and Slovakia and are currently carrying out the renovation of the Berlin-Hamburg railway line in Germany. As part of our strategic focus on reconstruction, conversion, and refurbishment, we have secured large-scale contracts exceeding EUR 250 million in Germany's university sector. In Vienna, Strabag is developing and building the 120 m high Weitblick Hotel and Office Tower. Key areas of the building have already been successfully placed with anchor tenants during ongoing construction works. In Poland, we have been awarded the design and build contract for the Głogów Bypass, including a 700 m long bridge with a total value of more than EUR 150 million.
Our revised strategy in the Benelux countries, focusing on mid-sized building construction projects, is already showing results. Following successes in public building and industrial construction, we secured the contract for a residential complex in Amsterdam, comprising 561 flats, with a total value of EUR 139 million. In addition to what is shown on the slide, our business in Australia is also progressing well. Among other things, we are part of the so-called Tonkin Extension Alliance, a project worth over EUR 500 million involving highway expansion and widening in Perth, together with our joint venture partners. Beginning on slide 10, I will guide you through the financials for the first half of 2025. Output volume was up 7%, reaching EUR 8.9 billion, the highest value ever recorded in the first half. This growth was split equally between the initial consolidation of the Georgiou Group in Australia and our established markets.
The strongest increases in our established markets were recorded in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. In Poland, output rose by an impressive 30%. Growth in the Czech Republic was broad-based, spanning all construction segments, while in Germany, the increase was driven above all by building construction and civil engineering projects. U.K. output declined as expected due to the ongoing completion of major projects. In August, however, we secured a key contract for our PPP portfolio, the so-called HARP project, to upgrade a 110 km water pipeline, replacing tunnel sections. This project will ensure access to clean drinking water in the region for generations to come, while also supporting future output growth in the U.K. Valued at around GBP 3 billion, the project comes with a nine-year construction period followed by a 25-year maintenance phase and will significantly expand our PPP portfolio.
With this, our equity investments in PPP and partnership projects will exceed EUR 600 million across a total project volume of more than EUR 13 billion. In Hungary, the situation remains challenging due to frozen EU funds. However, our order backlog is growing again and is expected to support output in the coming quarters. The development of our order backlog provides us with a very solid foundation for the future. We managed to further expand our already high order backlog by EUR 3 billion, or 12%, in the first half of 2025, reaching a new record of EUR 28.4 billion. This strong increase reflects the successful project acquisitions made so far this year, especially in railway construction, energy infrastructure, and high-tech buildings. In regional terms, the biggest growth was seen in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria. Australia contributed around EUR 660 million to the group's order backlog as at the end of June 2025.
Going forward, we expect continued momentum from our growth initiatives in energy and water infrastructure, our building solutions business, and the German Infrastructure Investment Fund. On slide 11, we take a look at the earnings performance for the first half of the year. EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization came in at EUR 431 million, up by 20% year- on- year. Depreciation and amortization were up by around 9%. This is in line with the investments made under Strategy 2030 and the resulting expansion of our asset base. EBIT earnings before interest and taxes rose significantly by 58% to EUR 129 million, marking the second highest level in our history. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 1.6%, up from 1.1% in the first half of 2024, highlighting our continued profitable growth. Improvements in the north and west segment, and particularly in international and special divisions, had a positive impact.
Due to the higher share of transport infrastructure projects, the result in the south and east segment remained negative in the first half of the year, as seen in previous periods. Net interest income declined compared to the previous year but remained positive at EUR 15 million. This reflects our continued strong liquidity position. There are two main drivers behind this development. First, deposit rates in the first half of 2025 were significantly lower than in the same period last year. Second, FX effects had a greater negative impact this year, reaching EUR 13 million compared to EUR 6 million in the previous year. EBIT earnings before taxes reached EUR 145 million. The income tax rate was slightly higher at 33%. In total, net income after minorities reached EUR 95 million, exceeding the previous year's record of EUR 91 million and marking a new milestone in our first half earnings. We continue on slide 12.
As you can see, our balance sheet has once again remained very robust. We continue to report a solid net cash position at EUR 1.8 billion at the end of the year of the first half of the year. On the slide, you can see the typical seasonal pattern we face each year. Due to the build-up in working capital, mainly inventories and receivables, our liquidity position is lower compared to year-end, but still above the level recorded in the first half of 2024. Customer prepayments also remained high in the first six months of 2025. With an equity ratio of 32.4% at the end of June 2025, we remain comfortably above the 30% mark and well above our minimum target of 25%. The slight decline compared to the year 2024 is due to the dividend payment for the previous year, which was made in June 2025.
Our strong financial position is underlined by BBB plus investment grade rating from Standard and Poor's with a stable outlook. The rating was upgraded in September last year, placing us among the top-rated construction companies in Europe. Slide 13 gives an overview of the cash flow development in the first six months of the year. In total, we report cash and cash equivalents of EUR 2.8 billion at the end of June 2025, up from EUR 2.4 billion in the previous year. Cash flow from operating activities of EUR 284 million was less negative year- on- year, partly due to a higher cash flow from earnings and partly because the seasonal build-up in working capital was less pronounced. The cash outflow for investments reached EUR 430 million, which was in line with expectations. The increase was mainly due to higher spending on acquisitions and on property, plant and equipment.
Please note that the first half of 2025 included the purchase price payment for the acquisition of the Georgiou Group in Australia. Cash flow from financing activities reached EUR 262 million in the first half. Although dividend payments were higher than last year, the overall outflow was lower. This was because the previous year included payments to free-float shareholders who chose the cash option as part of the now completed capital measures aimed to add diluting Rasperia's stake. In June, we successfully refinanced and expanded our existing credit lines. The syndicated guarantee facility was increased from EUR 2.0 billion- EUR 2.5 billion and the cash credit facility from EUR 0.4 billion- EUR 0.5 billion. This reflects our business growth in recent years and supports our strategic goals under Strategy 2030. Continuing with slide 15, we have an overview of our operating segments, which are primarily organized by geography.
In the north and west segment, we report our construction activities in Germany, Switzerland, the Benelux countries, and Scandinavia. Ground engineering is also included in this segment. The geographic focus of the south and east segment is on Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and southeast Europe. The construction materials business is also reported here. In August, Péter Glöckler, a valued and long-standing Strabag colleague who most recently led our business in southeast Europe, assumed the role of management board member for south and east. The entire board looks forward to a successful cooperation and thanks Alfred Watzl for his commitment and dedication over the past years. The international and special division segment includes the United Kingdom, our non-European construction business, and our global tunneling activities. Regardless of location, this segment also covers our project development, real estate, and energy infrastructure activities.
Slide 16 gives a more detailed view of our largest segment, north and west. Output volume remained stable year- on- year at EUR 3.6 billion. In Germany, the segment's largest market, civil engineering, delivered positive momentum. On the other hand, the provisional federal budget was caused by short-term delays in road construction, currently slowing output development. Output in the Benelux region was higher following successful project acquisitions in building construction. Sweden and Switzerland recorded slight growth, while Denmark saw a modest decline. The segment's EBIT improved significantly by 27% to EUR 83 million. This was primarily due to higher earnings contributions from our German building construction business. We were able to further expand the segment's already high order backlog by 8% year- on- year, reaching a new all-time high of EUR 13 billion. Backlog growth is focused on energy infrastructure and civil engineering projects.
By geography, Germany and the Benelux countries led the growth, followed by Switzerland. Moving on to the outlook for the segment, despite the project delays in road construction mentioned earlier, we expect output in 2025 to remain stable or grow slightly. Germany 2025 is a transitional year for Germany following the federal elections and the time needed to develop and approve budgets. Residential construction is beginning to show early signs of recovery. Growth continues to be driven primarily by public and industrial building projects, as well as medical and high-tech facilities. We expect the new German Infrastructure Investment Fund to start having an impact by the end of 2026. In the Benelux countries, we continue with our selective bidding approach. In the Netherlands and Belgium, our focus is on medium-sized building construction projects, where we successfully acquired new projects as a result of our revised strategy.
In Scandinavia, we will maintain our focus on medium-sized projects, primarily in commercial and industrial construction. New project acquisitions in the region are focused on apartment and laboratory buildings. In Switzerland, we successfully completed our consolidation process, which was supported by the necessary investments. We are currently seeing growth in energy transition projects and timber construction. Next, on slide 17, we take a look at our south and east segment. Output volume was stable year- on- year, reaching EUR 3.2 billion. This was achieved despite the lingering effects of the strong downturn in the Austrian residential construction market over the past few years. However, our order intake in residential construction, also in Austria, has been again growing since Q3 last year. Compared to the previous year, output increased significantly in Poland and the Czech Republic.
As is typical for this segment, EBIT was again negative in the first half of 2025, reaching EUR 72 million. This is mainly due to the segment's higher share of transportation infrastructure projects, which tend to generate lower earnings contributions in the early part of the year. The year-on-year decline primarily reflects the seasonal pattern, with road construction activities in selected countries contributing less during the first half. The segment's order backlog saw a clear increase of 6%, reaching EUR 8.5 billion. The biggest contribution came from the Czech Republic, reflecting the successful project acquisitions in the year- to- date. Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia, among other countries, also significantly expanded their order books across various construction sectors. Stabilization in Austria continued in the first half of 2025.
Moving on to the outlook for the segment, given the higher order backlog, we anticipate solid growth in the segment's output volume in 2025, expected to be within the mid- to high-single-digit % range. In Austria, we remain cautious about the further recovery in residential construction. Although the strict landing criteria officially expired in July, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) continues to recommend the application. In this environment, we focus on solutions for affordable housing, such as our new TETRIQX serial construction product. The national budget deficit is putting pressure on public tenders. We expect the positive development in our focus area of reconstruction, conversion, and refurbishment of existing buildings to continue in the remaining year. Poland, Romania, and Croatia. Going forward, we continue to see Poland, Romania, and Croatia as promising markets.
Several major projects are expected to come onto the market in Poland, above all in infrastructure, mobility, defense, and energy. In Romania, there is a strong demand for new infrastructure, partly financed by the EU. Recently, there have been delays in public project awards following the parliamentary elections. In Croatia, we continue to see good opportunities in transportation infrastructures and industrial construction, supported by EU investments. Hungary. We expect that the situation in Hungary remains challenging. On the positive side, private industrial contracts, such as those in the automotive industry, are worth mentioning. The government is preparing a stimulus program designed to support private consumption and reinforce the economy. Slovakia and Czech Republic. In Czech Republic and Slovakia, we are observing increasing tender volumes in transportation infrastructures. While private investments are expected to pick up again in the Czech Republic, private building construction remains subdued in Slovakia.
In both markets, we are particularly successful in acquiring new projects over the past quarters, providing us with a solid base for the future. Examples include major rail and public transport contracts in the Czech Republic, as well as the expansion of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Slovakia. Slide 18 shows the development in our international and special division segment. Output volume reached EUR 2 billion, marking a strong year-on-year increase of 35%. This increase was driven almost equally by our established markets and the contributions from the acquisition in Australia. In our established markets, growth came primarily from Austria, Poland, and Germany. Among other factors, Austria's energy infrastructure unit and Germany's building solutions business made positive contributions to the segment's output development in the first half of the year. EBIT rose sharply in the first half of 2025, increasing by 90% to EUR 127 million.
This positive development is due to higher earnings contributions from various business units, such as infrastructure development, the United Kingdom, or our growing building solutions business. Following the acquisition, Australia also contributed to the segment's EBIT growth. Please keep in mind that this segment is subject to regular fluctuations due to large and mega projects. Order backlog increased significantly by 35%, reaching a new record level of EUR 6.8 billion for the segment. Around two-thirds or more than EUR 1 billion of this growth came from existing markets, above all Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Depending on the country, we have seen positive developments in the areas of building solutions, energy infrastructure, real estate development, and tunneling. The remaining increase in the segment's order backlog stems from the acquisition in Australia. Moving on to the outlook for the segment for 2025, we expect a significantly higher output volume.
This is partly due to the contributions from the acquisition in Australia. Even excluding this effect, we expect solid organic growth in this segment in the high single-digit range. Our tunneling operations include large-scale projects in the U.K. and Canada, where we successfully secured contract extensions. In addition, smaller projects in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria provide a solid foundation for our business. In our international business, the focus remains on long-established markets in the Middle East and South America. The outlook remains positive, supported by energy transition projects. In our building solutions business, we combine facility management and MEP services to become a full-service provider for the decarbonization of existing buildings. MEP, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, is the equivalent of TGA in German. We will support this strategy with targeted acquisitions in our key markets.
Growth in the energy infrastructure division is expected to come from both organic expansion and the planned acquisition of WTE Group. Closing is expected by the end of the year. In our infrastructure development business, special focus is placed on the HARP water infrastructure projects in the U.K., for which we were awarded the contract in August. The project involves the modernization of a 110 km water network, including six tunnels, along with a 25-year maintenance period. Besides, the first photovoltaic projects under Strategy 2030 have already been launched and put into operation in Germany and South America. We do not expect the real estate development business to see a significant recovery before 2027. In the meantime, we are actively looking into opportunities that arise from the ongoing consolidation in the sector. STRABAG Hold Estate complements our real estate value chain through long-term strategic asset holdings.
We make sure that all real estate acquisitions meet ESG criteria and EU taxonomy requirements. Last year, we added five new properties to our portfolio, and this year we have taken the next step. We launched our first own residential project with 53 units built in a serial construction in Germany. On slide 20, we provide relevant information regarding the Strabag share. In the first half of 2025, we saw a change in our shareholder structure. In March and May, respectively, the Haselsteiner Family Foundation and the Uniqa Group sold Strabag shares equivalent to 1.7% and 1.5% of the share capital. In both cases, the shares were sold to institutional investors in a private placement by means of an accelerated book building. Both core shareholders now hold roughly the same stake in Strabag as before the 2024 capital increase.
It is important to note that the Haselsteiner Family, Uniqa, and Raiffeisen remain strategic and committed core shareholders of the group. Coming to MKAO, Rasperia Trading Limited. The situation remains unchanged. Rasperia itself continues to be sanctioned by the EU and the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Controls, OFAC. This means that Rasperia's shares continue to be frozen. According to our legal view, the current sanctions prevent Rasperia from exercising its shareholder rights, including attending general meetings and voting. As is publicly known, several legal proceedings are still pending. However, the capital measures aimed at diluting Rasperia's shareholding have already taken legal effect and are binding. Turning to slide 21, as you can see, Strabag's share price has developed very strongly in the first half of 2025. It has doubled compared to the end of last year. Trading volumes have also increased significantly.
With this performance, Strabag has not only outperformed relevant indices but also all major European peers. From our perspective, this positive development is driven by a combination of factors. First, for 2024, we reported a stronger result than originally expected, clearly above our guidance. Second, conditions in the construction sector are starting to improve, especially due to the ongoing interest rate cuts, which should support the demand in building construction. And third, as a market leader in Germany, Strabag is well positioned to be at the forefront of supporting the country's modernization program funded by the new infrastructure investment fund. The share price development confirms that we are on the right track with our strategy. We remain committed to this course and continue to position Strabag for long-term success.
Given the increased trading volumes and the higher market capitalization of around EUR 9.5 billion, we are optimistic about being included in Austria's leading index ATX as part of the regular review by the Vienna Stock Exchange in September. Moving on to slide 22. For the full year 2025, we confirm our guidance and continue to expect strong growth in output volume to around EUR 21 billion, despite short-term delays in German road construction. This outlook is well supported by a robust order backlog and expected contributions from recent acquisitions. For 2025, we increased our EBIT margin target from at least 4% in the last reporting period to at least 4.5%. This upgrade, which we hereby confirm, reflects first effects of Strategy 2030. Regarding net capital expenditure, our cash flow from investing activities, we expect not more than EUR 1.4 billion from today's perspective.
This figure includes the purchase prices of major acquisitions made in 2024. Thank you very much for your attention and interest.