HOCHTIEF Group companies hold leading positions in some of the world’s biggest infrastructure markets. Turner generates the vast majority of its sales in the non-residential building construction market in the United States. Solid and above-average real growth rates are forecast for sectors where Turner has a strong presence, notably in manufacturing, healthcare, education and transportation. The data center construction market, which has become one of Turner’s largest market segments in its backlog, has an expected compound annual growth rate 2023–29 of 11.7% driven by demand from hyperscalers, growth in edge computing and the roll-out of Artificial Intelligence applications. The outlook for the market is generally positive. Construction starts for the non-residential sector in the United States are forecast to grow 6% in 2025 and 5% 2026. Turner’s order backlog grew by 22% year on year in local-currency terms during 2024 reflecting Turner’s strong market position and its strategy focused on advanced tech project opportunities. The order backlog does not yet reflect Turner’s ambition to expand into the European market to serve advanced technology clients. CIMIC’s activities are largely executed in Australia and New Zealand with an additional selective presence across Southeast Asia. The overall market outlook for CIMIC is broadly positive in its key areas of activity including infrastructure construction, mainly civil engineering, as well as across infrastructure, industrial and natural resources services. In Australia, non-residential construction spending is expected to increase 7.2% in 2025. In transport infrastructure, the Australian Government continues to invest in major capital city rail and road projects and regional upgrade works. Government investment in healthcare and hospitals, partly in response to Covid-19 and underpinned by a growing and aging population, is also expected to see ongoing growth in healthcare construction. The construction sector in SouthEast Asia is one of the fastest growing globally, with broad-based growth across all sectors, especially infrastructure, utilities and energy. In 2025, the Southeast Asian construction sector is expected to grow by 8.9%. The Australian outsourced maintenance and services market continues to benefit from infrastructure investments to support population changes and aging assets. Asset owners are increasingly outsourcing infrastructure maintenance and services. Increasing exposure to extreme weather-related events further supports demand in this segment. In 2025, this market is expected to grow by 3.9%, with across-the-board sector growth. Australia is a major producer and exporter of key commodities and remains an increasingly important global source of critical minerals. Production across most major commodities is expected to rise, with gold and critical minerals such as copper and lithium expected to experience the strongest production and export growth. In 2025, construction activities in the resources sector are expected to increase by 9.2%, partly driven by growing demand for critical minerals to support the energy transition. CIMIC’s order backlog grew by 27% in local-currency terms during 2024 reflecting the impact of the first-time full consolidation of Thiess (additional AUD 7.1 million) as well as a 3% comparable growth year on year. In Engineering and Construction, the Group operates as a civil contractor in Europe and the U.S. as well as in building construction in Europe. Engineering and construction activities are complemented by project development activities, including public-private partnerships, data centers, and electric vehicle fast-charging networks. In Europe, civil engineering is the best performing market driven by the pressing need for upgrades in transport and energy infrastructure. Furthermore, these investments are crucial to meet new demands and political goals. New civil engineering projects are expected to grow significantly in the next two years. The European non-residential building construction market is expected to return to growth next year. New investments are expected to be especially strong in public-funded market segments while incentives and structural policies encouraging energy efficiency investments will create consistent push for renovation activities across the sector. The civil infrastructure construction market in the United States, the most relevant market segment for our North American Engineering and Construction company Flatiron, is expected to see the highest real growth rates within the wider construction market at 5% in 2025 and 3% in 2026. Policies will continue to support infrastructure investment and the current funding picture indicates several years of momentum and support across power, highway & streets and water sectors, according to FMI. The Engineering and Construction order backlog grew by 4% during 2024 reflecting robust demand for transport, power, utility and social infrastructure. This is supported by government stimulus packages (especially in the United States), pent-up demand in critical infrastructure, data centers and energy refurbishments which play to the strength of both HOCHTIEF’s and Flatiron’s market positioning. The outlook for Abertis’ diverse portfolio of toll road concessions is largely a function of economic activity in key countries as well as inflation-linked tariff increases. Taking both indicators together, the prospect of further underlying revenue growth of Abertis is good. The acquisitions announced in 2024 are also expected to have a positive impact on growth.