Reported by Intermoney
Hochtief, the main subsidiary of ACS (ACS), reported its Q1 results on Monday whilst the market was open, on the eve of ACS doing the same on Tuesday, holding a conference call on Tuesday at 12 noon.
In addition to reiterating its guidance for operating profit of €950–1,025 million in 2026, Hochtief increased its revenue and EBITDA as at March by 5% and 18% to €9,400 million and €581 million, respectively, once again highlighting the contrast between its main business segments in the latter figure. Thus, Turner recorded a 38% increase in its EBITDA to €254 million, compared to the €252 million implied by our forecast for ACS, thanks to the strong growth in data centre development, whilst at Cimic, EBITDA fell by 4% due to the decline in civil construction activity. Turner’s EBITDA margin rose by 80 basis points year-on-year to 3.8%, in line with Intermoney’s estimate. The Hochtief portfolio rose by 13% to €79.3 billion.
Assessment: Hochtief’s EBITDA results are broadly in line with those expected for ACS tomorrow, as they would imply a negative deviation of only around €7–8 million, for a figure we expect to be €785 million, which will also include contributions from Dragados and the concessions business, as well as other activities and the Group’s corporate division. We believe the falls in Hochtief and ACS share prices can be interpreted as profit-taking. The attached table shows the consolidated forecasts for ACS.
