The big construction manager stands out in the ACS Group Q1 2025 financial report

Turner Construction Co., the biggest U.S.-based building contractor, is off to a good start in 2025, pumping profits into its corporate parent ACS Group in the first quarter of 2025 and advancing plans to capitalize on its experience constructing data centers to become a developer.

Juan Santa Maria, CEO of the Madrid-based parent, told analysts at a May 13 earnings conference call that the data center development plan announced last year was moving forward. It involves Turner forming a 50% partnership to develop "from scratch" land and obtain permits and connections in order to lease data centers to "hyperscalers," he said.

So far Turner has $568 million invested in the venture, with the process of forming the partnership "still ongoing," said Santa Maria, "but until now, all [details of obtaining a partner are] very confidential."

Hyperscalers of cloud computing services often include companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google and companies with cloud-based services that involve artificial intelligence.

ACS is majority owner of Hochtief, the Essen, Germany-based contractor that owns Turner, which ranks again as No. 1 on the ENR Top 400 Contractors, and figures prominently in the parent's financial picture.

Turner recorded $199 million in pretax profit on revenue of $6.6 billion in its latest quarter, up 62.3% and 45.2%, respectively, from the same quarter last year, said ACS Group. Growth in its existing business building data centers, healthcare, sports and educational facilities provided much of the profit and revenue, the firm said. Turner's 2024 acquisition of Irish electrical and mechanical engineer Dornan Engineering also added to the financial good news.

Turner's profit margin increased 3%, reflecting the company's "successful strategy focused on advanced technology projects," ACS Group noted in its financial report.