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Data centers are all the rage in the U.S., and London-based Balfour Beatty wants in on more of the action, the contractor said during its full-year earnings call on Wednesday.
“I think this is a really significant opportunity for Balfour Beatty to move into the future,” said Philip Hoare, speaking at his first earnings call as executive director.
Hoare pointed to the company’s more than 20-year history of delivering the shells and cores of these projects as proof of its experience in the segment. The company’s expertise in project finance, data center operations and maintenance will help it capture future opportunities and grow in the US market, Hoare said.
“The opportunity to expand from the strong footprint we have in Washington state and Oregon, we recently won a new project in Virginia, and there are opportunities emerging in Texas, Georgia and Pennsylvania, all areas where we have real strength as a business,” Hoare said. “This is an example of where we can take those customer relationships, those deep relationships that we’ve built over many years, and bring them to the U.S. to drive growth.”
In fact, Data center construction has dominated the US market. Construction expenses rose 0.1% in January at a seasonally adjusted rate of $1.25 trillion, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. Data center construction drove more than 75% of the overall monthly gain.
Profits, income on the rise
Balfour Beatty it met its expectations for the entire year and achieved a record backlog on the back of strong construction segments in both the UK and US, the contractor announced on Wednesday.
The company generated roughly 10.8 billion pounds ($14.5 billion) in revenue in 2025, up 7.5 percent year-on-year from 10 billion pounds in 2024. It also saw profit gains: the builder posted a pre-tax profit of 323 million pounds for the year, up roughly 51 percent from the year before of 2024 taxes of £214 million.
Balfour Beatty said its profit and revenue increased year-on-year as a result of strong results from UK power transmission projects and its US building portfolio.
Some of the company’s building projects in the United States include the expansion of the Broward County Hotel and Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Phase 2 horizontal work at The Wharf in Washington, DC.
However, old problems plagued the company in other areas of the business. Strong growth and operational delivery in the U.S. Buildings segment took a hit as a result of schedule delays and cost overruns on a Texas highway project, Chief Financial Officer Phil Harrison said.
Harrison, who is it? give up the role later this year, further revenue growth is expected for the company’s buildings segment in 2026 and the Texas project is expected to be completed later this year.
The firm’s infrastructure investment division also suffered as a result legal costs of your military housing questions Balfour Beatty Communities, a subsidiary of the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based contractor and one of the largest providers of privatized military housing, pleaded guilty in 2022 to defraud the US military.
As a result, the Department of Justice and the company agreed to establish an independent compliance monitor, which is a person appointed to ensure that a party complies with the terms of a settlement agreement or compliance program. Balfour Beatty and the DOJ had previously agreed to extend oversight until June 6, Harrison told investors.
If the review concludes on that date, the company expects more normal profits in 2027, Harrison said.
“Our financial position as a business is strong and the strategic investments made in previous years have laid the foundation for future growth,” Harrison said. “Earnings momentum is expected to continue beyond 2026, giving us confidence in continued progress over the medium term.”
Record the backlog
In addition to its profits and revenue, Balfour Beatty also reported a record backlog, referred to as its “order book”, of £22.7 billion by 2025. The total represents a 23.3% increase from £18.4 billion in 2024.
“It’s not just the size and scale of this order book, it’s the high quality work we see in it and the resilience it brings to our business,” boasted Hoare.
Balfour Beatty is not alone with its portfolio. Other U.S. construction companies reported record delays for 2025, including New York City-based Turner Construction; Granite Construction based in Watsonville, California; i Dallas-based AECOM. Data center and infrastructure demand, both focuses for Balfour Beatty, were cited by builders in their earnings calls and reports.
