The multi-national security company Securitas has released its interim report for the first three months of 2023.
Magnus Ahlqvist, Securitas President and CEO, pictured, said: “Within our security services business we maintain our sharp focus on quality and actively managing lower profitability contracts and we continue to realise operating margin benefits from the transformation program in North America. In Europe, our performance is below expectations due to increased costs related to labour shortage, contract start-up costs in aviation and negative cost leverage.”
The European arm of Securitas – that’s at work in 21 countries – has a client retention rate of 91 per cent (slightly down from 92pc). The acquired Stanley Security business in Europe was the main contributor to real sales growth, according to the report.
Speaking more generally, Ahlqvist said: “The macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, but I am confident that we are well prepared to continue delivering high-value services even during more challenging times. Our unique offering and client value proposition have strengthened, enabling higher growth within technology and solutions as well as significant operating margin enhancement opportunities.”
The Swedish firm’s annual general meeting 2023 is tomorrow in Stockholm.
The report said that the firm’s operating margin improved to 5.8 per cent (compared with 5.1pc in Europe), making it the strongest operating margin so far in a first quarter. The firm said that was driven ‘by the technology and solutions business’ (that is, rather than the manned guarding side, a theme of Securitas and guarding firms generally), ‘supported by healthy margins in the Stanley Security acquisition’. As in previous reports, the company is looking to make the most of (higher-margin) tech, with an ambition to become a ‘ten per cent operating margin company’. That includes what the report terms ‘actively managing lower profitability contracts’.
