ASSA ABLOY seeks to ‘protect the bottom line’ in U.S.

STOCKHOLM – As challenges continue to mount in the residential security market in the U.S., ASSA ABLOY is making sure it “adapts cost to the new reality,” says President and CEO Nico Delvaux. “It's clear that we continue to operate in an uncertain economic climate,” he said. “As I said in previous quarters, we will continue to take advantage of those opportunities we see in the market. There are still regions where we see very good momentum. There are segments where we see opportunities to further significantly grow and on the other side there are markets and segments that are more challenging and there we will (focus on) our agile and decentralized organization, make sure that we adapt cost to the new reality, realize efficiency and protect the bottom line and cash flow.” At a glance, in the first quarter (Q1) 2024 ASSA ABLOY’s net sales increased by 9% to SEK 35,200 M (32,391), net income hit SEK 3,462 M (3,692), earnings per share hit SEK 3.12 (3.32) and operating cash flow hit SEK 3,096 M (4,069). The company also made three acquisitions in the quarter with combined annual sales of about SEK 2,000 M. Delvaux called it, “…a tough comparison compared to the same quarter a year ago with continued challenging market conditions on the residential side and definitely also with three fewer working days in March. We posted a negative organic growth of 2% for the quarter, but good to see that lower, in this case, negative organic growth (11%), is overcompensated by very strong growth to acquisitions in the quarter.” Delvaux noted that after 12 consecutive quarters of organic growth, 13 must be unlucky. ASSA ABLOY saw strong growth in the Middle East, India and Africa and saw stable sales in southern Europe. However, there were lower sales in other regions including a significant sales decline on the organic side of the U.S. residential business. But Delvaux downplayed that information, pointing out a single-digit decline was a good result, considering the market conditions at play in the U.S. The full presentation can be found online at www.assaabloy.com/group/en/investors.