Securitas AB (publ) (SECU_B) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to our Q1 2026 report. Before we begin, I would like to welcome Matteo, who joined the group as CFO on April 1st. And Matteo has an impressive track record from a number of leadership roles in finance, but also leading significant businesses. And for many years, he has spent time with Atlas Copco and more recently with So a great addition to the team, and a warm welcome, Matthew. With that, let's go to the performance highlights of the quarter. And on a high level, we delivered good operating margin improvements, earnings growth and cash flow in Q1, but the top-line growth was below my expectations. The adjusted operating margin improved to 7%, and this was supported by all business segments. And this is testament to focused execution, and we have now improved the operating margin 21 quarters in a row. The adjusted growth in the quarter was 2% for the growth, for the group, and the growth in North America was flat year on year, and this was primarily the result of significantly lower installation sales in the technology business. But importantly, commercial activity in technology in North America remained healthy with strong growth in installation order intake. and backlog. Looking at the earnings growth, the margin development was an important driver behind the 8% improvement in operating results and 16% improvement in earnings per share on a constant currency basis, and also then excluding IEC. Q1 cash flow was healthy for a Q1 at 40%, and Matteo will share some more details about this in the finance sections. And our work to sharpen our focus and portfolio continues, and we divested the global elite group in the U.S. and also a smaller part of our technology business in Canada in the quarter. And this means that we are no...