The Security Services Europe arm of the multi-national security contractor Securitas has seen a ‘higher level of security needs in a number of countries’, according to the firm’s report for the first nine months of 2016. The company did add that most of the extra security needs in Europe are short term in its nature and will reduce in the coming quarters; more specifically, about half of the organic sales growth was put down to terrorism fears, mainly in Belgium and France; and the movement of refugee-migrants. This, with a few major contract losses and historically high comparatives, will reverse the positive organic sales growth trend in its Europe operations in the coming quarters, ‘but we expect it to recover during the second half of 2017’, said President and Chief Executive Officer Alf Goransson, pictured.
He said: “Our investments in protective services during recent years also resonate very well in the market, and our efforts to optimise the customers’ security spend allows us to presently grow faster than the security markets in the US and Europe as well as in many of the Ibero-American countries.”
In January to September 2016, the North America and Europe arms of the firm reported that operating margin improved. The firm did point to the termination of a low margin contract with an unnamed retailer in the UK as from November 2016.
As has been the theme for the company for years, Goransson stressed ‘security solutions and electronic security’. Hence Securitas’ acquisition this year of Diebold’s North American Electronic Security business.
Securitas in Europe reports that it has 900 branch managers and 118,000 employees.
For the firm’s interim reports for 2016 visit http://www.securitas.com/en/investors/financial-reports/interim-reports/interim-reports-2016-/.
