Securitas executives said during the company’s Q2 2026 earnings call that growing demand for electronic security and technology installations, coupled with significantly higher order intake and backlog, is building momentum for its technology business as the company enters the second half of the year.

The company reported flat organic sales growth and an operating margin of 7.5% for the quarter. Excluding the North American government business being wound down, organic sales growth was 3% and the operating margin was 7.6%. Company leaders said technology demand continued to strengthen even as active portfolio management initiatives and weaker airport security activity weighed on overall growth.

President and CEO Magnus Ahlqvist described the quarter as one with “some clear positive developments, but also a few areas where we are performing below our plan,” citing softer results in Europe driven by portfolio management actions and reduced airport security activity tied to lower flight volumes.

Real sales growth in the technology and solutions business reached 5%, supported by a recovery in North American technology installations.

“What is really positive is that the order entry and the backlog in the Technology installations business increased significantly across all geographic regions and technology momentum is building as we’re going into the second half,” Ahlqvist said.

The company also extended its operating margin improvement streak to 22 consecutive quarters. Ahlqvist said the improvement reflects Securitas’ strategy of increasing the share of higher-value technology and solutions offerings across its business.

Aviation weakness offsets gains in Europe

While electronic security and technology performed well, executives said several market factors constrained overall growth.

In Europe, Securitas said airport security operations were affected by reduced air travel related to the situation in the Middle East. According to Ahlqvist, demand in aviation security declined by approximately 20% in key markets such as Germany, reducing both sales and profitability and lowering overall European growth by roughly one percentage point.

The company also completed active portfolio management programs in Europe and Ibero-America, initiatives designed to improve the overall quality and focus of the business.

“It remains important to continuously work to optimize and calibrate the business, but it’s good to have those programs behind us since we can dedicate more focus on client engagement and driving the commercial agenda,” Ahlqvist said.

Technology strategy drives next phase of growth

Executives devoted much of the earnings call to discussing the company’s long-term strategy following its June Capital Markets Day.

Securitas said it is targeting average annual earnings-per-share growth of 10% over the strategic cycle leading up to 2030 while continuing to expand technology and solutions as a larger share of its business.

“The winners in the security industry in the future must deliver quality and offer the clients technology, digital and intelligence-led capabilities,” Ahlqvist said. “With these capabilities, we are very well positioned to capitalize on the changing dynamics and to drive profitable growth.”

To support that strategy, the company plans to strengthen cross-selling efforts, implement additional commercial incentives, train customer-facing teams to sell more integrated services and further commercialize its intelligence-led security capabilities.

“We are now intensifying our efforts to commercialize, monetize the capabilities we have built,” Ahlqvist said.

Cash flow remains strong

Chief Financial Officer Matteo Dall’Ora said Securitas generated SEK 2.5 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter, equal to 87% of operating income. Net debt increased SEK 495 million from the first quarter, primarily because of a SEK 1.5 billion dividend payment and foreign currency translation effects, while the company’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio remained at 2.2x, unchanged from the previous quarter and 0.2x lower than a year earlier.

The company also continued to benefit from lower financing costs as debt levels and interest rates declined, and Dall’Ora said Securitas remains committed to further deleveraging while maintaining its investment-grade credit rating.

Looking ahead, Ahlqvist said rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence are reshaping the security industry and reinforcing the company’s emphasis on technology-enabled services.

“Due to the changing market dynamics and rapid developments in technology, automation and AI, I expect the coming five years in this industry to be more transformative than the last 25,” he said. “We are very well positioned for the next phase and are stepping up the engagement with our clients.”

(Editor’s note: This article was produced with the assistance of generative AI using Securitas’ publicly available earnings call transcript as source material. The content was reviewed, edited and verified by the SecurityInfoWatch editorial team to ensure accuracy, context and adherence to our editorial standards.)