Securitas: The Final Piece of the Puzzle – From Margin Reformer to Growth Compound

Securitas reported a quarter that neatly bookended its multi-year transformation. The company delivered a 7.6% adjusted operating margin—the 22nd consecutive quarter of improvement—while completing the two landmark portfolio programs that had been steadily compressing growth. Now, with the strategic assessment program wrapped up and the active portfolio management in Europe and Ibero-America concluded, the company is turning toward its next phase: profitable growth. As CEO Magnus Ahlqvist highlighted, “we had approximately 1% negative impact on the real change due to the divestment of the GEG Aviation business in North America.” — Magnus Ahlqvist, CEO · 2026-07-24

The Strategic Reset

For years, Securitas has been pruning low-margin contracts and reshaping its portfolio, a process that management has described as necessary but painful. The completion of this work in Q2 removes a persistent drag on organic growth. CFO Matteo Dall’Ora noted that excluding the government business being closed down, organic sales growth was 3% and operating margin was 7.6%, 10 basis points above last year. The company also highlighted a strong sales growth in technology and solutions, which recovered sequentially to 5%. The shift is also visible in the new financial targets announced at the June Capital Markets Day: a 10% average annual EPS growth over the cycle and a long-term ambition of a 10% operating margin.

The contrast with prior quarters is stark. In February, CEO Magnus Ahlqvist told analysts that completing the portfolio work would have a near-term negative impact: “I think it is the right assumption that finalizing that work will have a negative impact in the near term from the active portfolio management.” — Magnus Ahlqvist, President and CEO · 2026-02-04 By November, he was describing the impact as “a several percent type of impact that we’re seeing on the numbers that we’re reporting in the last couple of quarters.” — Magnus Ahlqvist, President and CEO · 2025-11-06 Now, that drag is gone, and the company can fully focus on client engagement and commercial execution.

Growth Engines Power Up

The strongest signal in the quarter is the order intake and backlog in technology installations, which increased significantly across all geographic regions. The sales growth in technology and solutions improved to 5%, with North America notably recovering after a weak start to the year. As CFO Matteo Dall’Ora explained, “we have been investing a lot in the Electronic Security business. We have been now also through all the integration works. I mean we're now able to also focus full effort on driving the commercial engagement.” — Matteo Dall’Ora, CFO · 2026-07-24 This order entry strength is broad-based, spanning defense, financial services, and other high-growth verticals. With typical conversion times of four to six months, this backlog will start feeding into revenue in the second half and into 2027.

The company is also actively working on commercial capabilities and incentives to cross-sell more integrated services. At the Capital Markets Day, Ahlqvist set the ambition clearly:

due to the changing market dynamics and rapid developments in technology, automation and AI, I expect the coming 5 years in this industry to be more transformative than the last 25.

Headwinds and Caution

Despite the positive momentum, the quarter was not without challenges. The Pinkerton business continues to suffer from the termination of a large temporary contract at the end of 2025, which hurt North American growth and profitability. Management is addressing the cost structure while rebuilding the commercial pipeline. Additionally, the Aviation business faced a significant demand reduction—roughly 20% in key markets like Germany—due to the Middle East conflict. CEO Magnus Ahlqvist noted that the impact was felt throughout the quarter and was larger than initially expected: “we had essentially 1 month of impact in the month of March. Now it's throughout the quarter. And the size of the impact has been on the high side also in relation to my expectation.” — Magnus Ahlqvist, CEO · 2026-07-24 The company has taken actions to adjust fixed costs, but the top-line recovery remains uncertain.

These headwinds are transitory, but they underscore the uneven nature of the growth recovery. The margin improvement in the quarter was partly helped by the mix shift, but also by the absence of portfolio management drags. As the company enters the second half, it faces tough comparatives from a strong H2 2025, yet the order book provides confidence.

Securitas is arguably at its strongest strategic position in a decade. The completion of the portfolio programs, combined with the rebound in technology installations, sets the stage for an earnings acceleration that the market has been waiting for. The question is no longer whether the company can hit its 10% EPS target, but how quickly the growth engine can compensate for the lingering aviation and Pinkerton pressures.