Assa Abloy: shares fall after 'challenging' start to 2020

(CercleFinance.com) - Assa Abloy, the world's biggest lock maker, said on Wednesday that 2020 has got off to a "challenging" start, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and unprecedented lockdowns in its core markets.


In its preliminary first-quarter results, the Swedish company said that sales have increased by 3% to 22.2 billion Swedish kronor in the first three months of the year, although are down 3% in organic terms.

Operating profit, or EBIT, fell to 2.75 billion kronor, from 3.25 billion a year ago, while its operating margin decreased to 12.4% from 15.1%.

Unsurprisingly, operations and sales in Asia, and in China in particular, were badly hit, the group said, with organic sales down 34% in the APAC region over the quarter.

The shares were down 5% on the Stockholm Stock Exchange after these preliminary numbers.

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