STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Swedish security company Securitas AB on Wednesday posted a 5 percent drop in first-quarter earnings, citing a one-time gain in the same period last year and a weaker U.S. dollar.
Net profit in the first three months of the year was 494 million kronor (US$82.1 million; euro52.8 million), down from 518 million kronor in the same period last year.
Sales grew 3 percent to 15.7 billion kronor (US$2.61 billion; euro1.68 billion), from 15.2 billion kronor in the first quarter of 2007.
Securitas Chief Executive Alf Goransson called the result an "improvement" considering the year-ago earnings were boosted by a 24 million kronor net gain from nonrecurring items. They included a settlement in the U.S. between Securitas' subsidiary Globe Aviation Services Corp. and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The weak U.S. dollar also weighed on the result, Goransson said.
Securitas provides security guards, alarm systems and armored guards to banks, retailers, corporations and residential customers. The group employs 215,000 workers in more than 30 countries.
