20% - Assa Abloy

The division sells
electronic security
solutions worldwide.
1 Excluding restructuring items.
Global Technologies Division
Innovative products produce
strong growth
Global Technologies achieved major successes during the
year. Innovative products lifted sales and marketing campaigns
continued to drive growth.
Global Technologies in brief
The division consists of two business units, HID Group
and ASSA ABLOY Hospitality. Sales are limited almost exclusively
to the commercial segment. The largest markets
are North America and Europe, though Asia is rapidly
growing in importance as a result of marketing initiatives.
In a reorganization towards the end of the year HID and ITG
merged, which is expected to further contribute to growth
and improved profitability.
HID Group
HID Group is active in electronic access control, secure
issuance of smart cards and identification technology.
The HID Group is the market leader in electronic access
control, and the selection of products includes card readers,
cards for access control, and control panels for authorization
control. The products make use of several different
technologies, including radio-frequency identification
(RFID), magnetic stripe and biometrics. The products are
sold under brands such as HID, Integrated Engineering and
Indala.
In the field of secure issuance of smart cards, the Group
company Fargo has a number of printer products focused
on distributed management of different types of cards.
Identification technology includes products for reliable
identification, such as ID cards, smart cards and readers, as
well as antennas in electronic passports. The main brands
are Sokymat, ACG and Omnikey.
ASSA ABLOY Hospitality
ASSA ABLOY Hospitality, which produces electronic lock
systems and hotel safes, focuses on the hotel and cruiseship
markets with leading global brands such as VingCard,
Inhova and Elsafe.
Sales and Operating income
Sales Operating income
SEK M SEK M
5,000
1,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
05
06
07
800
600
400
Sales, SEK M
Operating income, SEK M 1
Capital employed and
Return on capital employed
Capital
Return on
employed capital employed
SEK M %
6,000
30
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
05
Global Technologies Division
25
Report on the year
During the year the division achieved sales of SEK 4,922 M
(4,220), a 17 percent increase. Organic growth was 11
percent and acquired growth was 12 percent. Operating
income was up 23 percent to SEK 754 M (612), which represents
an operating margin (EBIT) of 15.3 percent (14.5).
The operating margin increased as a result of better volumes,
but was limited by continued initiatives to expand
the sales and marketing organizations in these rapidly
growing segments.
HID Group
HID continued to expand its commercial organization in all
areas, with a special focus on the Asian region. Growth was
strong throughout the year thanks to growing market
investments, many new products and an increased need for
security. Legislation and more rigorous security requirements
further stimulated demand for the business unit’s
products, such as electronic access systems, secure issuance
of smart cards and identification technology.
One clear trend in the market is the merging of physical
and logical access, which means that the same solutions
are used for access control in buildings and for access to
computers. As a result the products will be compatible
with many different types of digital readers and standards
on the market. It is therefore important to collaborate on
technical standards with software companies. HID had a
major success in this area during the year through collaboration
with Microsoft ® , which certified the HID Group’s
Crescendo card for use in Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating
system in 2007.
HID and ITG merged through a reorganization aimed
at strengthening growth and profitability. The units com-
plement each other well through ITG’s strong presence in
Europe and HID’s in the USA. The consolidation will provide
opportunities to realize sales and cost synergies.
06
07
25
20
15
10
Capital employed, SEK M
Return on capital employed, % 1
Operating income and Cash flow
SEK M
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
05
06
07
Operating income, SEK M 1
Cash flow, SEK M 1