UPDATE 1-Assa Abloy posts Q4 operating profit below expectations
(Adds Q4 operating profit, CEO quote and dividend)
Feb 7 (Reuters) - The world's biggest lockmaker Assa Abloy reported an 11% rise in fourth-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, below market expectations, with like-for-like sales growth grinding to a halt amid slow residential markets.
The Swedish group's quarterly operating profit grew to 5.72 billion Swedish crowns ($545.5 million) from 5.15 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected a profit of 5.77 billion crowns for the quarter.
"In the fourth quarter, and despite lower volumes, we delivered an operating margin, excluding the HHI transaction, of 16.8%, within our target range," said CEO Nico Delvaux in a statement.
A rival to Allegion and Stanley Black & Decker said it planned to pay out a dividend of 5.40 per share for 2023, up from the 4.80 crowns disbursed a year earlier and higher than the 5.17 crowns seen by analysts. ($1 = 10.4866 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Elviira Luoma and Jesus Calero in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)
