Estonia's larger security firms also enjoyed financially healthy 2022
Some of Estonia's largest security firms saw increased turnover and profits for 2022, in part as the economy emerged from the Covid crisis. At the same time, companies operating in the security sphere reported personnel shortages and wage-price pressure last year.
The three firms in the spotlight are: G4S Eesti, Viking Security and Forus Security.
G4S Eesti
G4S Eesti is a part of the multi-national security group of the same name.
It reported a 2022 rise in revenues of 6 percent, to €59.5, and a net profit of €1.9 million in the same year.
The company posted losses of €300,000 in 2021.
G4S Estonia employed 1,880 in 2022, and said that in the wake of the Covid pandemic, it saw a large surge in demand for staff – presumably as stores and other businesses reopened – but this was also hampered by rapid wage-price inflation.
The company said it worked on employee retention last year, keeping this just inside of its own set goals in this area.
€23.4 million of G4S' 2022 revenue derived from its provision of staffed security, €18 million the sale, maintenance and installation of equipment, and €16 million from technical security.
Viking Security
Viking Security, a subsidiary of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp, reports it boosted its turnover by 10 percent to €15.2 million last year and attained a net profit of €55,000, compared with 2021 losses of €27,000.
The company's Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) grew by 26 percent, Viking says.
Viking Security's wage costs rose by more than €1.4 million in 2022, again affected by strong wage pressure and labor shortages. As of the end of the year, 493 people worked in the company, unchanged on 2021.
The company also acquired Skarabeus Julgestusteenistus, with 161 employees, and Caesari Security Service (11 employees) this year.
Forus Security
Forus Security, formerly known as USS and a firm which belongs to real estate tycoon and Estonian Olympic Committee chair Urmas Sõõrumaa, enjoyed a rise of 11 percent in turnover on year to 200, to €31 million.
The company's net profit rose from €459,000, to €695,000, over the same period.
Forus employed 1,247 people as an average for year, though it experienced a higher staff turnover in 2022 than in 2021, especially among the security personnel.
Just over two-thirds of the company's 2022 sales revenue derived from security work, and the remaining third from the operation of security systems
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Barbara Oja
