Lockmaker Assa Abloy's quarterly profit beats expectations

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Assa Abloy, the world's biggest lockmaker, on Tuesday reported second-quarter operating earnings above analysts' expectations helped by sales growth in Europe and the Americas.

The Swedish group's operating profit grew to 4.41 billion Swedish crowns ($424.57 million) from a year-earlier 3.59 billion, against a mean forecast of 4.27 billion in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

($1 = 10.3869 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm)