Security contractor G4S has beaten first-half profit expectations and said it expects increased demand for thermal cameras and screening personnel as companies reopen after lockdowns.
The company employs security guards and provides security camera installations and scanners in airports and other places.
It reported an adjusted operating profit of £187m, topping the £159m expected by analysts.
But it said, however, it was not ready to resume dividends.
"We are assisting customers around the world with their Covid-19 return to work assurance programmes," it said, citing increased demand for thermal cameras, access control and screening personnel.
G4S, one of the world's largest private security firms employing more than half a million people in 90 countries, sold most of its cash-handling operations in February to US peer Brinks to focus on its security business.
Earlier this month, the company said it planned to lay off some employees at its retained British cash operations to cope with sliding cash volumes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Adjusted operating profit at its cash business fell by a third.
The firm said today it expected to save £100m in 2020 from productivity gains and restructuring.
Profit at its secure solutions rose 1.5% in the six months to June, as growth in the Americas and Asia countered weakness in Europe and the Middle East, where the coronavirus had the most impact on the group's business.
"Overall, we see these results as strong in the context of the Covid-19 crisis," analysts at JPMorgan said.
G4S said the net financial costs of the pandemic for parts of the business where it received government employment support was estimated at £20-25m, largely because of lost revenues and cost increases.
