STOCKHOLM, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Assa Abloy, the

world's largest lockmaker, reported on Tuesday a slightly bigger

third-quarter operating profit than expected and said that while

sales grew overall, the residential market in North America

remained sluggish.

Operating profit at the Swedish group rose to 6.43 billion

Swedish crowns ($682.92 million) from 6.21 billion a year

earlier. Analysts polled by LSEG had on average expected a

profit of 6.37 billion crowns.

Sales at Assa, which competes with Allegion ( ALLE ) and

Dormakaba, grew organically by 3% to 38.1 billion

crowns. This was in line with analysts' expectations.

CEO Nico Delvaux said in a statement that sales declined in

the North American residential division, as high interest rates

continued to hold back demand for new construction.

($1 = 9.4155 Swedish crowns)