Rentokil sales move higher amid flurry of acquisitions

Pest control and hygiene business Rentokil Initial saw revenues nudge higher for the past three months as it was boosted by acquisitions.

Shares in the business dipped in early trading on Thursday despite it hailing a “strong performance” from its core operations.

The update comes just weeks after it increased its growth targets and announced plans to expand its hygiene arm following strong demand following the pandemic.

On Thursday, Rentokil said its revenues rose by 0.5% to £761.9 million for the third quarter of 2021.

However, it said this was depressed by its disinfection business which fell away from pandemic-boosted levels from last year.

The FTSE 100 company said revenues excluding disinfection were 9.7% higher for the period.

It was buoyed by an “excellent performance” by its pest control business, despite its operations in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia being impacted by lockdown restrictions.

The group said it benefited from nine acquisitions during the quarter, including seven in its pest control arm.

It said it expects mergers and acquisition activity for the company to have cost the firm between £450 million and £500 million for the year.

Chief executive Andy Ransom said: “We have delivered a strong performance from our core businesses in the quarter and are confident of sustaining this momentum for the remainder of the year.

“Assuming no further significant deterioration in trading conditions arising from the pandemic, our performance in Q3 – combined with further progress in our value-creating mergers and acquisition programme – means we remain on track to deliver a full-year performance in line with the guidance given at our interim results in July.”

Shares were 2.2% lower in early trading.