Rentokil Initial (RTO)

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471.70p
   
  • Change Today:
    -0.80p
  • 52 Week High: 655.20
  • 52 Week Low: 392.50
  • Currency: UK Pounds
  • Shares Issued: 2,524.54m
  • Volume: 8,439,679
  • Market Cap: £11,908m
  • RiskGrade: 127

Rentokil posts rise in Q1 revenue

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Thursday 16 Apr 2020

LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Pest control company Rentokil posted a rise in first-quarter revenue on Thursday as it said the impact of the coronavirus crisis in the second quarter is set to be greater in the last two weeks of March as more countries were locked down.

Rentokil - which cancelled its dividend and withdrew 2020 guidance last month due to the pandemic - said it made a good start to the year, with group ongoing revenue up 7.2% to £630.5m and ongoing operating profit growing "slightly ahead" of revenue in the three months to 31 March 2020.

In the pest control division, ongoing revenue was up 9.3%, while the hygiene business saw a 4.6% increase and Protect and Enhance revenue rose 1.9%.

"While the net impact from the coronavirus outbreak was not significant for the first 10 weeks of the year, we saw a marked impact in the last two weeks of March, as the crisis deepened across the world," the company said.

In March, overall group ongoing revenue was 4.4% above the prior year, with pest control revenue up 6.6% and hygiene 2.6% higher. Rentokil's Protect & Enhance segment was more impacted, however, with ongoing revenue down 2.3%, while revenue from its France workwear operations fell 9.8%.

It pointed out that the pest control business has been designated an essential service in most of its markets and the impact of the virus is also mitigated somewhat by the largely contractual nature of the portfolio and the fact that it is less impacted by business closures.

In Italy, which has been in severe lockdown for several weeks, revenues declined 15.3% in March compared to a 5.7% decline in the quarter. In North America, which is estimated to be around two weeks behind Europe, revenues grew 8.5% in March compared to 10.4% in the quarter.

The company, which said in March that it had implemented pay cuts across the board and all senior management grades and a freeze in hiring, among other things, has drawn down funds under the government's Covid Corporate Financing Facility. As a result, it now has about £1.2bn of cash, of which £550m is drawn down on its revolving credit facility.

Chief executive Andy Ransom: "Our people will always be the essential driver of our success and while we are having to make some extremely difficult decisions to introduce furlough schemes and reduce salaries this is helping to protect the company and our financial resources.

"The actions we are taking now will allow us to rebuild our business to full strength and to play an ever bigger role through the recovery phase in protecting public health and ensuring safe working environments around the world."

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Note 1: Prices and trades are provided by Digital Look Corporate Solutions and are delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Note 2: RiskGrade figures are provided by RiskMetrics.

 

RTO Market Data

Currency UK Pounds
Share Price 471.70p
Change Today -0.80p
% Change -0.17 %
52 Week High 655.20
52 Week Low 392.50
Volume 8,439,679
Shares Issued 2,524.54m
Market Cap £11,908m
RiskGrade 127

RTO Star Ratings

Compare performance with the sector and the market.
more star ratings
Key: vs Market vs Sector
Value
98.02% below the market average98.02% below the market average98.02% below the market average98.02% below the market average98.02% below the market average
91.11% below the sector average91.11% below the sector average91.11% below the sector average91.11% below the sector average91.11% below the sector average
Price Trend
34.63% below the market average34.63% below the market average34.63% below the market average34.63% below the market average34.63% below the market average
50.5% below the sector average50.5% below the sector average50.5% below the sector average50.5% below the sector average50.5% below the sector average
Income
80.33% below the market average80.33% below the market average80.33% below the market average80.33% below the market average80.33% below the market average
81.54% below the sector average81.54% below the sector average81.54% below the sector average81.54% below the sector average81.54% below the sector average
Growth
57.62% above the market average57.62% above the market average57.62% above the market average57.62% above the market average57.62% above the market average
50.00% above the sector average50.00% above the sector average50.00% above the sector average50.00% above the sector average50.00% above the sector average

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 4
Buy 4
Neutral 6
Sell 1
Strong Sell 2
Total 17
neutral
Broker recommendations should not be taken as investment advice, and are provided by the authorised brokers listed on this page.

RTO Dividends

  Latest Previous
  Final Interim
Ex-Div 04-Apr-24 03-Aug-23
Paid 15-May-24 11-Sep-23
Amount 5.93p 2.75p

Trades for 28-Mar-2024

Time Volume / Share Price
16:35 2,589,955 @ 471.70p
16:35 1,259 @ 471.70p
16:35 4,009 @ 471.70p
16:35 2,760 @ 471.70p
16:35 2,010 @ 471.70p

RTO Key Personnel

CEO Andy M. Ransom
Chair Richard Solomons
CFO Stuart Ingall- Tombs

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