5th Mar 2026 10:04
(Alliance News) - Rentokil Initial PLC on Thursday said growth in its key North American business improved in the fourth quarter of 2025, allaying fears of a slowdown.
The Crawley, England-based pest control specialist said pretax profit fell 16% to USD390 million in 2025 from USD462 million in 2024, but rose 4.0% on an adjusted basis to USD876 million in 2025 from USD842 million.
Basic earnings per share fell 16% to 11.49 US cents from 13.72 cents, but grew 2.4% to 25.91 cents from 25.31 cents on an adjusted basis.
Revenue increased 4.4% to USD6.91 billion from USD6.62 billion.
In the fourth quarter, Rentokil reported organic revenue growth of 3.5%, including 3.6% in North America and 3.4% in International.
Growth in North America picked up from 3.4% in the third quarter of 2025, and allayed fears of a weather driven slowdown as flagged by industry peer Rollins Inc.
In response, shares in Rentokil Initial, a weak feature ahead of results, shot up 13% to 479.44 pence each in London on Thursday morning. It was the best performing stock in the FTSE 100 which was up 0.4%. The stock went into the results with a year-to-date decline of some 5%.
North America pest control services achieved fourth quarter organic growth of 2.6%, speeding up from 1.8% in the prior three month period, and just 0.1% in the first half of 2025.
Outgoing Chief Executive Andy Ransom said: "2025 has been a year of encouraging progress with improving performance through the second half, after the strategic initiatives we implemented from Q1 2025."
The CEO said there is "still more to do", but added the firm's "leading positions in the North American pest market, and other key global markets, provide a solid foundation and mean we are well-placed to capitalise on strong industry growth forecasts for the coming years."
Ransom is being succeeded by Mike Duffy who takes the helm on March 16.
On Thursday, Rentokil said Chair Richard Solomons also intends to retire, once a successor has been appointed.
Solomons has served as chair of Rentokil since 2019.
Rentokil declared a final dividend of 8.24 cents, up 4.6% on-year, taking the total payout to 12.39 cents, up 3.0% from 12.03 cents.
Looking ahead, the FTSE 100 listing said despite "some weather-related disruption in North America in January, and increased uncertainty from recent geopolitical events, we expect to deliver FY 2026 financial results in line with market expectations."
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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