Financial Trading Blog

Stock of the day 11/04/2019 – Rentokil Initial PLC



Can Rentokil Initial exterminate any sellers with Thursday’s Q1 trading update?



Though it was admittedly a bit all over the place last year, lurching from lows of £2.59 to highs of £3.57, 2018 was solid enough for the FTSE 100 stock, Rentokil securing an unspectacular – but respectable, given the wider market circumstances – 9% increase across the 12 months.


(Source: Spreadex, 11/04/2019)

That inconsistent, but still upwards, form has carried over in 2019, with the company hitting £3.68 in early April having ducked under £3.30 at the end of February. Rentokil Initial PLC now sits at a current trading price of £3.64 (Spreadex, 11/04/2019), an 8% improvement on the year’s opening position.

Rentokil’s full year results were responsible for the stock shifting away from that aforementioned late-February low. A heat-wave led rise in rats, wasps and flies gave the firm’s figures a boost, with organic revenue growth at its Pest Control division up 4.8%, ahead of the group’s 3.7% increase. Total revenue, meanwhile, rose 4.1% at constant exchange rates to £2.47 billion, with adjusted pre-tax profit climbing 8.8% to £308 million.

It also celebrating an ‘excellent year for M&A’, one that saw Rentokil pick up 47 businesses in Growth and Emerging markets ‘with combined annualised revenue of £170 million for cash spend of £298.4 million’, alongside 42 acquisitions in Pest Control, 4 in Hygiene and 1 in small Ambius business.

The company ended February’s report by stating that following a ‘good start to the year’ it anticipates ‘a slight increase in market expectations for 2019’, something investors will want further word on in Thursday’s first quarter statement.

Rentokil Initial PLC has a consensus rating of ‘Hold’ alongside an average target price of £3.71.

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