Rentokil Initial PLC (LSE:RTO) has firmed up a drop in profit after a “challenging” year on struggles within its North American business.
Statutory pre-tax profit dropped 17.9% to £405 million in the year to December 31, as revenue climbed 1.1% to £5.44 billion, the pest-control business said on Thursday.
International revenue growth of 4.7% had been “held back” by a shallower 1.5% uptick in North America, where issues completing a merger with The Terminix were said to have hit.
“The Terminix integration is making good progress,” chief executive Andy Ransom commented.
“But, executing it has clearly impacted our North American business performance.”
Results also showed a 2.0% increase in net debt to £3.21 billion and drop in operating profit margin from 11.6% to 10.1%.
“Our sales and marketing initiatives to drive organic growth require further refinement to deliver the required improvements in overall lead generation and sales conversion, which will be a key focus in 2025,” Ransom added.
Shares were down 2.6% at 378p on Thursday.