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Shares of the ‘royal rat catcher’ soared after business boomed last year.
Rentokil Initial, which won contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, does everything from removing spiders hiding in cupboards to cleaning bedbug-infested hotels.
The pest control company said sales soared 44.7 per cent to £5.38 billion in 2023, while profits rose by two-thirds to £493 million.
The shares rose 17.7 per cent, or 75.7 pence, to 504.2 pence, as revenue from its pest control business, the world’s largest, rose 4.5 per cent to 4.3 billion. pounds sterling.
The division includes Terminix, a US company it bought in 2022 for £5.2bn.
Rentokil Initial said sales soared 44.7% to £5.38 billion in 2023, while profits rose by two-thirds to £493 million.
While growth weakened in North America, the blue-chip firm outlined plans to turn around the business and expects revenue in the region to rise 2 to 4 percent this year.
“We enter 2024 with confidence in our plans,” the company said. Adam Vettese, an analyst at investment platform Etoro, said the idea that “it’s far from glamorous but someone has to do it” is probably one of the reasons investors are backing Rentokil.
On a ‘Super Thursday’ full of updates, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent, or 13.15 points, to 7,692.46 and the FTSE 250 rose 0.6 per cent, or 110.76 points, to 19,583.98.
Gold hit a record high of $2,164 an ounce as investors piled in betting on interest rate cuts.
In London, cybersecurity firm Darktrace – which rose 6.2 per cent, or 21.7 pence, to 373.7 pence – raised its forecast for this year and said it would step up efforts to combat threats posed by intelligence artificial (AI).
Stock Watch – Funding Circle
An online lending platform founded to help small businesses after the 2008 financial crisis is to buy £25m worth of shares from investors.
Funding Circle, created in 2010, said its share price “materially undervalues” the business.
It believes the share buyback will improve its bottom line by rewarding shareholders.
The company has provided loans worth £16 billion to more than 140,000 small businesses. The shares rose 54.6 per cent, or 15.3p, to 43.3p.
GKN owner Melrose fell 2.3 per cent, or 14.6p, to 617.4p, due to supply chain issues.
It expects to make between £3.6bn and £3.75bn of revenue this year, following a 17 per cent rise to £3.35bn in 2023.
He warned that growth will be tempered by industry-wide challenges, such as raw material shortages.
Last year, Melrose spun off several GKN businesses into a separate group listed as Dowlais. It is now solely focused on GKN Aerospace.
Window component maker Tyman suffered even bigger losses following its dismal annual results.
Revenue fell 8 per cent to £657.6m in 2023, while profits plunged almost a fifth to £50m.
It warned that business appeared to be tough this year, but the shares rose 0.5 per cent, or 1.5p, to 296.5p.
Beazley said it would buy up to £255m of shares from investors after the insurer’s profits doubled to a record £970m. This raised it by 0.2 per cent, or 1p, to 654p.
Despite a sharp drop in profits last year, two recruiters remained optimistic that more candidates will apply for jobs and be hired in 2024.
Robert Walters rose 1.9 per cent, or 8p, to 421p, while Page Group added 1.1 per cent, or 5.2p, to 462.4p.
Yarn maker Coats said it expected business to improve this year after a difficult 2023, and gained 11.4 per cent, or 7.8 pence, to 76.4 pence.
And engineer Spirax hopes to return to growth this year, in industries such as the semiconductor sector, after profits fell 21 per cent to £244.5m.
The shares rose 3.8 per cent, or 390 pence, to 10,660 pence.