Rentokil 2017 Final Results
Strong performance in excess of medium-term financial targets - Ongoing Revenue growth of 14.5%, Ongoing Operating Profit growth of 14.8% and Free Cash Flow of £175.8m
Year-on-year growth in Ongoing Organic Revenue of +3.8% (2016: +3.6%, 3.0% Reported*), driven by Pest Control +5.8% and Hygiene +2.1%
Particularly strong execution of M&A - 41 businesses acquired with combined annualised revenues of £224.7m. Cash spend on M&A of £281.1m
33 Pest Control acquisitions, seven Hygiene acquisitions and one in Protect & Enhance
Pest Control acquisitions include:
o Controlling interest in joint venture with India's largest pest control company, PCI, a strategically important step in a country with significant growth potential
o Nine Pest Control acquisitions in the US with combined annualised revenues of £100m reinforcing our position as the number three player in the key North American market
Completion of joint venture with Haniel to create a leading provider of workwear and hygiene services in Europe and divestment of eight predominately flat linen laundries in France to RLD
Net debt below £1bn at £927.3m, notwithstanding £281.1m spend on acquisitions in 2017
15.1% increase in proposed final dividend of 2.74p to bring total dividend for 2017 to 3.88p
