Rentokil Initial lifts interims

Pest controller Rentokil Initial said interim pre-tax profits rose to £74.9m from £68.6m, adding that it remained on track to met full year expectations despite “challenging conditions” in parts of Europe.

Revenue rose to £935.5m from £845.5m and the company lifted the dividend by 13.8% to 0.99p.

"While conditions in certain parts of Europe remain challenging, particularly in France and Benelux, prospects in the majority of our key markets are good and we are on track to achieve our 2016 revenue, profit and cash expectations,” said chief executive Andy Ransom.

"I am pleased with our performance in the first half, and particularly encouraged by the performance of our pest control business and by our continued expansion into our key growth market of North America, which is set to achieve revenues of around $1bn by the end of 2016, some two years ahead of our expectations. Organic growth in Pest Control was 5.5%, with North America Pest Control growing organically by 4.7%."