Rentokil Initial PLC 6-K, filed Oct 22, 2026
Rentokil Initial PLC (RTO)
6-K
2026-10-22
For: 2026-10-22
View Original
Added on
October 22, 2026
About this 6-K
Rentokil Initial PLC filed this 6-K on October 22, 2026.
Rentokil Initial plc reported Q3 Group Organic Revenue growth of 3.4%, approved a $200m share buyback programme, and expects FY 2026 profit in line with current market expectations. AI summary
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
___________________
FORM 6-K
__________________
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For
the month of October 2026
Commission File Number: 001-41524
___________________________________
Rentokil Initial plc
(Registrant’s name)
___________________________________
Compass House
Manor Royal
Crawley
West Sussex RH10 9PY
United Kingdom
(Address of principal executive office)
_____________________________________
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F ☒ Form
40-F ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is
submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T
Rule 101(b)(1): ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is
submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T
Rule 101(b)(7): ☐
|
Q3
Trading Update dated 22 October 2026
|
|
22 October 2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AND THE PERSON
RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS RACHEL CANHAM, GROUP
GENERAL COUNSEL AND COMPANY SECRETARY.
RENTOKIL INITIAL PLC - THIRD QUARTER TRADING UPDATE
Rentokil Initial plc ("the Group") Q3 Trading Update for the period
1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026
Financial Highlights
●
Solid Q3, with Group Organic Revenue growth of 3.4%.
●
North America Pest Control Services Organic Revenue growth of
2.4%.
●
Continued strength in International Pest with Organic Revenue
growth of 5.7%.
●
Disciplined capital allocation with $200m share buyback programme
approved by the Board.
●
Expect to deliver FY 2026 profit in line with current market
expectations.
Mike Duffy, Chief Executive of Rentokil Initial plc,
said:
"I'm encouraged by the progress we've made since setting out our
priorities in July to build the platform for sustainable organic
growth through customer focus, sales and operational excellence,
and business simplification.
"Our ongoing focus on more brands, more branches and enhanced
digital marketing, combined with actions to improve leads and
conversion in North America Pest Control Services, supported
improving Organic Revenue growth trends through the quarter with
Residential lead flow recovering to a 1% decline in September. We
are separating our Residential and Commercial businesses in North
America to drive a sharper focus on growth, and have appointed
dedicated leadership for each business with a combined experience
of over 40 years in the pest control industry. We are now starting
pilots to drive the standardisation of best practices across the
branch network focused on improving the customer journey and
driving better execution in the field.
"We have promoted Phill Wood, a highly experienced Rentokil Initial
operator, to be our International CEO. We are pleased with another
strong quarter for International Pest with 5.7% Organic Revenue
growth. I have been working closely with Phill and our new Chief
Transformation Officer, Matt Jochim, to design a more efficient
International operating model which will yield significant cost
savings from procurement, off-shoring and outsourcing. We remain
confident these savings will fully fund our targeted investment
needs in our North America business.
"Demonstrating our focus on simplification, we recently agreed the
sale of SOLitude Lake Management for estimated net cash proceeds of
$180m and continue to review our portfolio. Reflecting our
commitment to disciplined capital allocation and the strength of
our balance sheet, the Board has approved a $200m share buyback
programme.
"We have a great business and a clear vision of how to improve
performance. This, combined with our focus on efficiency and a
disciplined approach to capital allocation, will enable us to
create a stronger Rentokil. We are executing against the priorities
we laid out in July and we expect to deliver FY 2026 profit in line
with current market expectations."
Group
Group Revenue for the quarter was $1,890m, up 4.0%. Organic Revenue
growth was 3.4%.
North America
Revenue for the quarter was $1,176m, up 3.4% and Organic Revenue
growth was 3.2%.
North America Pest Control Services Revenue growth was 2.7%, driven
by 3.1% growth in contract revenue (Q226: 2.3%) and 2.6% growth in
jobbing revenue (Q226: 5.5%). Organic Revenue growth was 2.4%
reflecting continued growth in Residential across core Pest Control
and Termite, and improved growth from National Accounts in
Commercial driven by enhanced service quality and continued
PestConnect adoption.
Aggregate Residential lead flow trends improved in September to a
c.1% decline for the month, recovering from a weaker July and
August. As we continue to optimise marketing spend across a
shifting digital landscape, our regional and local brands have
sustained positive lead growth. A sharper focus on self-generated
leads, enabled by expanded call-centre capacity and improved
Residential sales initiatives, has produced positive
results.
North America Business Services Organic Revenue growth
was 9.6%
(Q226: 9.1%), supported by seasonal demand in product distribution
and new business wins in brand standards.
Colleague retention increased to 82.8% (Q325: 81.8%) and customer
retention increased to 81.1% (Q325: 80.9%). Good progress in
Residential customer retention was supported by continued
improvements in multiple service metrics and the increasing impact
of our customer saves team. Commercial retention stabilised in the
quarter.
International
International Revenue for the quarter was $714m, up 5.0%, with 5.6%
growth in contract revenue (Q226: 5.7%) and 1.9% growth in jobbing
revenue (Q226: 5.9%). Organic Revenue growth was 3.7%, or 4.7%
excluding UK Property Services and DCUK, both impacted by
challenging trading conditions in the UK property
market.
International Pest Control Revenue for the quarter was $436m, up
7.3%, with 7.8% growth in contract revenue and 5.0% growth in
jobbing revenue. Organic Revenue growth was 5.7%, another strong
performance following 5.4% in Q2. In the UK, core Pest Organic
Revenue grew 9.2% as a solid pricing environment and ongoing
improvements to customer retention drove high single-digit growth
in contract revenue. Asia & MENAT also delivered growth ahead
of the average, led by volume growth in India and Indonesia.
Europe, LATAM and Pacific all grew Organic Revenue in the mid
single-digit range, with solid pricing across these regions and
improving volume growth in Europe.
International Hygiene & Wellbeing revenue for the quarter was
$278m, up 1.7%, with Organic Revenue growth of 0.7%. Overall growth
was impacted by challenging trading conditions for our DCUK
asbestos removal business. Organic Revenue growth excluding DCUK
was 2.6%.
Colleague retention was 90.4% (Q325: 90.6%) and customer retention
increased to 86.0% (Q325: 85.4%) supported by strong customer
service driven by investments in training, increasing contribution
from PestConnect and early results of more structured account
management processes.
Update on execution against our strategic priorities: building the
platform for sustainable organic growth
There are strong structural growth opportunities in our industry
benefiting from favourable tailwinds. We have a strong right to win
as a scale player with leading market positions in many of the
countries where we operate, and with a portfolio of
category-defining brands represented by experienced and
long-tenured colleagues. To fully deliver on our growth potential,
in July we set out three priorities to drive sustainable organic
growth and have made progress executing against those priorities
through the quarter.
1) Focus on the customer:
●
Progress made with the separation of North America
Residential and Commercial businesses to better serve the distinct
needs of each customer base and reduce operational complexity.
Internal appointment of two highly experienced pest control
industry veterans to lead each division. We are designing and
implementing strategies to enhance the customer experience and
improve retention.
●
Driven by strong customer demand, US PestConnect now
has over 18,000 devices deployed at over 335 sites following our
May 2026 launch. We see rising interest for Connected Pest
solutions from new and existing customers.
●
Commercial customer saves team pilot exceeded
expectations. Will be scaled nationally through Q4.
2) Sales and operational excellence:
●
Launched a pilot in Atlanta to address c.150
opportunities to improve the customer journey identified across key
areas such as customer acquisition, service delivery, billing,
cross-sell and retention as we work towards establishing a
standardised branch operating model and best-in-class
playbooks.
●
Targeted actions in our North America call centres and
online chat journeys to reduce friction in the customer experience,
with focus on "speed to lead" to reduce wait times and error rates,
driving improved lead conversion through September.
Additionally, new lead attribution is enabling the business
to shift spend to higher converting self-generated lead
sources.
●
We continued to prioritise sales training in Q3. We provided
dedicated rodent control training in North America ahead of the
autumn season. In Europe, we focused on capability building across
the Emerging Sales Leaders programme, Heat Centre of Excellence
training, and a Lumina sales incentive.
3) Business simplification:
●
Announced $230m sale of SOLitude Lake Management to Bain
Capital, generating estimated net cash proceeds after tax of
c.$180m. The transaction is anticipated to close in
Q426.
●
Continued portfolio simplification in Q3 by divesting a
smaller business in Jordan, building on the sale of our Benelux
specialist hygiene business in the first half.
Bolt-on M&A
The Group's bolt-on M&A programme continued to create value
with 7 deals in the period, delivering annualised revenue in the
year before acquisition of $11m. On a year-to-date basis,
this takes the total number of deals to 21, delivering annualised
revenue in the year before acquisition of c.$36m. We now
expect M&A spend of around $100m in 2026 with a disciplined
approach focused on delivering value in our highest opportunity
markets and segments.
Capital Allocation
Our disciplined capital allocation framework remains consistent. We
will invest for growth organically and inorganically through
bolt-on M&A, maintain a sustainable progressive dividend, and
then return surplus capital to shareholders whilst maintaining a
strong balance sheet with a target Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA
ratio of 2.0-2.5x. Given the reduction of our leverage ratio
at 30 June 2026 to 2.4x, and as the business will de-lever further
with the SOLitude disposal proceeds, the Board has approved a $200m
share buyback programme which is expected to start imminently and
to complete by our FY26 results.
Directorate Change: Retirement of Chief Financial
Officer
Rentokil Initial plc has today announced that Paul
Edgecliffe-Johnson, Chief Financial Officer, has informed the Board
of his intention to retire from his full-time executive role and
step down from the Board with effect from 31 January 2027 for
family health reasons. Paul will remain with the Company and as
part of the Executive Leadership Team in a senior advisory capacity
following his departure from the Board to ensure an orderly
succession and continuity of financial leadership. Please see the
separate announcement for further details.
Conference call details and registration
Rentokil Initial Chief Executive, Mike Duffy, and Chief Financial
Officer, Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, will host a conference call for
analysts and investors today at 9:00 a.m. BST. Registration for the
webcast and live teleconference Q&A is available on our Company
website (https://www.rentokil-initial.com/investors.aspx) and
below. A replay and transcript will be available on the Company
website following the event.
To access the live audio webcast in a listen-only format, please
register via the following link:
Rentokil Initial Q326 Trading Update listen-only webcast
registration
To ask a question, please register via the following link to
receive your unique dial-in details:
Rentokil Initial Q326 Trading Update live teleconference Q&A
registration
Enquiries:
Investors / Analysts:
Heather Wood, Head of Investor Relations, +44 7808
098793
Jamie Lewis, Senior Manager Investor Relations, +44 7341
071944
Media:
Malcolm Padley, Director of Corporate Communications, +44 7788
978199
Notes:
Growth rates are provided on a constant currency
basis.
Organic Revenue growth represents the growth in Revenue excluding
the effect of businesses acquired during the year. Acquired
businesses are included in organic measures in the year following
acquisition, and the comparative period is adjusted to include an
estimated full year performance for growth calculations (pro forma
revenue).
North America includes Pest Control (Pest Control Services and
Business Services) and Hygiene & Wellbeing. North
America Pest Control Services is Pest Control excluding Business
Services.
Organic Revenue growth has been restated in Q3 for the sale of
SOLitude Lake Management and other minor business
disposals.
Summary of Financial Performance
|
|
Revenue
|
|
|||
|
|
Q3 2026
$m
|
Q3 2025
$m
|
Change (reported)
%
|
Change (constant currency)
%
|
Organic Revenue Growth
%
|
|
North America
|
1,176
|
1,137
|
3.4%
|
3.4%
|
3.2%
|
|
Pest Control
|
1,144
|
1,105
|
3.5%
|
3.5%
|
3.4%
|
|
-
Pest Control Services
|
955
|
930
|
2.7%
|
2.7%
|
2.4%
|
|
-
Business Services
|
189
|
175
|
8.0%
|
8.1%
|
9.6%
|
|
Hygiene & Wellbeing
|
32
|
32
|
0.0%
|
(0.1)%
|
(1.0)%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
International
|
714
|
673
|
6.1%
|
5.0%
|
3.7%
|
|
Pest
Control
|
436
|
403
|
8.2%
|
7.3%
|
5.7%
|
|
Hygiene
& Wellbeing
|
278
|
270
|
3.0%
|
1.7%
|
0.7%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
1,890
|
1,810
|
4.4%
|
4.0%
|
3.4%
|
Category Performance
|
|
Revenue
|
|
|||
|
|
Q3 2026
$m
|
Q3 2025
$m
|
Change (reported)
%
|
Change(constant currency)
%
|
Organic Revenue Growth
%
|
|
Pest Control
|
1,580
|
1,508
|
4.8%
|
4.5%
|
4.0%
|
|
Hygiene & Wellbeing
|
310
|
302
|
2.6%
|
1.5%
|
0.5%
|
|
Total
|
1,890
|
1,810
|
4.4%
|
4.0%
|
3.4%
|
Cautionary statement
In order to utilise the 'safe harbour' provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "PSLRA") and
the general doctrine of cautionary statements, Rentokil Initial plc
("the Company") is providing the following cautionary statement:
This communication contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the PSLRA. Forward-looking statements can sometimes, but
not always, be identified by the use of forward- looking terms such
as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "shall," "should,"
"would," "could," "potential," "seeks," "aims," "projects,"
"predicts," "is optimistic," "intends," "plans," "estimates,"
"targets," "anticipates," "continues" or other comparable terms or
negatives of these terms and include statements regarding Rentokil
Initial's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning,
amongst other things, the results of operations of the Company and
its consolidated entities ("Rentokil Initial" or "the Group"),
financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and
the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time
in the countries and markets in which Rentokil Initial
operates.
Forward-looking statements are based upon current plans, estimates
and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results may vary materially from those indicated or
anticipated by such forward-looking statements. The Company can
give no assurance that such plans, estimates or expectations will
be achieved and therefore, actual results may differ materially
from any plans, estimates or expectations in such forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations
include: the Group's ability to integrate acquisitions
successfully, or any unexpected costs or liabilities from the
Group's disposals; difficulties in integrating, streamlining and
optimising the Group's IT systems, processes and technologies,
including artificial intelligence technologies; the Group's ability
to attract, retain and develop key personnel to lead the Group's
business; the availability of a suitably skilled and qualified
labour force to maintain the Group's business; cyber security
breaches, attacks and other similar incidents, as well as
disruptions or failures in the Group's IT systems or data security
procedures and those of the Group's third-party service providers;
inflationary pressures, such as increases in wages, fuel prices and
other operating costs; weakening general economic conditions,
including changes in the global job market or decreased consumer
confidence or spending levels, especially as they may affect demand
from the Group's customers; the Group's ability to implement its
business strategies successfully, including achieving its growth
objectives; the Group's ability to retain existing customers and
attract new customers; the highly competitive nature of the Group's
industries; extraordinary events that impact the Group's ability to
service customers without interruption due to a material incident,
including a loss of its third-party distributors; the impact of
environmental, social and governance ("ESG") matters, including
those related to climate change and sustainability, on the Group's
business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition
and/or prospects; supply chain issues, which may result in product
shortages, cost increases or other disruptions to the Group's
business; the Group's ability to protect its intellectual property
and other proprietary rights that are material to the Group's
business; the Group's reliance on third parties, including
third-party vendors for business process outsourcing initiatives,
investment counterparties, and franchisees, and the risk of any
termination or disruption of such relationships or counterparty
default, fraudulent activity or litigation; any future impairment
charges, asset revaluations or downgrades; failure to comply with
the many laws and governmental regulations to which the Group is
subject or the implementation of any new or revised laws or
regulations that alter the environment in which the Group does
business, as well as the costs to the Group of complying with any
such changes and the risk of related litigation; termite damage
claims and lawsuits related thereto and any associated impacts on
the termite provision; the Group's ability to comply with safety,
health and environmental policies, laws and regulations, including
laws pertaining to the use of pesticides; any actual or perceived
failure to comply with stringent, complex and evolving laws, rules,
regulations and standards in many jurisdictions, as well as
contractual obligations, including data privacy and security, and
any litigation (including class action claims and lawsuits) related
to such actual or perceived failures; the identification of
material weaknesses in the Group's internal control over financial
reporting within the meaning of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act; changes in tax laws and any unanticipated tax liabilities;
adverse credit and financial market events and conditions, which
could, among other things, impede access to or increase the cost of
financing; the restrictions and limitations within the agreements
and instruments governing the Group's indebtedness; a lowering or
withdrawal of the ratings, outlook or watch assigned to the Group's
debt securities by rating agencies; an increase in interest rates
and the resulting increase in the cost of servicing the Group's
debt; and exchange rate fluctuations and the impact on the Group's
results or the foreign currency value of the Company's ADSs and any
dividends. The list of factors presented here is representative and
should not be considered to be a complete statement of all
potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present
significant additional obstacles to the realisation of
forward-looking statements. The Company cautions you not to place
undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements as they
are not guarantees of future performance or outcomes and that
actual performance and outcomes, including, without limitation, the
Group's actual results of operations, financial condition and
liquidity, and the development of new markets or market segments in
which the Group operates, may differ materially from those made in
or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this
communication. Except as required by law, Rentokil Initial assumes
no obligation to update or revise the information contained herein,
which speaks only as of the date hereof.
The Company makes no guarantee in relation to the trends in the
management of termite damage claims. Additionally, the Company
makes no guarantee that its operational improvement plans will
mitigate against or reduce the number of termite damage claims
(litigated and non-litigated) against the Company nor that these
plans will reduce the ongoing cost to resolve such
claims.
Additional information concerning these and other factors can be
found in Rentokil Initial's filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained
free of charge at the SEC's website, http:// www.sec.gov, and
Rentokil Initial's Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of
charge from the Rentokil Initial website, https://www.rentokil-initial.com
No statement in this communication is intended to be a profit
forecast and no statement in this communication should be
interpreted to mean that earnings per share of Rentokil Initial for
the current or future financial years would necessarily match or
exceed the historical published earnings per share of Rentokil
Initial.
This communication presents certain non-IFRS measures, which should
not be viewed in isolation as alternatives to the equivalent IFRS
measure, rather they should be viewed as complements to, and read
in conjunction with, the equivalent IFRS measure. These include
revenue and measures presented at actual exchange rates ("AER" -
IFRS) and constant currency ("CER" - Non-IFRS). Non-IFRS measures
presented also include Organic Revenue Growth. The Group's internal
strategic planning process is also based on these measures, and
they are used for incentive purposes. These measures may not be
calculated in the same way as similarly named measures reported by
other companies.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
|
Date:
22 October 2026
|
RENTOKIL INITIAL PLC
|
|
|
/s/
Rachel Canham
|
|
|
Name:
Rachel Canham
|
|
|
Title:
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
|
|
|
|