Adjust for various exceptionals, including a £51.8m restructuring charge, and Rentokil's (RTO) underlying pre-tax profit rose 3.6 per cent in 2012 to £191.1m. That helped the pest control group's shares rise over 10 per cent on the day these figures appeared and prompted chief financial officer, Jeremy Townsend, to remark that "all the hard work is starting to pay off".
Despite a tough economic backdrop, the textiles and hygiene business grew sales 2.5 per cent to £905m in 2012, while adjusted operating profit rose 2.5 per cent to £143.2m. Management expects the division's outlook in the eurozone to remain challenging in 2013, but thinks sales and marketing initiatives should help ease. Meanwhile, pest control grew revenue 2.8 per cent to £773.4m and adjusted operating profit rose 3.6 per cent to £135.2m. The unit saw an especially robust performance in North America, where sales rose 10.3 per cent, and should also benefit from December's £57.1m acquisition of Western Exterminator in the US. Courier operation City Link, meanwhile, remains loss-making - but that loss fell £4.9m to £26.4m and its sales grew 4.8 per cent.
Broker Espirito Santo expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £200.2m for 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 8.2p (from 7.71p in 2012).
RENTOKIL INITIAL (RTO) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 100p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.8bn | |
TOUCH: | 100-100.1p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 102p | LOW: 69p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.1% | PE RATIO: | 35 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | £990m |
Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 2.41 | 23.0 | 0.76 | 0.65 |
2009 | 2.53 | 65.0 | 2.63 | nil |
2010 | 2.50 | 14.5 | -1.29 | nil |
2011 | 2.54 | -50.5 | -3.84 | 1.33 |
2012 | 2.55 | 82.7 | 2.83 | 2.10 |
% change | - | - | - | +58 |
Ex-div: 17 Apr Payment: 21 May *Negative equity shareholders' funds |