Rentokil shares rocket as US lifts royal rat catcher
SHARES in 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 hotels infested with bed bugs.
The pest control firm said sales soared 44.7pc to £5.38bn in 2023, while profits jumped by twothirds to £493m.
Shares surged 17.7pc, or 75.7p, to 504.2p as revenue in its pest control business – the largest in the world – rose 4.5pc to £4.3bn.
The division includes Terminix, a US firm it bought in 2022 for £5.2bn. While growth weakened in North America, the blue-chip firm outlined plans to turn the business around and expects revenues in the region to rise between 2pc and 4pc this year.
‘We start 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 likely to be a reason why investors are backing Rentokil.
On a ‘Super Thursday’ filled with updates, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2pc, or 13.15 points, to 7692.46 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.6pc, or 110.76 points, to 19,583.98. Gold hit a record high, at $2,164 an ounce, as investors betting on interest rate cuts piled in.
In London, cybersecurity firm
Darktrace – up 6.2pc, or 21.7p, to 373.7p – hiked its forecasts for this year and said it would step up efforts to combat threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI).
GKN owner Melrose slid 2.3pc, or 14.6p, to 617.4p as it was hit by supply chain issues.
It expects to make between £3.6bn and £3.75bn of revenue this year, following a 17pc rise to £3.35bn in 2023.
It warned growth will be tempered by industry- wide challenges, such as raw material shortages. Melrose last year spun off several GKN businesses into separate group that listed as Dowlais. It now focuses solely on GKN Aerospace.
Window component maker Tyman nursed even heavier losses following bleak annual results.
Revenues fell 8pc to £657.6m in 2023 while profits plunged by nearly a fifth to £50m. It warned that business looked set to be challenging this year but shares rose 0.5pc, or 1.5p, to 296.5p.
Beazley said it would buy up to £255m of shares from investors after the insurer’s profits more than doubled to a record £970m. This lifted it 0.2pc, or 1p, to 654p.
Despite a sharp drop in profit last year, two recruiters remained upbeat that more candidates will apply for jobs and get hired in 2024. Robert Walters rose 1.9pc, or 8p, to 421p while Page Group added 1.1pc, or 5.2p, to 462.4p.
Thread maker Coats said it expected business to improve this year after a tough 2023, and gained 11.4pc, or 7.8p, to 76.4p.
And engineer Spirax hopes to return to growth this year, in industries such as the semiconductor sector, after profits plunged 21pc to £244.5m.
Shares increased 3.8pc, or 390p, to 10,660p.
◼️ 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, set up in 2010, said its stock price ‘materially undervalues’ the business.
It believes repurchasing shares will improve its balance sheet by rewarding shareholders. The firm has handed out £16bn of loans to more than 140,000 small businesses. Shares rose 54.6pc, or 15.3p, to 43.3p.