Rentokil rejects City Link blame

RENTOKIL shrugged off its part in the demise of the City Link courier firm it used to own saying it was a ‘long time ago’.

The royal rat catcher, which exterminates pests as well as cleaning up murder scenes and fatal road accidents, sold the lossmaking business to Better Capital two years ago for just £1.

Better Capital was left holding the ‘problem child’ when City Link finally went bust at the end of last year after five years of poor performance under Rentokil.

The firm presided over a failed merger, a botched IT system upgrade, and blamed the debacle on a dearth of talent in the industry.

Chief executive Andy Ransom said: ‘The situation is very sad for employees – it’s a long time ago that we exited that business.’

However, it remains the main beneficiary of the administration, ahead of the workers and even Better Capital, due to what it mysteriously describes as ‘outstanding property interests’.

Rentokil posted a 2.2pc rise in first-quarter revenues and said it was on track to achieve its full year expectations boosted by a warmer winter in America that has spawned a surge in pest activity. The previous year the business has suffered from the polar vortex that froze a large chunk of the USA.

Ransom said: ‘Last year that wiped out an entire insect season for us. But temperatures have warmed up.’

He said the company had completed six acquisitions in the first quarter with a combined revenue of £15m and aimed to spend around £50m on acquisitions this year.

The group also published a report into insect trends. Termites, which cause around $40bn of damage a year worldwide, account for about 20pc of the global pest control business

Rentokil (up 2.2p to 136.5p) also said there has been an explosion in the number of budget hotel chains. It added that between 2011 and 2012 there was a 90pc increase in bedbug call outs in the UK.