Rentokil thrives

RAT catching and keeping offices clean around the world helped Rentokil Initial report a 45.5pc jump in annual earnings.

Cost-cutting and reducing debt helped it improve profit margins, with pre-tax profit of £163.2m, on revenue that slipped 2.8pc to £1.74bn. Rentokil said it would pay a final dividend of 1.82p, with total dividend up 12pc to 2.59p. Shares rose 5.7p to 135.3p.

Chief executive Andy Ransom said the firm will spend around £50m this year on acquisitions. However, he added that although emerging markets were growing, ‘parts of Europe remain challenging’.