Rentokil Initial has approved a $200m share buyback and reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance after delivering 3.4% organic revenue growth in the third quarter, while announcing that CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will step down in January 2027.

The FTSE 100 pest control group reported revenue of $1.89bn for the three months to 30 September, up 4% year on year. North America organic revenue growth reached 3.2%, including 2.4% growth in pest control, as residential customer leads improved and commercial performance benefited from better service quality and increased adoption of its PestConnect technology.

International operations delivered 3.7% organic revenue growth, rising to 4.7% excluding UK Property Services and its DCUK asbestos removal business. International pest control remained particularly strong, growing 5.7%, supported by pricing and customer retention in the UK, alongside growth in India and Indonesia. North American business services also performed well, with organic revenue increasing 9.6%.

Chief executive Mike Duffy 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.”

The Crawley-based group reiterated that it expected 2026 profit to be in line with market expectations. Its board approved the $200m buyback following a reduction in leverage to 2.4 times at the end of June, with proceeds from the planned disposal of SOLitude Lake Management expected to support further deleveraging. The $230m sale is anticipated to complete in the fourth quarter.

Rentokil completed seven bolt-on acquisitions during the quarter, taking the year-to-date total to 21, representing approximately $36m in annualised revenue before acquisition. It expects to spend around $100m on acquisitions in 2026.

Edgecliffe-Johnson will leave the board on 31 January 2027 for family health reasons, but remain with the company in a senior advisory capacity to support an orderly succession. He has been CFO since January 2025.

Rentokil shares rose 9% to 343p in morning trading following the update.

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