Half Year 2021 Rentokil Initial PLC Earnings Call - Q&A Session Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Andrew Charles Grobler - CrTdit Suisse AG, Research Division - Analyst : Three from me, if I may. First one on French Workwear, which has clearly had a difficult time through 2020. Do you think there's been any structural change to that market? And I guess, in the longer term, how does that impact the potential for exit from that business when plausible? Secondly, just on sustainability within Pest Control, it seems that you're quite a long way ahead of much of your competition in terms of sustainability and ESG. Is that resulting in client wins or more interest in Rentokil versus some of those competitors, particularly in North America? And then thirdly, and this might have to wait until the CMD, but just in terms of M&A opportunities within Hygiene, is there enough of size out there to go and look at? And I particularly think of the 16 countries where you are second or third. Is it reasonable to look at the #1 in some of those markets as a potential acquisition target? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies.

Question: Christopher Bamberry - Peel Hunt LLP, Research Division - Analyst : A couple of questions, if I may. In the Q1 trading update, you disclosed the organic exit growth rate for Pest Control and Hygiene in March. Could you please do the same for June? And secondly, in the statement, you talked about some of the improvements you're seeing from the IT replatforming in the U.S., things like customer service and productivity. Could you please give us a flavor and perhaps a quantification of that, just to give an idea of what you're seeing?

Question: Christopher Bamberry - Peel Hunt LLP, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. In the statement, you mentioned about some of the improvements you're seeing from the IT replatforming, things like customer service and productivity. Just looking for a bit more flavor and quantification of some of these benefits.

Question: Oscar Val Mas - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : I'll proceed with my 3 questions. First one on commercial and residential Pest Control in 2021. You've given that 4% of your Hygiene commercial is closed. How much of your residential -- sorry, how much of your commercial Pest Control sites are closed? That's the first question. The second question is just on the provision release. You've released GBP 11 million in the first half. How should we think about the second half and you still have some provisions you took last year? Is there more provisions to come, do you think? And then finally, the third question is more of a long-term thematic question. You're talking about the whole U.S. IT replatforming. And in the U.S., you have maybe 2 large brands, regional brands. At what point do you start rolling out more of Rentokil brands in the U.S.? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies.