Q1 2025 Rentokil Initial PLC Trading Statement Call Transcript

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

Question: Suhasini Varanasi - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Just a couple for me, please. When you think about growth through the quarter, can you discuss how trading was in March and early April. It looks like it's improved versus Feb, so it should be better than the quarter's growth of minus 0.2%. And also for the second quarter, given that Easter is in the quarter, is it fair to assume a trading day impact in this quarter as well? Thank you.

Question: Suhasini Varanasi - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Thank you. And on trading days for 2Q?

Question: Annelies Vermeulen - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : I have three questions, please. So firstly, just coming back on the working day impact. given I think three-quarters of your business in the US is contracted, is that 50 bps working day impact in Pest Services relevant for that contracted piece? I would assume monthly billing would largely protect you from that. So can we assume that, that drag is all in the jobbing part of the business? And perhaps as part of that, could you comment on how underlying contract sales developed in North America through the quarter? Secondly, just on door-to-door, those 30 locations. How were those selected? I think you said they're across the US, but are they all in one area, under one brand. What was the strategy around selecting those? And then lastly, just on paid search, the transition to the new agency partner and returned to positive growth in March, I think. Can you give a bit more detail on that? And what is it that you're doing differently with that new partner versus before to drive that return to positive growth? Thank you.

Question: James Beard - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : A couple of questions from me. Firstly, can you talk us through any direct impact from US tariffs on the business and how you would seek to mitigate those? And secondly, obviously, very early days, but whether you are seeing any sort of indirect impact, i.e. greater levels of macro uncertainty within North America?

Question: Andrew Grobler - BNP Paribas Exane - Analyst : Two from me, if I may. The first one is sort of following on from the previous question. US distribution was very strong in Q1. How much of that is price versus volume? And how much of that kit you distribute comes from outside of the US? And then secondly, colleague and client retention keeps improving, which is great, but organic growth keeps slowing. When do you expect that better client and colleague retention to kind of actively feed through into stronger organic growth? Thank you very much.

Question: Nicole Manion - UBS - Analyst : Just one really, please, for me. Obviously, it's early days in terms of the satellite branches, which we think are key to fixing the organic piece. I know there's obviously been a number open since the start of the year. But is there anything you can point to maybe in terms of the first branches you opened, including those in Q4? Are you seeing those support better lead generation locally yet? Or is it still too early to say? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 17, 2025 / 8:00AM, RTO.L - Q1 2025 Rentokil Initial PLC Trading Statement Call