Rentokil Initial PLC Q3 2024 Earnings Call (Afternoon Session) Transcript

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

Question: Annelies Vermeulen - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Hi. Hello, again, Andy and Stuart. Just one follow up from me from this morning. So you mentioned this morning that you've had a significant improvement in five-star Google reviews across your major brands in the last few months. Is that just that the service quality has improved so dramatically or are you also being more proactive in asking customers to leave those reviews? And equally, is it a KPI that you're measuring your technicians on as in, do you incentivize them to get those reviews? Thank you.

Question: Annelies Vermeulen - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Thank you very much and thank you for the stats. It's a good one.

Question: Ollie Davies - Redburn Atlantic - Analyst : Hi, Andy. Hi, Stuart. A couple from me. Just on the guidance of 1% growth in the second half, I guess that implies a slowdown to about 0.5% in Q4. So just wondering how conservative that is given the sort of positive commentary on leads or is the slowdown basically implied from the rerouting drag from the pilots, give me a route to complete. And then I guess secondly, just on the pilot scheme, I understand you've told those employees the new pay plans, which is kind of going to affect the end of the month. So just wondering what the kind of the early reception has been there. Thanks.

Question: Allen Wells - Jefferies Group LLC - Analyst : Hey, good afternoon, Andy and good afternoon, Stuart. Just to kind of follow on from some of the questions from this morning, the comments you made about kind of satellite branches. This obviously marks what seems like a bit of U-turn from the big branch strategy that you kind of were pushing initially with the acquisition. There's obviously an optimum branch footprint review as well going on which you've also announced. I'm just thinking, how do you feel about the overall total synergy target that you put out and then upgraded in light of this? Obviously, there's been lots of moving parts here as well. So I'd be interested just to see where you kind of see that sitting. I think it was originally that north of $225 million, but we've had changes now. So in terms of the branch strategy, it was obviously critical in terms of driving synergies. Maybe just a bit of an update on that as well. The second question would just be on some of the Board changes. Maybe you could just say a few words on maybe what some of the early impact of bringing Trian onto the Board as well. And then finally, just because it really wasn't talked about much and slightly less important now, but the REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 17, 2024 / 12:00PM, RTO.L - Q3 2024 Rentokil Initial PLC Earnings Call (Afternoon Session) hygiene growth obviously slowed a little bit in the quarter. It had been relatively strong. Is that just kind of a bumping up against tough comps? Is there anything underlying that's going on in hygiene as we just think about the second half into next year as well? Thank you.

Question: Andy Grobler - BNP Paribas Exane - Analyst : Hi. Good afternoon, Andy and Stuart. Just two from me if I may. Firstly just going back to kind of satellite offices and kind of broader marketing, when you think about the impact of that, is -- are those satellite units offices focused on Terminix? So the residential business, is that the area where you're seeing the potential to improve? And on that theme, some of your competitors have looked to door-to-door marketing to try and enhance their presence. Is that something that you would consider or thought about within that review? And then secondly, just in terms of the full branch integration, route optimization and so forth, what are your expectations at this stage? And I understand it might change given that review of how many branches you'll get through in the first half of next year and maybe for the year as a whole.? Thank you.

Question: Andy Grobler - BNP Paribas Exane - Analyst : Okay. But the plan is still to be done by the end of 2026 pretty much?

Question: Andy Grobler - BNP Paribas Exane - Analyst : Okay. Thank you very much.