News article

Cost savings help Rentokil Initial boost profits

Cost savings help Rentokil Initial boost profits
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Adjusted profit before tax at Rentokil Initial climbed 54 per cent over the course of 2009.

Cost reductions at the company, which offers services such as parcel delivery and pest control, helped it raise profit to £166.5 million for the 12-month period.

Overall, it achieved £82 million in cost savings during the period, with the majority of this coming at City Link, where outgoings were brought down by £54 million.

It has now set a target of reducing costs by another £75 million during 2010.

The news helped Rentokil to climb sharply during stock market trading today (February 19th) as, at 15:40 GMT, its shares were priced at 129.4p each - an increase of 9.66 per cent.

Alan Brown, chief executive officer, said that the company's aim for this year is to "lay the foundations for profitable growth in 2011 and beyond", however he warned that economic conditions in the firm's markets are unlikely to improve over the next few months.

Posted by Clive ArneilADNFCR-1681-ID-19626445-ADNFCR