London, Feb 15, 2026, 14:43 GMT — Market closed
- Rentokil Initial last closed at 442p on Friday, up 0.5%, after a 6.9% drop a day earlier.
- Traders took cues from U.S. peer Rollins after its quarterly miss and weather caution.
- Rentokil plans a €500 million bond redemption on March 2 and reports full-year results on March 5.
Rentokil Initial shares ended Friday up 0.5% at 442 pence, after a 6.9% fall the day before. The stock’s 52-week high stands at 483.3p and Friday volume was 11.6 million shares. (Hargreaves Lansdown)
London markets are shut on Sunday, leaving investors to size up whether Thursday’s drop was a one-off hit or a warning shot for the pest-control sector. Attention turns to the next session and to company events due over the next few weeks.
The shares have become a proxy trade for U.S. trends, where pest-control demand can swing with weather and household budgets. That matters because investors are looking for clean signals on pricing power, customer retention and costs, not just top-line growth.
Rollins, a key U.S. competitor, missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit, and said erratic weather hurt demand. “January has been unusually cold, even in areas that rarely freeze,” UBS analyst Joshua Chan said, flagging a potential drag on pest activity and spring sales. (Reuters)
Rentokil does not report in lockstep with U.S. peers, but the read-through is hard to ignore when the sector is trading on the same set of inputs: weather, residential service frequency and how much pricing can do against rising costs.
The risk for bulls is that Thursday’s selloff was more than a sympathy move. If investors decide the U.S. miss points to a wider slowdown — or if colder weather persists and dampens activity — the stock can struggle to regain ground even on quiet company news.
Rentokil, meanwhile, has been tidying its funding stack. In a notice, it said it will redeem in full its €500,000,000 0.875% senior unsecured guaranteed notes due May 2026 on March 2 at principal plus accrued interest, and intends to delist the notes after redemption. (Investegate)
A leadership change is also close. Rentokil said it appointed Mike Duffy as chief executive, with Duffy joining on Feb. 16 as CEO designate and taking over on March 16 as Andy Ransom steps down; Chair Richard Solomons said the board was “delighted to announce Mike as our new Chief Executive.” The company said it will report full-year 2025 results on March 5, when Ransom and CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson are due to update the market ahead of the handover. (Rentokil Initial)
