Overview
Trading has started well across our businesses in Q1 with Ongoing Revenue increasing by 15.7%.
Organic Revenue2 Growth of 3.2% compares to Q1 2017 at 3.7%* (3.1% Reported) and Q4 2017 (3.1%). Organic growth has been affected by the ongoing impact of last September's hurricane on our operations in Puerto Rico (as previously highlighted at the time of our Preliminary results) and unseasonably cold weather in the US in March which has delayed the onset of the spring pest season. Excluding the impact of Puerto Rico, 2018 Q1 Organic growth is in line with Q1 2017.
Acquisitions have performed well contributing 12.5% to Ongoing Revenue in the first quarter.
Ongoing Revenue in Pest Control grew by 15.8% (4.7% Organic, Q1 2017: 5.6%, Q4 2017: 4.9%) with Growth markets growing by 12.4% and Emerging markets increasing by 38.2%, reflecting the strong performance of our joint venture in India.
Q1 2018 Hygiene Ongoing Revenue rose by 29.3% (1.8% Organic, Q1 2017: 3.4%, Q4 2017: -0.2%), driven by the acquisitions of Cannon Hygiene and CWS Italy.
Ongoing Revenue in our Protect & Enhance markets declined by -0.1% (-0.3 Organic, Q1 2017: -0.9%, Q4 2017: 1.0%) due to ongoing market weakness in our UK Property Care business, offset by a stronger performance from our French business.
While currency markets remain volatile, our guidance for the adverse impact of foreign exchange on profit is in the range of £10m to £15m for the year, as previously guided at the Preliminary results on 1 March 2018.
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