British services group Rentokil Initial today posted a 72 per cent fall in third-quarter profit and said the worsening economy was beginning to affect sales across the group and hamper its turnaround plan.
Rentokil, whose businesses range from rat catching to tropical plant hire, posted adjusted pretax profit for the three months to end September of £16.6 million pounds on flat revenues of £562.4 million.
Rentokil, which this year started a five-year turnaround plan, said its guidance for 2008 remained unchanged.
The company, which has issued four profit warnings in the last year, has said it expects profit before tax of £35 million pounds for the full year, down from analysts' previous consensus forecast of £151 million.