Rentokil's profits almost halve

Rentokil is continuing work to turnaround its fortunes

Rentokil Initial has seen its annual profits for 2008 almost halve because of restructuring work and tough trading conditions towards the end of the year.

The struggling business support firm made an underlying pre-tax profit of £107.9m last year, down 49% from 2007.

Its annual revenues rose 9.4% from a year earlier to £2.4bn.

Rentokil said 2008 was "clearly a challenging year", but it was making progress on fixing its problems. It is cutting its dividend to preserve cash.

The firm said its profits had been hit by poor performances in five businesses.

These were its City Link parcel delivery unit, its washrooms and pest control businesses in the UK, and its washrooms and pest control operations in Australia.

"Looking forward, we have developed a simple, robust, operationally focused strategy for the business which will over time produce substantial rewards," said Rentokil chief executive Alan Brown.