Rentokil announces $200 million buyback; quarterly revenue rises on improving North America business

Oct 22 (Reuters) - British pest control firm Rentokil Initial announced a $200 million share buyback on Thursday after reporting 3.4% organic revenue growth in the third quarter, helped by improving performance in its key North American market.

Here are some details:

• The company maintained its full-year profit outlook, while its shares rose 7.2%

• It also said Chief Financial Officer Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson would retire in January, with Sarah Sergeant named interim CFO

• Organic revenue in North America, its largest market, rose 2.4%

• Rentokil's North America business has faced weak residential demand, with customer inquiries declining through most of the quarter before narrowing to 1% in September

• Pest control operators have been leaning on price hikes, digital marketing and expanding smaller local service hubs to shore up growth

(Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)