Any Way You Measure It, the Industry Continues to Grow

In conversations with many of you over the past year, most everyone thought the industry was growing throughout the pandemic. At the beginning, like all industries, there was uncertainty. But once the pest management industry was deemed an essential service, companies never looked back. For most, you’ve been growing at a fast clip for the past 18 months, despite the pandemic, labor shortages, supply chain issues and other challenges.

While there are a few ways to measure such growth, the most widely accepted way is to look at Specialty Consultants’ annual research. According to the firm’s Rich Kalik, the professional pest management industry grew 8.2 percent in 2021.

I tend to measure growth less scientifically, but I came to the same conclusion. To me, one sure sign of growth for the industry is that the PCT Top 100 gets “bigger.” This year, while there are certainly some new names and faces on the list, the most interesting element (to me) is the revenue of the lowest company. This year’s 100th company, Innovative Pest Solutions in Vista, Calif., reported revenues of $7.5 million. That’s $1.7 million higher than last year’s lowest company. It’s also the biggest leap ever on the Top 100 from one year’s 100th to the next.

So what does that mean? It could mean lots of things, including that more people took time to fill out the form so there’s more competition to be on the list. Or it could mean that if most companies in the industry grew last year, then of course the 100^thcompany is bigger.

Interested in more statistics about the industry’s growth? The table below, which was produced by The Potomac Co., an industry M&A adviser, charts the rise (and fall) in the value of the stock of the “Big Four” (Rentokil, Rollins, Terminix and Anticimex) via the dark blue line when compared to the S&P 500 (Standard and Poor’s 500 stock market tracking index). The gray bars represent the multiples that buyers are paying for businesses in private markets, where Potomac acts. It’s clear pest control firms have risen in value dramatically recently.

A few notes about this year’s Top 100:

• There are nine companies on this year’s list that weren’t on last year’s.
• Only one firm is off this year’s list due to M&A activity last year. (In the 2021 issue, there were seven. In 2020, there were 10, and in 2019, nine companies were gone.)
• And speaking of the pandemic, this is the first year since 2018 we’re hosting an in-person Top 100 Awards Ceremony & Executive Summit. Next month, in Orlando, companies on the list will come together for educational and networking sessions. We hope to see the Top 100 companies there! Keep an eye out for future editorial coverage of the event, where we’ll share information with all of our readers.

The author is publisher of PCT magazine.