PCO M&A Specialists see 6 percent increase in index

Dan Gordon, CPA

According to PCO M&A Specialists, the Newton, N.J.-based advising firm led by Pest Management Professional‘s financial columnist, Dan Gordon, CPA, the total U.S. pest control index increased 6.3 percent year-over-year in February 2021. The firm partners with global banking and asset management company William Blair to determine the monthly sales for 140 different U.S. pest control companies across 30 states.

The February increase marks an acceleration from January, which was up 5.1 percent year-over-year. The index declined 2.5 percent on a sequential basis, in line with normal seasonal trends (down 3.6 percent in February 2020 and 5.4 percent in February 2019). This index includes recurring and nonrecurring revenue for the residential pest, commercial pest and termite segments of the industry. It does not include residential door-to-door companies.

In a news release, William Blair Equity Researchers Tim Mulrooney and Sam Kusswurm said, “We believe the U.S. pest control market remains poised for another strong year of growth, as higher penetration rates in the residential market persist in 2021 and are supplemented by a rebound in commercial pest sales. The swing factor appears to be the termite market, which tends to be highly variable from quarter to quarter and faces difficult comparisons in 2021.”

The residential index remained strong (up 12 percent), in line with the last several months. The work-from-home environment continues to support stronger residential volumes on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, the commercial index accelerated in February, following a slowdown in January because of rising COVID-19 cases that prompted business closures in some areas of the country.

The termite index decelerated sequentially for the second month in a row. According to the news release, it is unclear what drove this deceleration; the researchers suspect it’s a combination of unfavorable weather and difficult year-over-year comparisons.

View the full February report and the archive of past reports at SellMyPCOBusiness.com.