Industry up 11 percent in July 2022, per Blair/PCO M&A Specialists index

The William Blair/PCO M&A Specialists Pest Index is a proprietary index of the monthly sales for 140 different U.S. pest control companies across 30 states. For July 2022, the total U.S. pest index increased 11 percent year-over-year.

This shows a deceleration from June, which was up 14 percent year-over-year. The index includes recurring and nonrecurring revenue for residential pest, commercial pest and termite. It does not include door-to-door companies.

“The slowdown was driven primarily by a deceleration in the residential index, which is the largest sub-component of the overall index, representing slightly more than half of total sales for the month of July,” said William Blair Equity Researcher Tim Mulrooney. “The commercial index remained strong, while the termite index also decelerated into slightly negative territory. The most recent data points from June and July may be an indication that volumes are beginning to normalize following two consecutive years of unprecedented growth.”

Dan Gordon, PCO M&A Specialists managing member and Pest Management Professional magazine’s financial columnist, added, “I believe the 11 percent is covered by price increases most pest control firms executed earlier this year, meaning we could be seeing a flattening or slowing of business due to the economy. Still, the long-term historical average for the total pest index is a healthy 10.6 percent.”

The Residential Pest Index increased 14 percent year-over-year and decreased 6 percent on a sequential basis. The Commercial Pest Index increased 15 percent year-over-year and was flat on a sequential basis. The Wood Destroying (Termite) Index decreased 1 percent year-over-year and decreased 14 percent on a sequential basis. The Bed Bug Index decreased 3 percent year-over-year and increased 8 percent on a sequential basis.

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