December Pest Index Increases 16 Percent Year-Over-Year

The William Blair/PCO M&A Specialists total U.S. Pest Index increased 16.4 percent year-over-year in December 2021. This marks a deceleration from November but is in line with the mid-teens growth observed throughout much of the second half of 2021.

On a sequential basis from November 2021 to December 2021, the index decreased 5.3 percent, which is a typical result for the month of December, reported William Blair researchers.

“The performance in December was driven by an acceleration in the commercial index, offset by a deceleration across the three other sub-indices (residential, termite, and bed bug),” said William Blair Equity Researcher Tim Mulrooney.

The Residential Pest Index increased 18 percent year-over-year and declined 6 percent on a sequential basis. The Commercial Pest Index increased 19 percent year-over-year and increased 1 percent on a sequential basis. The Wood Destroying (Termite) Index increased 8 percent year-over-year and declined 13 percent on a sequential basis. The Bed Bug Index increased 11 percent year-over-year and declined 5 percent on a sequential basis.

The December report continued to show the total monthly pest index and sub-indices highly correlated with the organic revenue figures for Rollins and Terminix, demonstrating the pest index’s role as a leading indicator for the public companies, said Dan Gordon, managing member of PCO M&A Specialists and PCO Bookkeepers.

“The Pest Index and Rollins/Terminix are in lockstep,” said Gordon, noting the monthly pest index comes out ahead of the public companies’ quarterly reports. “The index is a good proxy for how the industry is doing and how the public companies will do.” 

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