Funeral group raises expectations after tough 2018

Funeral provider Dignity appears to be emerging from the dark days of early 2018 after raising profit expectations following a difficult year.

Last January it issued a stark profit warning which saw its share price fall by half with a price war creating huge disruption.

Much uncertainty remains, not helped by the Competition and Markets Authority launching an inquiry into the sector in November.

Despite those pressures the Sutton Coldfield-based company has revealed it will report underlying operational profits of £79m for 2018, outperforming current market expectations.

This was achieved through small growth in its market share, the average income from funerals remaining higher than expected, and some marketing spend being delayed to this year.

In a statement to the stock market, the company said: “Good progress continues to be made on the Transformation Plan.

“Following the price reductions introduced in 2018, the Board continues to expect average funeral incomes to be lower in 2019 than in 2018 and there are therefore no changes to the Board’s expectations for 2019.”

Dignity’s share price hit an eight-year low before Christmas, having fallen by more than 70% in a year.