Dignity making steady progress
DIGNITY, the Sutton Coldfield-based funeral services group, has seen a 11% increase in underlying profit before tax.
Announcing its preliminary annual results for the period ending December 26, the firm – the UK’s only listed funerals business – reported a profit of £58.5m (2013: £52.9m).
Revenue was up by 5% to £268.9m (2013: £256.7m).
The firm refinanced its capital structure during the period with new 35 year investment grade secured debt, reducing annual debt service obligations from approximately £40m to approximately £33m per annum.
Some £64.4m of cash was returned to shareholders (£1.20 per share) following this refinancing.
Customer satisfaction remains at very high levels, with 99% of families saying Dignity met or exceeded their expectations and 98% saying they would recommend the firm.
Some £24.7m was invested in funeral acquisitions, adding a further 30 funeral locations to the group’s portfolio and four satellite locations were opened within the funeral business.
Dignity said memorial sales remain robust while pre-arranged funeral plans having another strong year in sales terms with unfulfilled pre-arranged funeral plans increasing to 348,000.
Mike McCollum, chief executive of Dignity, said: “The group has continued to perform strongly, delivering operational performance ahead of consensus estimates.
“This performance was underpinned by our on-going commitment to outstanding customer service, further investment in our business and continued tight cost control.
“2015 has started strongly and the board’s expectations for the year remain positive and unchanged.”
