Dignity going strong: revenue and profits both up

SUTTON Coldfield funeral business Dignity has reported strong performance for the 39 week period ending September 28.

In an interim management statement the UK’s only listed provider of funeral services revealed revenue is up by 8.7% to £169.4m compared to £155.8m in the corresponding period last year. And the underlying operating profit is up by 10.3% to £53.4m (2011: £48.4m).

Since the group’s last results announcement on July 31, ten funeral locations have been acquired (for an investment of £5.6m) and nine new satellite locations have been opened. This brings the total number of funeral locations acquired to 18 (for a total investment of £10.8m) and new satellite locations opened to 18 since the start of the year.

Pre-arranged funeral plan sales continue to be robust, the group says, and it expects the pre-arranged funeral business to continue to make progress next year.

The group opened its crematorium in Essex in the third quarter of 2012. This means its crematorium portfolio consists of 37 locations compared to 35 at the end of 2011.

Chief executive Mike McCollum said: “This is a very strong performance. We continue to increase the number of funeral and crematoria locations we operate.

“Customer service remains central to what we do and remains at the very high levels seen throughout recent years.

“Pre-arranged funeral plan sales continue to develop and I am pleased with the positive contribution they are making to the future of this business.

“Our outlook for 2012 remains positive and our overall expectations for 2013 remain unchanged.”