Dignity trading slightly ahead of market expectations

Funeral services provider Dignity reported a modest rise in revenue and underlying operating profit in a relatively quiet start to the year.

Underlying operating profit for the thirteen weeks to 30 March rose to £23.4m from £22.6m the year before. Revenue increased to £61.1m from £59.1m before.

However the Sutton Coldfield-based firm said business has been noticeably busier in March compared to the previous year and as a result the operating performance of the funeral and crematoria divisions was slightly ahead of the same period in 2011.

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The group, which has bought seven funeral locations and has opened seven satellite locations since the start of the year, said pre-arranged funeral plan sales continue to be robust and operating profit is ahead of the same quarter in 2011.

Trading since 30 March 2012 is in line with management's expectations, its outlook remains positive and the group's full year expectations are unchanged, it said in a statement.

Chief executive Mike McCollum added: "This is a good performance with the first quarter being slightly ahead of our expectations. We continue to increase the number of funeral and crematoria locations we operate and pre-arranged funeral plan sales continue to be strong."

CJ