More deaths bring greater profits to funerals group

The West Midlands-based company, which includes the Jennings and FW Collins chains of funeral directors in the Black Country, said the number of deaths in the UK increased by two per cent in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2016.

That helped to drive seven per cent increases in both revenue and underlying profits in the period, to £169.8 million and £59.5 million respectively.

It came as the group continued the acquisition spree that saw it snap up the running of Emstrey crematorium in Shrewsbury last year. It already runs crematoria in Birmingham and Wyre Forest at Stourport on Severn

The group acquired 14 funeral homes and one crematorium for a total of £23.4 million in the period, and has acquired three more funeral homes since.

Chief executive Mike McCollum said: "The year has started well for the group, with good operational performance, continued excellent customer survey results and further acquisitions of established funeral businesses.

"The group's expectations for the full year remain unchanged."

The group performed 33,700 cremations in the period, up from 28,900 in the first half of 2016, but the number of deaths in the UK fell in the second quarter and Dignity said it expects an overall fall in the number of deaths in the UK in the year as a whole.

That claim is based on historical data, Sutton Coldfield-based Dignity said.

The country's biggest crematorium operator further increased its market share, though, conducting 11 per cent of the country's cremations during the period.

At the end of June the group operated 811 funeral homes in the UK, mainly trading under established local names.