One of the mildest winters for more than a century isn’t just bad news for the energy firms: funeral provider Dignity reported a “quiet” start to the year today.
Dignity, the UK’s second-biggest funeralcare firm which is behind the Co-operative Group, said deaths in the first quarter of 2014 were 7.5% below a shivering period a year earlier, when reported deaths jumped 6.7%.
Despite downpours, this year’s winter was the fifth mildest since Met Office records began in 1910, prompting a profit warning from British Gas owner Centrica last week.
Dignity thinks there will be 550,000 deaths in 2014, around 2% lower than last year and broadly in line with 2012. But it also grew revenues 1.9% in the first quarter after buying another eight funeral parlours and opening two satellite locations.
The average funeral has gone up by 5% a year since 2000, leaving the price of the standard cremation at £650 while a London grave for two people is £3500.
Investec analyst Cora McCallum said: “The pricing environment has remained strong for Dignity, despite the recent economic downturn.”
