Dignity set to beat full year expectations

Listed funeral provider Dignity said it expects to outperform full year earnings expectations “given the continued high number of deaths relative to 2014”.

In a trading statement, Dignity said revenue for the 39 weeks to 25 September was £227m, up from £196.4m. The number of deaths in the period rose 9% to 446,000.

The number of deaths in the third quarter was flat year-on-year, which slowed growth to 9%, compared with the 13% reported in the first six months of 2015.

The company said it remains cautious on its outlook for 2016 given the number of deaths could fall significantly and as a result maintained its guidance for next year.