Dignity's revenues rise 6.7% in first half

27th Jul 2011 08:04

Dignity, the provider of funeral-related services, said that revenue grew 6.7% in the six months ended 1 July, a slowdown from the 9.6% growth rate reported in the first quarter, as expected.Revenue rose from £100.9m in the first half of 2010 to £107.7m, while pre-tax profit edged 0.8% higher to £24.5m, from £24.3m previously. Earnings per share jumped from 26.6p to 32.7p.The firm said that 281,000 deaths were recorded in Great Britain in the first half, down from 284,000 in 2010, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.Dignity declared an interim dividend of 4.87p and said that its annual target remains unchanged."This is a strong first half performance. We have expanded our portfolio of funeral locations and crematoria and the book of pre-arranged funeral plans continues to grow. The Group remains on track to achieve the Board's expectations for the full year," said chief executive Mike McCollum.BC