Yahoo Finance Dignity revived as bereaved clients opt for fancy funerals
Funeral provider Dignity came back from the dead on Wednesday after fewer people than expected chose cheaper funeral packages and the number of deaths rose.
The group, famous for conducting the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill, said first-quarter sales were £95 million — ahead of the board’s expectations — after people opted for pricier funeral packages.
In January, the price of its simple funeral was cut from £2700 to £1995 to combat a price war with the Co-op.
Shares collapsed because the market predicted 20% would pick the new cheaper option — cutting sales in the short term. But only 15% have plumped for the option.
Shares rose 167.5p, or 18% to 1102p thanks to the higher-than-expected sales figures.
Keeping it simple...
Cost: £1995
Time and day for service: limited choice
Coffin and limousine: no choice
Collecting body outside working hours: extra cost
Newspaper death notice: no
Before the price cut, about 7% chose the basic funeral. “More people have chosen the traditional funeral than we expected and the overall average income per funeral is therefore higher than we thought,” said chief executive, Mike McCollum.
...and the full service
Cost: £3800
Time and day for service: choice
Limousine: choice, including VW Camper van or Morris Minor
Coffin: casket or eco coffin
Collecting body: as soon as possible
Newspaper death notice: funeral director arranges
“When people are confronted with a choice at a very difficult time in their lives, it’s interesting that the majority still choose the full funeral service,” he added.
Dignity said it was “too early” to tell if the choice rate on basic rate funerals would continue.
A number of trials are also ongoing with different priced funerals.
The company has recruited consultants LEK Consulting to help lead a review of the data collected during the trials.
The death rate between January and March also provided a fillip, with overall deaths up 8% to 181,000 from 167,000 in the same period last year.
