Dignity operating profit falls 68% in FY22

National provider of funeral plans, Dignity, has revealed that its underlying operating profit fell by 68% to £17.9m from £55.8m for the year ended 30 December 2022. 

The group’s underlying cash generation also halved to £44.1m from £88.3m in 2021, while the group’s low profitability has reduced liquidity. This has resulted in an increase to net debt. 

For 2022, the group’s underlying revenue stood at £270.5m, a decline from £312m for the same period in 2021. 

According to the group, its financials were impacted by “a number of factors”, including changes in pricing strategy, a trend towards lower price funeral and a variety of cost pressures, some of which the group states it has had to directly absorb. 

In addition, the group increased employee remuneration in some areas following a benchmarking process during 2022, which saw that over 2,500 employees received an increase in wages. This has improved the group’s recruitment challenges. 

Kate Davidson, CEO of Dignity, said: “Throughout a challenging year we have remained focussed on our long-term aims and have confidence that our strategy will deliver sustainable growth and the highest standards of care and service to our customers.

“We have a continuous emphasis on growing our market share across each of our businesses, and a commitment to ongoing investment in our people, facilities and infrastructure to unlock Dignity’s long-term success. We will continue to work towards our vision of being a market leader through our exceptional service, quality and proposition.” 

She added: “I would like to thank all our stakeholders and our customers for their loyalty, which frequently dates back several generations; to our own people, whose unique brand of care is so valued by those customers and makes us the business we are; and to our shareholders, for their support of our strategy and seeing the clear potential it offers.”