As Diginty is new to the martkets and the first funeral services company to be floated, what are your views on its future potential?

There appears to be little data on which to ascertain a valuation.

I don't suppose we are going to run out of dead people!

Preliminary results

2 Mar Investec 2,550.00 Hold
2 Mar Peel Hunt 2,000.00 Hold
2 Mar Panmure Gordon 2,750.00 Buy

Wed, 02 March 2016



Dignity grows as death rate rises



(ShareCast News) - An unforeseen jump in the death rate made for a year of growth at listed funeral business Dignity, as the company published its preliminary results on Wednesday.
The FTSE 250 firm saw revenues rise 14% during the year to 25 December, to £305.3m from £268.9m.

Underlying operating profit was up 16% to £98.7m, and underlying profit before tax was up 23% to £72.2m. Dignity generated £125.2m cash from operations, a 20% increase over 2014.

On a statutory basis, the company's operating profit totalled £95.5m, a 15% increase. Its profit before tax was £69m, a turnaround from 2014's loss of £67.7m.

Dignity's underlying earnings per share rose 34% during 2015 to 114.8p, and its basic earnings per share were 115.2p, compared with a basic loss per share of 104p last year.

The board recommended a final dividend of 14.31p, up 10% on 2014, which would add to the interim dividend of 7.14p already paid.

"Our staff have performed tremendously in a year when we had to look after a lot more families than originally anticipated," said chief executive Mike McCollum.

"Our standards remained high, as reflected in the outstanding responses from our client surveys. Our financial performance was very strong as a result, helped by our continued focus on maintaining good cost controls alongside excellent client service and investment in the business," he added.

The company benefited from a growing market in 2015, with 588,000 deaths registered during the period, up 7% on 2014's 550,000 - a rate of change not seen for more than 60 years.

Dignity said there was strong operating performance from all three operating divisions, with client satisfaction remaining high. 99% of families said the company met or exceeded expectations, and 98% said they would recommend Dignity.

The company also said the 36 funeral locationa acquired from Laurel Funerals in July 2015 had been integrated well, and were performing in line with expectations.

Looking ahead, Dignity expected the number of deaths in 2016 to revert to the level seen in 2014, and its financial outlook was consistent with the group view throughout 2015.

Naked Trader today - Dignity has started to rise from the dead and is pushing up into highs.

Number of deaths in England and Wales hits 12-year high

Trading statement Monday.

First quarter trading update

9 May Panmure Gordon 2,750.00 Buy

Ex divi 19 May 2016 Dignity PLC (14.3 P)

Proposed acquisition of five crematoria locations

RNS


RNS Number : 7027Z

Dignity PLC

31 May 2016




For immediate release 31 May 2016



Dignity plc



Proposed acquisition of five crematoria locations from Funeral Services Limited



Introduction



Dignity plc (Dignity or the Group), the UK's only listed provider of funeral related services, is pleased to announce that it has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire five crematoria currently operated by Funeral Services Limited (trading as Co-op Funeralcare) for total consideration of £43 million (the Acquisition), to be satisfied in cash upon completion.



These crematoria are located in markets not served by existing Dignity crematoria. Of the crematoria acquired, three locations are freehold (Glasgow, Sheffield and Lichfield), with the other two leased from and managed on behalf of Local Authorities (Shropshire and Stockport). Completion of the acquisition of the freehold locations is conditional upon the transfer of trade and assets of the relevant locations to a new entity, which is expected to complete on or around 5 July 2016. Completion of the acquisition of the leasehold locations is conditional upon consent of the relevant Local Authority and transfer of the trade and assets of the location to a new entity. Consequently, one leasehold location is anticipated to complete on or around 25 July 2016, with the other leasehold location due to complete on or around 1 August 2016.



The Acquisition constitutes a Class 2 transaction for the purposes of the UK Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules. The Acquisition, including external transaction costs, is being funded from cash resources already held by the Group.



Overview of the Acquisition



The locations being acquired generated earnings before deducting interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of £2.9 million in the year ended 3 January 2016. The unaudited gross assets of the locations being acquired as at 3 January 2016 were approximately £10.9 million.



Opportunity and Rationale



Dignity currently operates 39 crematoria throughout the UK. Since flotation, Dignity has successfully acquired and integrated several crematoria locations into the Group. The locations being acquired provide the opportunity to expand the Group's geographical footprint into markets that are currently not served by the Group's existing locations and will therefore complement its existing locations.



Dignity anticipates that the integration of the Acquisition will involve limited reorganisation costs and minimal increase in overheads.



Allowing for the integration, the Group anticipates the annualised EBITDA from the Acquisition in 2017 to be broadly flat on the actual financial performance achieved in the 12 months to 3 January 2016. No cost savings have been assumed. The Group anticipates that the Acquisition will be earnings accretive in financial year ending December 2017.



Funeral acquisition facility



The Group also announces that, whilst not required to fund the Acquisition, it has extended the availability period of its £26.25 million debt facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland plc until 31 December 2016. This has allowed the Group to use its existing cash resources to fund this transaction, whilst maintaining appropriate resources for future corporate development activities that may arise.



Mike McCollum, Chief Executive of Dignity, commented on the Acquisition:



"This acquisition will allow us to extend our crematoria network into new geographical areas. It represents a good investment for Dignity, using cash already held by the Group, and supports our continued growth."





A conference call for analysts will be held at 10.30am on 31 May 2016. Please contact Buchanan if you have not received dial in details and wish to attend the call.



Further announcements will be made in due course.

Completion of acquisition of three crematoria

RNS


RNS Number : 4175C

Dignity PLC

28 June 2016








For immediate release 28 June 2016



Dignity plc



Completion of acquisition of three freehold crematoria locations from Funeral Services Limited



Further to the announcement on 31 May 2016, Dignity plc (Dignity or the Group), the UK's only listed provider of funeral related services, is pleased to confirm the completion of the acquisition of the three freehold crematoria locations from Funeral Services Limited (trading as Co-op Funeralcare).



A further two sites remain on track for completion at a later stage as previously indicated, pending consent of the relevant Local Authority and transfer of the trade and assets of the location to a new entity. All five crematoria are located in markets not served by existing Dignity crematoria.

Naked trader today - Interesting to see the shares which either didn't fall much at all or came right back to where they were this shows strength.

They include shares like the lovely Dignity (after all people aren't going to stop dying are they?)

1 Jul Berenberg 2,825.00 Buy

Interim results

27 Jul Investec 2,795.00 Hold
27 Jul Peel Hunt 2,400.00 Hold
27 Jul Panmure Gordon 2,750.00 Hold

Proactive investor -

Friday 4 Nov -Trading statements: Dignity PLC (LON:DTY)




Among the dribble of results and trading statements will be an update from the listed undertakers Dignity PLC (LON:DTY).
Broker Peel Hunt expects the company to return to growth after seeing earnings before interest and tax fall by 7% in the first-half

Third quarter trading update

7 Nov
Panmure Gordon
2,750.00
Hold
7 Nov
Investec
2,795.00
Hold
7 Nov
Peel Hunt
2,400.00
Hold

3 Mar
Berenberg
2,950.00
Buy

Preliminary results

Key points
·              Financial performance better than expected at the start of the year, as guided in November 2016;
·              Deaths broadly flat at 590,000 (2015: 588,000) and higher than originally anticipated;
·              Funeral market share decline is larger than seen before, which follows better market share than anticipated in 2015;
·              Focus remains on customer service, which continues to be high, with 98 per cent of clients saying they would recommend us;
·              Portfolio expanded through the acquisition of a total of 16 funeral locations and five crematoria in the period;
·              Total acquisition activity investment of £56 million (net of cash acquired) funded from existing cash resources;
·              Satellite location programme ongoing with 11 locations opened in the year;
·              Since the last trading update, the Group has obtained planning permission for a third new crematorium. They are all due to open in 2018/ 2019;
·              Another good year of pre-arranged funeral plan sales, with active pre-arranged funeral plans increasing to 404,000 (2015: 374,000), helped by trust and insurance based sales;
·              Starting to see potential opportunities from the use of digital technologies; and
·              The Group has acquired three funeral locations and one small crematorium since the balance sheet date.