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Dignity PLC on Friday said that fluctuating death rates throughout the Covid-19 crisis are continuing to cause internal challenges, as were rising costs.
Dignity is a funeral plan and end of life service provider based in the West Midlands, England.
In its first half ended July 1, Dignity swung to a pretax loss of £156.0 million from a profit of £50.5 million a year prior.
Death rates fell to 319,000, down by 6.0% from 340,000 at the same time last year. This contributed to reduced revenue, which fell by 12% to £166.9 million from £189.0 million.
Dignity said the pandemic has been a period of significant disruption to the funeral market. Despite the death rate in the half being lower than the previous year, it remained higher than the five-year average. This, combined with new funeral plan rules, negatively affected the firm's short-term performance.
Further, staff shortages of over 400 vacancies continued to lose the company business because it increased the time between deaths and funerals. In addition, administrative expenses surged to £124.7 million from £59.4 million.
Chief Executive Officer Kate Davidson said death rates were too unpredictable to provide an outlook for the rest of the financial year.
The company declared no interim dividend.
Dignity shares were lower by 8.3% at 362.66 pence each in London on Friday.
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