A sharp increase in the number of deaths in Britain in 2015 compared with the previous year helped funeral services firm Dignity post a 16-per cent profit increase, the firm said.
Dignity said the 7-per cent year-on-year rise in the number of deaths in England, Scotland and Wales represented a rate of change not seen for over 60 years.
“This has been an extraordinary year, with the number of deaths changing in percentage terms by a greater amount than any year since 1952,” the firm said. “ We don’t know the reason for the increase. The broader trend was that the rate of deaths had been dropping since the 1970s and was forecast to start rising again in the 2020s,” a spokeswoman said.
Dignity said its underlying operating profit for 2015 was $138 million, up 16 per cent on the 2014 figure.
Source: Reuters