Dignity Share Discussion Threads

[eburne1960] 24/3/2009 21:46

Erm, I think it's £1 in TOTAL, not per share. It's to do with the LTIP scheme which, off the top of my head, rewards execs if the total shareholder return outperforms other FTSE350 companies. Oh to be a director of a public company.....

[glennborthwick] 24/3/2009 20:46

am i reading this right - have they given a load of options at £1 when the price is 545.

That cant be correct, surely.

[not manu] 08/3/2009 16:18

The PnL looks (deceptively) good but the Balance Sheet is shockingly weak.

In a deep recession/depression I wonder how far the income per funeral will fall and the level of bad debts?

[miata] 02/3/2009 18:25

Opportunity knocks: stocks to profit from the recession

Dignity

One type of company that will definitely not runout of customers is the funeral director, which is why Dignity, the undertakers' chain, is tipped. KBC Peel Hunt, the stockbroker, said: "Dignity benefits from demand for funeral services, is cash generative and has pricing power, a benign cost base and opportunities to grow market share."

[romi2nikki1] 12/1/2009 11:56

Charles Hall ( Inv Chronic Analyst 2008), published a buy rec. and full note on 16.12.08), Hall recently appt Head of Research at KBC.... The link on the TD Waterhouse site, is not working, so if any of you have TDW accounts, please make nuisances of yourself.

[analyst] 29/12/2008 11:18

Should be a profitable year for funerals - with all the current flu, it has pushed the weekly death rate above average - see Figure 5 in this official bulletin

[eenyweeny] 26/10/2008 23:05

Queeny2, in response to your question elsewhere.

From my analysis this is heading to at least 452p. If I were short on this stock then 252 would be my profit target.
Purely chart interpretation only.
I have no interest in this stock other than to answer Q2s question.

[queeny2] 25/10/2008 12:30

WJ - no, not too bad, hence my question about ebit, where a 5 - 10% fall in revenue does real damage to the p/e - if it could occur. I looked up lfl rises on rev per funeral and per cremation last two years, and it wasn't too much, more than 10% over 2 years in both, but don't know if that is payers having ability to pay up because feeling rich, or stuff being passed through from crematoria etc. With a p/e, apparently, of 15, any question about earnings growth, let alone earnings falls, can whack the rating. and the market dislikes leverage anyway at the moment.

MIATA - directors sales, general bear market, short is right way to be in general for time being, either on gentle momentum, or some catalyst or fear of catalyst on earnings.

I read something about another planned capital payout next year? That prob won't happen now, so if some shareholders own it on that basis they may walk too.

[miata] 25/10/2008 11:37

To me not so much about the business as about whether the major shareholders will continue to reduce their holdings - perhaps to meet withdrawals by their investors - as recent RNS's have shown.

[wjccghcc] 25/10/2008 11:10

EV/EBIT is still a free cash flow yield of 9%. For a stable business where growth in cashflow might slow but is very unlikely to fall, is that expensive compared to gilts?

[queeny2] 24/10/2008 17:37

ok, let's try and get a debate going. I've just started looking, but familar with the busines model from the eighties.

figures from bloomberg, not checked.

A lot of debt. quite expensive EV/EBIT 11x, p/e 15x. paid a special div, leveraging up, in 06. low yield

Whither earnings? That's the question.

there have been articles about people, eg on state support, cutting back, I don;t know the business mix in terms of wealth of the funeral payers. The deceased's house will be harder to sell and a lower price.

[queeny2] 24/10/2008 16:59

Hi ther drsous - same here. started looking at this as a short. some shorts of previously bulletproof stocks have started to do well.

Two main variables? One, number of deaths. Not changing. Two, price per death. that has been rising at between 5 and 10% last two years, depending on cremation or burial.

My question at the moment is, will people cut back on spending in a recession, go for a cheaper funeral?

And I don't know the answer. Any views?

[drsous] 23/10/2008 19:41

i am a gp and investor /recent visit tp large funeral director in dewsbury i said at least there is no recession in our business.he said deaths were up in the last month but the time taken for bills to be paid were back to the recession of early 90s.looked at the share price to see if worth shorting tonight ?too late .

[romi2nikki1] 19/10/2008 22:15

Never mind, the way things are going we will all be able to get a state paid funeral.

[eburne1960] 19/10/2008 11:42

Article in the "gossip" part of Sun Telegraph Business section saying no names mentioned but there is word that due to the current economic squeeze bad debts are rising in the industry as people are not paying their funeral bills......

[weemonkey] 17/10/2008 13:22

you got it in one hyper

[hyper al] 17/10/2008 13:11

weemonkey

Lots of people are needing cash and selling

[weemonkey] 17/10/2008 13:01

cannnot see what might be driving these down other than the fact that they have done well over the long term and everything that has done well over the long term has found itself the subject of profit taking.

[wjccghcc] 10/10/2008 11:04

yup. bought a few at 6 quid.

[maniac3] 10/10/2008 10:42

Gotta be buying a co like this for long term really at these levels. Looking good.

[weemonkey] 19/9/2008 12:20

or was that "looked like" buying opp


expect this to recover in very short order

[weemonkey] 19/9/2008 12:19

director selling

god knows the reason

pay off the mortgage? divorce settlement? new car?

nothing to worry about I am certain. costs must be going down at the mo -petrol chipboard etc (no really the price of chipboard is a factor here - I rang and was told as much to my amazement)

looks like buying opp to me.

[melody9999] 19/9/2008 11:06

well there was long term support at 725. once this was breached I would guess a few stop losses kicked in. I'm a buyer here