The operator of the Mount Jerome Crematorium at Harold’s Cross in Dublin last year recorded post-tax profits of €646,838.
The total return for the year to the 12 months to the end of November last was down 9.5 per cent on the post-tax profit of €714,136 recorded in 2021 by the Alan Massey-owned Orlette Limited.
In 2021, the privately owned crematorium firm paid a €5.1 million dividend to Mr Massey’s Toprise Associates Limited after recording strong profits over a number of years. Last year’s performance saw accumulated profits increasing from €1.44 million to €2.08 million. The company’s cash funds more than doubled from €598,945 to €1.33 million.
Mount Jerome was the first privately owned crematorium in Ireland when it opened in 2000, just as the wider Mount Jerome facility was the first privately owned cemetery in Ireland when it opened in 1836.
Separate accounts for another crematorium operator, the Co Clare-based Shannon Crematorium, show that it recorded post-tax profits of €394,943 in the 12 months to the end of June 2022. This was a 40 per cent increase on the previous year.
The business of all crematorium operators and funeral directors across the country was boosted by an increase in the number of deaths in Ireland in 2022. Figures provided by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there were 35,477 deaths registered in 2022, which was a 2,422 or 7 per cent increase on the 33,055 deaths recorded in 2021.
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Underlining the opportunities in the sector, a Tetrarch subsidiary recently secured planning permission for a €20 million 8,047 burial plot cemetery on the site of a golf course at Citywest in Co Dublin. The group has also sought permission for a cemetery in Howth, Co Dublin.
Returns for crematorium firms are not confined to those companies dealing with humans. A Co Meath firm, PawPrints Cremation Ltd – which cremates pets – recorded post-tax profits of €262,003 in 2021.
The Trim-based company had €100,000 in dividends payable at the end of December 2021.
