“2014 was a year of positive developments for our Group. A growing number of families in the Netherlands and in Germany opted for the personalised services offered by our crematoria and cemeteries”, said Henry Keizer, President & CEO of ‘the Facultatieve Group’. “Furthermore, Facultatieve Technologies booked some major successes in the US and Canadian markets. Under the difficult economic conditions of 2014, our staff managed to realise some great results. With offices and operations across the world, global economic developments have an impact on all our Group’s activities”, said Henry Keizer. “Which is why I’m so happy and proud that we have managed to show such a positive result of € 3.5 million after tax. It just goes to show how resilient our Group and its employees are.”
The number of ceremonies that ‘the Facultatieve Group’ provided rose in 2014 by 5% to 16,054. “By offering top-quality services geared to people’s individual wishes, we have managed to maintain our market share in the Netherlands at around 10%. Facultatieve Deutschland provided nearly 7,000 cremations in 2014 (2013: 6,000), further expanding our market share in Germany.”
Facultatieve Technologies continues to develop positively. “The combination of designing, building and maintaining the systems is becoming increasingly important. Thanks to our own service teams in different countries and our proprietary software for remote diagnostics and changes, we always respond quickly and efficiently. New products are developed – often together with clients – for finding the best solution within a project.”
Dealing with over 19,000 deceased persons, around 100,000 thanatopraxy treatments and some 16,000 transport movements, Hygeco’s Post Mortem Assistance showed a further strengthening of its growth in France in 2014.