Release Details

HOUSTON, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE: CSV) today announced record quarterly results for the quarter ending March 31, 2012.

Mel Payne, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "After rolling out an updated Funeral Standards Operating Model together with a new long term incentive plan simultaneously with execution of a major management reorganization in November 2011, we themed 2012 as Carriage Services 2012 — A NEW BEGINNING and challenged our entire organization to make 2012 a breakout performance year for our company.  Notwithstanding one of the most difficult industry environments on record, our employees responded with a performance in the first quarter that can only be described as phenomenal.  We achieved records in Total Revenue, Total Funeral Field EBITDA, Total Field EBITDA, Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA, Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted Net Income and EPS.  All of our leaders, but especially our Managing Partners, Sales Managers and local staff, displayed with their performance what our Mission of Being the Best is all about."

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2012 FIRST QUARTER:

• Total Revenue of $52.3 million, an increase of 3.2%;
• Total Acquisition Funeral Field EBITDA of $2.5 million, an increase of 208%;
• Total Acquisition Funeral Field EBITDA Margin of 38.9%, an increase of 1,260 basis points;
• Total Funeral Field EBITDA of $15.5 million, an increase of 19.0%;
• Total Funeral Field EBITDA Margin of 39.9%, an increase of 480 basis points;
• Total Field EBITDA of $21.4 million, an increase of 11.2%;
• Total Field EBITDA Margin of 41.0%, an increase of 300 basis points;
• Total Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA of $16.0 million, an increase of 9.5%;
• Total Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin of 30.5%, an increase of 180 basis points;
• Total GAAP EPS of $0.23, an increase of 28%; and
• Total Adjusted EPS of $0.29, an increase of 26%.

The record 2012 first quarter performance was driven by record high Field EBITDA Margins in our funeral business portfolio, funeral business acquisitions and a continued strong GAAP and Non-GAAP contribution from our trust portfolios.  The revenue increase of $1.6 million was comprised of a $3.3 million increase in Funeral Acquisition Revenue, offset by a $1.7 million or 4.9% decline in our Same Store Funeral Revenue.

After Bill Heiligbrodt joined the Company full time in September 2011, he and his team of corporate development and analytical specialists revised our Strategic Acquisition Model to more effectively and efficiently screen and assess both quantitatively and qualitatively our growing pipeline of acquisition candidates.  As a result, the three funeral business acquisitions made since mid-December have all been high quality, dominant franchises in their local markets which were closed quickly and fully integrated into our Standards Operating Model almost from the date of closing, thereby contributing substantially to the first quarter increase of 208% in Acquisition Funeral Field EBITDA and the increase of 1,260 basis points in Acquisition Funeral EBITDA Margin.

The combination of a 480 basis point increase in our Total Funeral Field EBITDA Margin and $3.3 million increase in Funeral Acquisition Revenue produced an increase in Total Field EBITDA of $2.2 million, which was 38% greater than the Total Revenue increase of $1.6 million.  The broad and strong execution of our Funeral Standards Operating Model was a remarkable achievement considering that same store funeral cremation rates increased 190 basis points and same store volumes were down 6.2% because of the low death rate environment.  The record Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin of 30.5% was only the second time the cash earning power of our company has exceeded 30% during a quarter, the first being the second quarter of 2011 when we recognized substantial  gains in our trust funds during the first seven months of last year.

GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.23, up 28% from 2011, while Adjusted EPS was $0.29, up 26% from 2011.  Adjusted EPS this quarter excludes $1.0 million of Special Items of expense equivalent to 3.3 cents per share related to acquisitions, severance costs and non-recurring legal matters, and includes Withdrawable Trust Income of $0.7 million equivalent to 2.3 cents per share.  Our Adjusted Net Income of $5.2 million was another milestone achievement, as this performance metric for the first time equaled 10% of Total Revenue.

Withdrawable Trust Income was higher last year because of $7.6 million in realized equity and fixed income gains in the first quarter of 2011 following almost $30 million of realized gains in 2010, creating substantially over-funded amounts in certain cemetery merchandise and service trusts compared to state mandated amounts.  During the first quarter of 2012 and for the foreseeable future Withdrawable Trust Income will result primarily from substantial, recurring income from our discretionary trust portfolio, which will make this continuing and substantial Non-GAAP (Adjusted) source of revenue and earnings more predictable.  As of March 31, 2012, our discretionary trust portfolio is comprised of 80% in investment grade and high yield fixed income securities, 1% cash and only 19% in a small group of core equities.

 

 

 

OVERHEAD

Total Overhead increased $0.8 million to $7.2 million in the first quarter of 2012 from $6.4 million in the first quarter of 2011, due primarily to the $0.7 million increase in Total Variable Overhead.  Total Variable Overhead increased by $0.5 million due to additional severance costs and legal expense related to the management reorganization initiated during the fourth quarter of 2011 and by $0.3 million due to increased acquisition expenses.  Excluding the effect of the Variable Overhead items which are added back in the Special Items section of the Non-GAAP Unaudited Income Statement, Total Overhead for the current quarter increased by $0.1 million or 2.3% compared to the first quarter of 2011 and as a percentage of revenue would be 11.8% compared to 11.9% in the prior year quarter.

TRUST FUND PERFORMANCE

During the first quarter of 2012, Carriage continued to realize the benefit of the major asset reallocation of the discretionary trust portfolio that was completed during the second half of 2011.  Carriage's discretionary trust fund portfolio had a total return of 9.4% in the first quarter compared to 12.6% for the S&P 500, 5.3% for the Barclay's High Yield Bond Index, and 6.4% for our 50/50 index benchmark.  We believe that the current structure of our portfolio is unique in the industry and will provide substantial but less volatile returns in the future because of the large amount of recurring current income that should increase over time. This growing, recurring current income from the fixed income portfolio will continue to be recognized on preneed funeral and cemetery contracts upon maturity and in our cemetery perpetual care trusts on a monthly basis.  Carriage continued to actively manage the equity portion of the trust fund portfolio in the first quarter by decreasing the allocation to large-cap cyclical companies and increasing the allocation to large-cap growth companies.

Shown below are consolidated performance metrics for the combined trust fund portfolios (preneed funeral, cemetery merchandise and services, and cemetery perpetual care) at key dates.

 

 

ACQUISITIONS

Carriage acquired two funeral home businesses during the first quarter of 2012; the James J. Terry Funeral Home in Downingtown, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2012, and the Connor Westbury Funeral Home in Griffin, Georgia on March 13, 2012.  These businesses contributed $0.3 million in revenue for the quarter, but on an annualized basis are expected to serve approximately 710 families and generate revenue of approximately $4.2 million.  Carriage has acquired eight funeral home businesses during the previous twelve months.

FREE CASH FLOW

Carriage achieved a Free Cash Flow from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2012 of $2.6 million compared to Free Cash Flow from continuing operations of $2.1 million for the corresponding period in 2011.  The sources and uses of cash for the first quarter of 2011 and 2012 consisted of the following (in millions):

 

FOUR QUARTER OUTLOOK

The Four Quarter Outlook reflects management's current opinion on the performance of the portfolio of businesses for the rolling four quarter period ending March 31, 2013, and the performance of the trusts as well as our view of the financial markets.  Factors affecting our analysis include, among others, funeral contract volumes, average revenue per funeral service, cemetery interment volumes, preneed cemetery sales, capital expenditures, execution of our funeral Standards Operating Model, acquisitions and Withdrawable Trust Income.  The Four Quarter Outlook includes the Terry Funeral Home acquisition that closed in February, and the Connor Westbury Funeral Home acquisition that closed in March of 2012.

ROLLING FOUR QUARTER OUTLOOK — Period Ending March 31, 2013
(amounts in millions, except per share amounts)

 

 

Revenues, Consolidated EBITDA and Net Income for the four quarter period ending March 31, 2013 are expected to improve relative to the same period ended March 31, 2012, for the following reasons:

• Increases in Same Store Funeral Revenue averages and Same Store Funeral Field EBITDA Margins;
• Increases in Acquired Funeral Revenue and Acquired Funeral Field EBITDA from the 2011 and first quarter 2012 acquisitions; and
• Increases in Financial Revenue from all three categories of trust funds.

The Outlook also includes the Company's new policy of withdrawing realized gains and income in excess of regulatory mandated amounts on a monthly basis from certain cemetery merchandise and services trust funds, which are estimated to be in the range of $1.5 million to $2.0 million for the rolling four quarter period.

CONFERENCE CALL

Carriage Services has scheduled a conference call for tomorrow, May 2, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. eastern time.  To participate in the call, please dial 800-860-2442 at least ten minutes before the conference call begins and ask for the Carriage Services conference call.  A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through May 16, 2012 and may be accessed by dialing 877-344-7529 and using pass code 10013428.  An audio archive will also be available on the company's website at www.carriageservices.com shortly after the call and will be accessible for approximately 90 days.  For more information, please contact Terry Sanford at terry.sanford@carriageservices.com or 713-332-8475.

Carriage Services is a leading provider of death care services and products.  Carriage operates 162 funeral homes in 26 states and 32 cemeteries in 11 states.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

This press release uses Non-GAAP financial measures to present the financial performance of the Company.  Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company's reported operating results or cash flow from operations or any other measure of performance as determined in accordance with GAAP.  The Company's GAAP financial statements accompany this release.  Reconciliations of the Non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP measures are provided at the end of the press release.

Certain state regulations allow the withdrawal of financial income from preneed cemetery merchandise and services trust funds when realized in the trust.  Under current generally accepted accounting principles, trust income is only recognized in the Company's financial statements at a later time when the related merchandise and services sold on the preneed contract is delivered at the time of death.  Carriage has provided financial income from the trusts, termed Withdrawable Trust Income (loss) and reported on a Non-GAAP proforma basis within Special Items in the accompanying Non-GAAP Unaudited Income Statement, to reflect the current cash results.  Management believes that the Withdrawable Trust Income provides useful information to investors because it presents income and cash flow when earned by the trusts. 

The Non-GAAP financial measures include "Free Cash Flow", "Funeral and Cemetery Field EBITDA", "Total Field EBITDA", "Consolidated EBITDA", and "Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA" are reflected in this press release.  Both Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA are used by investors to value common stock.  The Company considers Free Cash Flow to be an important indicator of its ability to generate cash for acquisitions and other strategic investments.  The Company has included Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA in this press release because it is widely used by investors to compare the Company's financial performance with the performance of other death care companies.  Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA does not give effect to the cash the Company must use to service its debt or pay its income taxes and thus does not reflect the funds actually available for capital expenditures.  In addition, the Company's presentation of Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures other companies report.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made herein or elsewhere by, or on behalf of, the Company that are not historical facts are intended to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  These statements are based on assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable; however, many important factors, as discussed under "Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, could cause the Company's results in the future to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein and in any other documents or oral presentations made by, or on behalf of, the Company.  The Company assumes no obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company.  A copy of the Company's Form 10-K, and other Carriage Services information and news releases, are available at www.carriageservices.com.

— Financial Statements and Tables to Follow —

 

 

 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

This press release includes the use of certain financial measures that are not GAAP measures.  The Non-GAAP financial measures are presented for additional information and are reconciled to their most comparable GAAP measures below.

Reconciliation of Net Income from continuing operations to Non-GAAP Net Income from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2012:

Reconciliation of Diluted EPS from continuing operations to Non-GAAP Diluted EPS from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2012:

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures (unaudited), Continued:

Reconciliation of Net Income from continuing operations to Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2012 and the estimated rolling four quarters ended March 31, 2013 (presented at approximately the midpoint of the range identified in the release)(in 000's):

 

 

 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures (unaudited), Continued:

Reconciliation of Field income from continuing operations before income taxes to field EBITDA from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2012:

 

Reconciliation of cash provided by continuing operating activities to Free Cash Flow from continuing operations (in 000's):

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures (unaudited), Continued:

Reconciliation of Consolidated EBITDA from continuing operations to Free Cash Flow from continuing operations for the estimated rolling four quarters ending March 31, 2013 (in 000's):

 

SOURCE Carriage Services, Inc.