On May 11, Park Lawn reported adjusted diluted earnings of 25 cents per share for the first quarter, compared with 32 cents in the year-ago period.
Although quarterly earnings declined more than 22%, the company earned more revenue — $86.7 million in the first quarter compared with $83.2 million a year ago, which was more than a 4% increase.
Investors appeared happy with the news, sending the stock price up more than 8% in intraday trading on Friday, May 12.
J. Bradley Green, CEO of Park Lawn, said in a news release, “We are pleased with our operating performance from the first quarter as it demonstrates strength against a tough comparison under challenging macroeconomic conditions. As the impacts of COVID-19 wane, our focus continues to be on implementing incremental improvements in our operations and making selective and strategic growth decisions that drive shareholder value. Overall, for the quarter, this strategy resulted in a slight increase in our average revenue per call on the funeral home side and continued strong preneed cemetery sales from our larger cemetery businesses.”
Green continued, “On the growth front, during the quarter and shortly thereafter, we opened Waco Memorial Funeral Home in Waco, Texas which adds another on-site to our portfolio, as well as closed two strategic acquisitions, adding businesses in Iowa and Nebraska and further expanding our presence in Missouri. We have a strong pipeline and we remain confident in our opportunities for continued strategic growth in 2023.”
Key Results from the Three-Month Period Ended March 31, 2023:
- Revenue increased by approximately 4% to $86.7 million, primarily as a result of acquired operations as compared to the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- Revenue from comparable operations decreased by approximately 5.6% over the prior heavily impacted COVID-19 three-month period ending March 31, 2022.
- Fully diluted earnings per share was 13 cents compared to 25 cents for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- Fully diluted adjusted net earnings per share was 25 cents compared to 32 cents for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- Net earnings was $4,576,146 compared to $8,702,018 for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $20,541,390 compared to $21,415,073 for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- Park Lawn achieved an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.7%, a decrease of 200 bps over the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
- On March 1, 2023, the company completed and opened the Waco Memorial Funeral Home, a new-build funeral home, located on-site at Waco Memorial Park in Waco, Texas. This new on-site facility offers the first funeral home and cemetery combination in the market and is expected to play an important role in the company’s organic growth strategy.
- On March 13, 2023, the company completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Meyer Brothers Funeral Homes, a business consisting of five stand-alone funeral homes located in Sioux City, Iowa, South Sioux City, Nebraska and Ponca, Nebraska. The Meyer acquisition is expected to add $1,843,734 in adjusted EBITDA annually and increases Park Lawn’s geographic presence by adding businesses in Iowa and Nebraska.
- Subsequent to the end of the quarter, on April 10, 2023, the company completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Carson-Speaks Chapel in Independence, Missouri; Speaks Buckner Chapel in Buckner, Missouri; Speaks Suburban Chapel in Independence, Missouri; and Oak Ridge Memory Gardens in Independence, Missouri. The Speaks acquisition expands Park Lawn’s Kansas City metropolitan market by adding three stand-alone funeral homes and one stand-alone cemetery and is expected to add $2,247,759 in Adjusted EBITDA annually.
- Also subsequent to March 31, 2023, the company filed a well-known issuer base shelf prospectus to preserve maximum flexibility as it continues to execute on its growth strategy.
