United States funeral home and cemetery operator StoneMor Partners, L.P. reported financials for the 3 and 6 months ending on June 30, 2019, after the close of business yesterday.  The company, which is in a self-proclaimed “turnaround” continued to report lower revenue numbers and larger net losses than last year for the time period, but comments by the company’s leaders encourage optimism.

You can read the report here.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Revenues for the 2nd Quarter were reported at $78.5 million. . .down about 3.8% from the $81.6 million reported for the same quarter in 2018.

• Revenues for the first six months of 2019 came in at $150.0 million as compared to the first six months of 2018 which totaled $159.5 million.  That is a decrease of about 6.0%.

• The net loss for the quarter was $34.4 million as compared to $17.0 million for the 2nd Quarter of 2018.

• Net loss for the first six months of 2019 was $56.9 million as compared to 2018’s 6-month net loss of $34.9 million.

• Corporate overhead was reduced in the 2nd Quarter of 2019 by about 14%.  .saving about $2.1 million for the quarter.

Joe Redling, President and CEO was quoted in the report, “Or second quarter results reflect continued pressure on pre-need production as our sales force adjust to initiatives we launched in the first quarter of 2019.  . . . .While our initiatives are in the early stages, we remain focused on improving our sales process and training, and optimizing staffing levels across the asset base.”

CFO Garry Herdler was also quoted in the report and seemed confident in what was happening at StoneMor.  “Our results reflect the efforts of our initial 100-day plan, which included significant progress on improving liquidity and capital structure.  We believe we have identified additional expense reduction opportunities in the next phase of this operational turnaround strategy.”  He continued, “I am more confident in the execution plans we are developing for the next phase of our turnaround plan to address our near-in challenges and opportunities, with the commitment to set a clear strategic road map for the future.”

According to the press release, StoneMor Partners, L.P. operates 321 cemeteries and 90 funeral homes.

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