StoneMor Partners L.P. reported their 3rd Quarter and 9-month 2019 numbers last week and with it showed significant progress in their attempt at a transformational turnaround of the company.  In brief, StoneMor reported that revenues are stabilizing, that they are cutting recurring expenses, and that they have made progress on a divestiture process that will, more than likely, make their company smaller and more focused.

You can see a copy of the report here.

From the operations side of the report you will find that total revenues in 2019 were virtually identical to the total revenues reported in the 3rd Quarter of 2018 — $73.15 million in 2019 as compared to $73.18 million in 2018.  You will also see that 9-month revenue has dipped, but is close to the 2018 numbers — $223 million for 2019 as compared to $232 million for 2018.

As you continue to look at the operations side you will notice that for both the 3rd Quarter and the 9-month report of 2019 that expenses have dropped at both reporting dates.

StoneMor CEO and President Joe Redling said this in the report, “. . . our results demonstrate progress on our turnaround efforts as we continue to focus on increasing profitability through both revenue enhancements and cost reduction initiatives.”

StoneMor’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DiGiovannia added, “We have made significant progress on our divestiture efforts as we have launched a sale process of select assets. . . .We expect divestitures to have a transformational impact on our business.”

Here are some other items highlighted in StoneMor Partners 3rd Quarter report:

• Cemetery segment income for the 3rd Quarter 2019 was $4.2 million compared to $2.1 million for the same period of 2018.
• Recurring corporate overhead expense, declined to $9.1 million in the 3rd Quarter 2018 compared to $9.6 million in the 3rd Quarter of 2018.
• Significant progress was made on the divestiture process with targeted closings beginning in the first quarter of 2020.

Funeral Director Daily take:  StoneMor Partners operates 321 cemeteries and 89 funeral homes in 27 states and Puerto Rico.  There is no doubt that after divestitures of some assets the company will be a leaner company — and quite possibly a company with a more regionalized footprint than national footprint.

We are interested in seeing where and how many units disappear from the StoneMor Partners portfolio.  We know, from Carriage Service CEO Mel Payne’s recent comments, that you can see here, that Carriage Services expects to be in that number of companies that is looking to add current StoneMor Partners assets to its business portfolio.  It will be interesting to see who else in involved in acquiring some of these properties.

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