Park Lawn Corporation revealed their 1st Quarter of 2024 financials last week and you can access them here.

The 1st Quarter of 2024 marks the first quarter of operations for the company coming off the disposition via sale to Everstory Partners of 72 cemeteries and 11 funeral homes that was consumated in December 2023.  You can read the Funeral Director Daily recap of that transaction here.

From our point of view Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) can now be seen as a “leaner” operation and the 1Q24 financials that we have seen show the company becoming much more funeral home dependent as a result of the disposition of those 72 cemeteries to Everstory Partners.

When you look at the 1Q24 revenue of PLC it is understandable that they have less revenue than they did in the 1st Quarter of 2023 simply because there are 83 business units now reporting to Everstory rather than Park Lawn.  Park Lawn’s 1Q24 revenue dropped about 11.9% as compared to their 1Q23 revenue — in dollar amounts the company took in about $76.3 million in 2024 as compared to $86.7 million in 1Q23.

What’s interesting, however, is that the revenue on the funeral side for Park Lawn came in at $52.9 million this quarter as compared to about $50.4 million in 1Q23.  While they have had some acquisitions, funeral revenue coming in higher in 2024 than 2023 was not really expected, by me at least. . . especially with 11 legacy funeral homes out of the equation.

On the cemetery side the company revenue declined about 38% because of the sale of those 72 cemeteries.  Cemetery revenue for 1Q24 came in at about $22.7 million as compared to $36.2 million in 1Q23.

Those revenue figures for the 1st Quarter indicate to us that the company is now much more dependent on the funeral side of the business than ever before.  Our numbers indicate that in 1Q23 Funeral Revenue made up about 58.1% of company revenue and Cemetery Revenue made up about 41.8% of total revenue.

Today’s numbers — the 1Q24 results — indicate that Funeral Revenue was about 69.3% of total revenue and Cemetery Revenue was only about 29.7 of total revenue. . . . . So, at least for the time being, Park Lawn Corporation looks to be more dependent on funeral home revenue.

For comparison sake, 1Q24 financial results from Carriage Services seem to indicate that Carriage Services is about 64% Funeral Revenue and about 27% Cemetery Revenue.  And, Service Corporation International (SCI) looks to be about 58% Funeral Revenue and about 42% Cemetery Revenue.

Brad Green
Park Lawn CEO

Park Lawn Corporation CEO J. Bradley Green made these comments as part of his total comments about PLC’s 1st Quarter, “As you have heard in our commentary over the past few quarters, with the reshaping of our platform as a result of the disposition of certain legacy assets which was completed in December, the implementation of a refined operating model, a new and improved sales structure, the launch of a comprehensive educational platform and a stronger more robust internal backbone, Park Lawn is now poised to perform at a higher and more effective level than ever before.”

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Why not get exposure to one of the two certainties in life?  Livewire Markets (Australia)
• Fort Lauderdale is maxing out on cemetery space.  Could closed Broward schools be the fix?  Miami Herald via Yahoo  (FL)
• How to die eco-style.  27 East  – Southampton Press (NY)
• Urban Death Project:  A case for composting your body.  CBC (Canada)
• Supporters of Anchorage-area cemeteries say they are not giving up after $4 million bond fails.  Alaska Public Media – NPR (AK)
• New Ferndale funeral home offers “alternative death care options” with unique preservation.  The Bellingham Herald via Yahoo (WA)

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