Matthews International, the parent company of Aurora Caskets and Matthews Cremation products reported their 1st Quarter 2022 financial results last week.  It should be noted that Matthews fiscal year begins in October so these results are for the October thru December 2021 period.

Of interest to us at Funeral Director Daily are the results of what Matthews calls its “Memorialization” segment and in that segment the company reported 1Q 2022 sales of $210.7 million as compared to $183.2 million for the same period a year ago.  That’s a 15% increase in sales.  However, the margins or EBITDA on those sales dropped from last years $44.0 million to this year’s EBITDA of $43.3 million.  In essence, the Memorialization segment went from a 24.0% margin to a $20.5% margin for the period.

Here’s what Matthews President and CEO Joseph C. Bartolacci said of the segment results.  “The (revenue) increase was mainly the result of higher sales of caskets and cemetery memorials, primarily driven by COVID-19. Improved price realization and increases in sales of cremation equipment and mausoleum projects also contributed to the segment’s sales improvement.”

And, here’s what he said on the EBITDA issue and potential revenue for the year.  “With respect to our Memorialization segment, sales for the remainder of the fiscal year will be highly dependent on COVID trends. In addition, the segment’s adjusted EBITDA will remain challenged by the significant increases in material and labor costs. However, we are implementing new pricing actions and taking additional cost reduction measures to further mitigate these impacts.”

You can see the complete press report on the Matthews International First Quarter of 2022 here.

Funeral Director Daily take:  Matthews makes the statement in the press release that their Memorialization segment had sales increases in all of their main product lines.  That indicates that they are hitting the sales and providing the products that death care companies want and need.

From my point of view as a small funeral home owner I always tried to take something away from each death care public company’s quarterly reports.  What stands out at me on this report is the erosion of margin or EBITDA for the Memorialization segment.  I think it should act as a reminder to all of us in the profession that our costs are inflating and appear to be continuing in that regard for the foreseeable future.

Funeral home owners need to take a look at their pricing so they don’t get caught in this EBITDA squeeze.  Make sure you take this opportunity to look at your pricing and evaluate as you see fit.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Green Burials:  Why the “New Death Movement” is the future of funerals.  ShoutOut UK  (Great Britain)

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