It’s Friday and going into the weekend it’s always nice to have something to think about. . . . How about this for today. .

 

This article from Seeking Alpha looks at the past fiscal year for Matthews International and uses that information as well as what they gleaned from the 4th Quarter Earnings Call to postulate, among other things, that maybe someday in the future Matthews International will let its Memorialization Segment be sold and use the proceeds for other parts of its operation.

 

Here are some quotes from the linked article:

• We still think memorialization could accrete well especially if there ends up being a PE exit.

 

• For memorialization, things were a little tough as there was a come-down from COVID-19 related deaths. An acquisition of Eagle Granite allowed for a solid YoY performance, but units have actually been down. It’s reasonable to assume that these are the normalized levels now and that incrementally there should be an improvement.

 

• . . . we expect incremental strength in funerals and think that further acquisitions likely scale the business into being more attractive for private equity buyers, or interest from other strategies.

 

• . . . they are planning on continuing to make accretive acquisitions to help the memorialization bottom line, using the current business as a platform for new bolt-ons.

 

• When that business gets brought to a larger scale it’s likely that it will eventually get acquired, since it’s positively exposed to both casketed burials as well as cremations. 

 

Funeral Director Daily take — Matthews Memorialization Segment is a solid earner and largest, by revenue, portion of the company.  However, much like the Batesville unit was with Hillenbrand Industries, it may portend to be a slower growth segment going forward.  Hillenbrand sold the profitable Batesville unit to concentrate on potential higher growth with their Advanced Process and Molding Technology segments. . . . so, there is some precedent in our industry for this type of strategy.

 

You can see the transcript of the 4th Quarter Earnings Call here.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Around and about Fort Drum:  Prisoner of War cemetery.  Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
• What is “Pre-death grief” and how can you support people going through it?  The Irish Times (Ireland)
• Governor vetoes bill to eliminate service fees for funeral directors obtaining electronic death certificates.  Video news story and print article.  CBS News 6 – Albany (NY)
• Local funeral chapel owner expanding into Wallowa County.  The Observer (OR)

 

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,407 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

&nbsp