StoneMor, Inc. released its 1st Quarter financial results on May 13 and with it announced that they had completed their private offering of $400 million in Senior Notes.  There seems to be no doubt that the refinancing and operational results reported in the May 13 report have lifted the spirits of the company.

Here’s what CEO Joe Redling said in the 1Q 2021 report, “Earlier this week, we completed a transformational transaction for the Company by fortifying our balance sheet through a refinancing of all of our outstanding indebtedness. The new Notes dramatically increase our financial flexibility and improve our liquidity, including eliminating the maintenance covenants, extending maturity to 8 years, reducing our rate of interest. . .” 

From our point of view, it has been a rough few years for StoneMor as they have called this process a “transformational” period.  For 1Q 2021, however, the company reported a 20% increase in revenue over 1Q2020 and their Cemetery segment more than doubled their operating income from $5.2 million in 1Q 2020 to $11.7 million in 1Q 2021.  You can see the 1Q 2021 Report here.

Revenue for the company grew to $78.3 million in the First Quarter of 2021 as compared to $65.1 million for the same quarter in 2020.  About 86% of StoneMor’s revenue comes from the cemetery side of the business as compared to the funeral home side.  The company states that it owns 304 cemeteries and 70 funeral homes, virtually all in the Eastern half of the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

Joe Redling
StoneMor CEO

Redling also announced, in the StoneMor earnings call, “Pre-need cemetery sales production for March 2021 was up 98% over March of 2020, which contributed to an increase of 44% in cemetery pre-need sales production in the first quarter of 2021 versus the first quarter of last year.”

After a couple of years of selectively divesting properties to help get the Balance Sheet back in shape, it appears that StoneMor will now be on the prowl to add to its portfolio of cemeteries and funeral homes as Redling made this comment during the earnings call, “. . .we’re targeting accretive and synergistic acquisitions of both cemeteries and funeral homes in our existing markets.”

You can see a transcript of the Earnings Call here.

Here is a Power Point presentation on the results of StoneMor’s 1Q 2021 results.

Disclaimer:  The author of this article holds a stock position in StoneMor, Inc.

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