Carriage Services Inc (CSV) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Carriage Services Second Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Steven Metzger, President. Please go ahead, sir.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加運輸服務 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人史蒂文·梅茨格主席。請繼續，先生。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our second quarter results. In addition to myself, on the call this morning for management are Carlos Quezada, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors; and Kathy Shanley, Chief Accounting Officer.

大家早安，感謝您加入我們討論我們的第二季業績。除了我自己之外，今天早上參加管理電話會議的還有執行長兼董事會副主席 Carlos Quezada；和首席會計官凱西·尚利 (Kathy Shanley)。

On the Carriage Services website, you can find our earnings press release, which was issued yesterday after the market closed. Our press release is intended to supplement our remarks this morning and include supplemental financial information, including the reconciliation of differences between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Today's call will begin with formal remarks from Carlos and Kathy and will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

在運輸服務網站上，您可以找到我們昨天收盤後發布的收益新聞稿。我們的新聞稿旨在補充我們今天早上的言論，並包括補充財務信息，包括公認會計原則和非公認會計原則財務指標之間差異的調節。今天的電話會議將以卡洛斯和凱西的正式演講開始，然後是問答環節。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, we'll make some forward-looking statements, including comments about our business, projections and plans. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties and only reflect our views as of today. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, factors identified in our earnings press release as well as in our SEC filings, all of which can be found on our website.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議中，我們將做出一些前瞻性聲明，包括有關我們業務、預測和計劃的評論。前瞻性陳述本質上涉及風險和不確定性，僅反映我們截至目前為止的觀點。這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們的收益新聞稿以及美國證券交易委員會文件中確定的因素，所有這些都可以在我們的網站上找到。

Thank you all for joining us this morning. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Carlos.

感謝大家今天早上加入我們。現在我想把電話轉給卡洛斯。

Thank you, Steve, and thank you all for joining our second quarter earnings call. We're excited to share our progress in executing our 5-year strategic objectives, which delivered another outstanding financial performance this quarter. But before we do, I want to express my heart-felt gratitude to every Carriage employee for their continuous commitment to excellence and never settling for less.

謝謝史蒂夫，也謝謝大家參加我們第二季的財報電話會議。我們很高興分享我們在執行五年策略目標方面的進展，該目標在本季度再次取得了出色的財務表現。但在此之前，我想對每位 Carriage 員工表示衷心的感謝，感謝他們不斷追求卓越，永不滿足。

Your dedication makes a real difference for the families we serve and our company. We sincerely appreciate your support and commitment to our shared goals. I want to thank Kathy Shanley, our superstar Chief Accounting Officer, for participating in this call as a search for our new CFO continues.

您的奉獻精神為我們服務的家庭和我們的公司帶來了真正的改變。我們衷心感謝您對我們共同目標的支持和承諾。我要感謝我們的超級明星首席會計官凱西·尚利 (Kathy Shanley) 在我們繼續尋找新首席財務官之際參加了這次電話會議。

On today's call, I will share some of our key financial metrics and provide an update on our most relevant initiatives. Kathy will focus on overhead, cash flow and our leverage ratio.

在今天的電話會議上，我將分享我們的一些關鍵財務指標，並提供我們最相關舉措的最新資訊。凱西將重點放在管理費用、現金流和我們的槓桿率。

Now, on to our financial results. For the second quarter, our total revenue was $102.3 million, a significant increase of $4.6 million or 4.8%. This quarter marks another remarkable milestone in Carriage history as it is the second time we have surpassed the $100 million mark in a single quarter, the first being the first quarter of this year.

現在，我們的財務表現。第二季度，我們的總營收為 1.023 億美元，大幅成長 460 萬美元，成長 4.8%。本季標誌著 Carriage 歷史上的另一個顯著里程碑，因為這是我們第二次在單一季度內突破 1 億美元大關，第一次是今年第一季。

These exceptional results were primarily driven by a phenomenal 31.1% increase in preneed cemetery sales compared to last year and the continued execution of our funeral home pricing strategy, which boosted our funeral average revenue per contract by $212 or 4%.

這些出色的業績主要是由於與去年相比，墓地銷售額顯著增長了 31.1%，以及我們殯儀館定價策略的持續執行，這使我們每份合約的殯葬平均收入增加了 212 美元或 4%。

This financial success is a testament to our strategic planning, which has positioned us for continued growth and success as well as the dedication of our team. As we look at each of our revenue segments, total funeral home operating revenue decreased by $508,000 or 90 basis points to $59.2 million. This revenue decrease is driven by the expected slight decline in volume resulting from the pull-forward effect we have discussed in prior calls.

這一財務上的成功證明了我們的策略規劃，它為我們的持續成長和成功以及我們團隊的奉獻奠定了基礎。當我們審視每個收入部門時，殯儀館總營業收入下降了 508,000 美元或 90 個基點，至 5,920 萬美元。這一收入下降是由於我們在之前的電話會議中討論過的拉動效應導致的預計銷量略有下降所致。

However, we are able to make up a bit over $2 million in revenue through our increased average revenue per contract, which has delivered an increase in total funeral field EBITDA of $1.8 million or 8.4% and 340 basis points in total funeral field EBITDA margin to 39.5% compared to 36.1% last year. A comparable revenue on a lower cost base demonstrates our unwavering commitment, cost control and a strong partnership with our field leaders.

然而，透過增加每份合約的平均收入，我們能夠彌補略高於 200 萬美元的收入，這使得殯葬領域 EBITDA 總額增加了 180 萬美元，即 8.4%，殯葬領域 EBITDA 總額增加了 340 個基點39.5% ，去年為36.1%。較低成本基礎上的可比較收入證明了我們堅定不移的承諾、成本控制以及與領域領導者的強大合作關係。

Now, let's move to cemetery operating revenue. We ended the quarter at $34.8 million, an increase of $5.9 million or 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. For total cemetery field EBITDA, we finished at $17.1 million, an increase of $4.2 million or 32.6% and a total cemetery field EBITDA margin of 49.1%, an increase of 450 basis points compared to 44.6% last year.

現在，我們來看看墓園的營業收入。本季末，我們的營收為 3,480 萬美元，比去年同期增加了 590 萬美元，即 20.6%。對於墓地領域 EBITDA 總額，我們最終達到 1710 萬美元，增加了 420 萬美元，即 32.6%，墓地領域 EBITDA 總額為 49.1%，比去年的 44.6% 增長了 450 個基點。

This is another key achievement for Carriage, and we couldn't be prouder of our entire preneed cemetery sales teams for their determination to provide day-in and day-out best-in-class performance in preneed sales. For total financial revenue, we ended the second quarter at $7.1 million, an increase of $1 million or 16.9%.

這是 Carriage 的另一個關鍵成就，我們為整個預需要墓地銷售團隊感到無比自豪，因為他們決心日復一日地在預需要銷售方面提供一流的業績。就總財務收入而言，第二季末我們的總財務收入為 710 萬美元，增加了 100 萬美元，即 16.9%。

This growth was driven by the continued execution of our preneed funeral sales strategy, which delivered an increase in general agent commissions ending the quarter at $1.4 million, an increase of $1 million or 251% compared to the $406,000 during the same quarter last year.

這一增長是由我們持續執行的殯葬銷售策略推動的，該策略使總代理佣金在本季度末增加至 140 萬美元，與去年同期的 406,000 美元相比增加了 100 萬美元，即 251%。

Our preneed funeral strategy continues to yield positive results, and we're excited about our future performance as we continue to build upon our sales strategy.

我們預先制定的葬禮策略繼續取得積極成果，隨著我們繼續加強我們的銷售策略，我們對未來的表現感到興奮。

As we move to adjusted consolidated EBITDA for the second quarter, we finished at $32.6 million, an increase of $3.9 million or 13.6%. The combination of a higher average revenue per contract and the continued execution of our cost management initiatives delivered great success demonstrated by our adjusted consolidated EBITDA margin of 31.9%, an increase of 250 basis points compared to the same period last year.

當我們轉向第二季調整後的綜合 EBITDA 時，我們的最終收入為 3,260 萬美元，增加了 390 萬美元，即 13.6%。每份合約平均收入的提高與成本管理計劃的持續執行相結合，取得了巨大成功，調整後的綜合 EBITDA 利潤率為 31.9%，與去年同期相比增加了 250 個基點。

From a GAAP perspective, net income ended at $6.3 million, a decrease of $2 million compared to the previous year. This decrease was driven by nonrecurring expenses related to our strategic review process and our prior CFO separation agreement. When adjusting net income for these 2 items, we ended at $9.9 million, an increase of $1.7 million or 20.1%. Kathy will share more details on overhead later on the call.

從 GAAP 角度來看，淨利潤為 630 萬美元，比前一年減少 200 萬美元。這一下降是由於與我們的策略審查流程和先前的財務長離職協議相關的非經常性費用造成的。當調整這兩項的淨利潤時，我們最終達到 990 萬美元，增加了 170 萬美元，即 20.1%。凱西稍後將在電話會議上分享有關開銷的更多詳細資訊。

Adjusted diluted EPS in the second quarter ended at $0.63 per share, an increase of $0.10 or 18.9% and with the execution of the amendment to our credit facility we are very well positioned to unlock additional value for shareholders due to the reduction of near-term interest expense.

第二季調整後攤薄每股收益為每股 0.63 美元，增加了 0.10 美元，即 18.9%，隨著我們信貸安排修正案的執行，由於近期利潤的減少，我們完全有能力為股東釋放額外價值。利息支出。

We are very proud of these results, and after reviewing our key operational metric trends and forecast, we're excited to share that we're increasing our guidance for 2024 to the following ranges: $390 million to $400 million in total revenue, adjusted consolidated EBITDA of $117 million to $123 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $2.30 to $2.40. Adjusted free cash flow remains at $55 million to $65 million. Kathy will share more details about our revised guidance.

我們對這些結果感到非常自豪，在審查了我們的關鍵營運指標趨勢和預測後，我們很高興與大家分享，我們正在將2024 年的指導提高到以下範圍：總收入3.9 億美元至4 億美元（調整後的綜合收入） EBITDA 為 1.17 億美元至 1.23 億美元，調整後稀釋後每股收益為 2.30 美元至 2.40 美元。調整後的自由現金流仍維持在 5,500 萬美元至 6,500 萬美元之間。凱西將分享有關我們修訂後的指南的更多詳細資訊。

Our second quarter performance marked 6 out of the last 7 quarters in which we outperformed expectations, as we continue to deliver on what we have previously communicated to our shareholders. We are filled with joy and excitement that are focused on our three main strategic objectives, disciplined capital allocation, purposeful growth and relentless improvement is yielding solid and consistent results.

在過去 7 個季度中，我們有 6 個季度的業績超出了預期，因為我們繼續履行先前向股東傳達的訊息。我們充滿喜悅和興奮，專注於我們的三個主要策略目標，嚴格的資本配置，有目的的成長和不懈的改進正在產生堅實和一致的成果。

We will remain diligent through the execution of these strategic objectives, and we will continue to find opportunities to maximize our platform and unlock value for our shareholders. For example, through relentless improvement, we are reengineering our approach to our supply chain strategy.

我們將繼續努力執行這些策略目標，並將繼續尋找機會最大化我們的平台並為股東釋放價值。例如，透過不懈的改進，我們正在重新設計我們的供應鏈策略方法。

The first phase of this strategy will broadly impact all merchandise options resulting in elevated service delivery for our client families and increased savings from leverage during our scale. We expect to recognize some savings this year and a full phase 1 impact in 2025. Phases 2 and 3 will follow and additional savings are expected.

此策略的第一階段將廣泛影響所有商品選擇，從而提高為我們的客戶家庭提供的服務，並在我們的規模擴大期間增加槓桿節省。我們預計今年將實現一些節省，並在 2025 年實現第一階段的全面影響。隨後將進行第二階段和第三階段，預計將節省更多資金。

As a quick update, we continue searching for a CFO to help drive our long-term strategic growth plan forward. While we have conducted multiple interviews, we have a very clear vision of what we need at this stage of our journey, as this critical role will be a catalyst towards value creation and best-in-class financial planning. We look forward to reporting back once we fill this key position.

作為快速更新，我們將繼續尋找財務長來幫助推動我們的長期策略成長計劃。雖然我們進行了多次採訪，但我們對現階段的需求有非常清晰的願景，因為這個關鍵角色將成為價值創造和一流財務規劃的催化劑。一旦我們填補了這個關鍵職位，我們期待著回來報告。

In closing, we are pleased with our second quarter performance and progress in executing our five-year strategic objectives plan with plenty of opportunities yet to materialize, we're excited about where we are in our journey. And with that, I will hand it over to Kathy.

最後，我們對第二季的業績和執行五年策略目標計畫的進展感到滿意，還有大量機會尚未實現，我們對我們的旅程感到興奮。這樣，我就把它交給凱西。

Thank you, Carlos. Thank you to all who are joining us on the call today. As Carlos mentioned, we increased our full year guidance given our strong operational performance for several quarters in a row.

謝謝你，卡洛斯。感謝今天加入我們電話會議的所有人。正如卡洛斯所提到的，鑑於我們連續幾季強勁的營運業績，我們提高了全年指引。

I will start by providing the cash flow and overhead highlights, then talk about what we can expect for the full year.

我將首先提供現金流和管理費用亮點，然後討論我們對全年的預期。

Results for the quarter and year-to-date included adjusted free cash flow of $1.7 million, which was down slightly from the prior year quarter of $3.8 million. However, we are ahead of prior year on a year-to-date basis at $22.6 million versus $20.9 million or $1.7 million ahead.

本季和年初至今的業績包括調整後自由現金流 170 萬美元，略低於去年同期的 380 萬美元。然而，今年迄今，我們領先去年 2,260 萬美元，而領先去年 2,090 萬美元或 170 萬美元。

We recently amended our credit agreement, which shifted us from BSBY to SOFR. We retained our credit facility capacity and we'll also have a more favorable fee schedule resulting in near-term interest expense reduction. The new agreement will also align the bank and financial leverage ratios, resulting in a 4.58x leverage ratio for the second quarter of 2024.

我們最近修改了信貸協議，將我們從 BSBY 轉變為 SOFR。我們保留了信貸額度，並且還將制定更優惠的費用表，從而減少近期利息費用。新協議還將調整銀行和財務槓桿率，使 2024 年第二季的槓桿率達到 4.58 倍。

Be it this amendment demonstrates the strong partnership with our banks and their confidence in our performance and the opportunities that lie ahead for Carriage.

不管怎樣，這項修正案表明了我們與銀行的牢固合作關係以及他們對我們的業績和運輸未來機會的信心。

Turning to our progress this year, as it relates to capital expenditures, we continue to demonstrate our focus on disciplined capital allocation. Year-to-date, we have invested $7.1 million back into our businesses through capital expenditures. Growth CapEx was $4.4 million, and maintenance CapEx was $2.7 million year-to-date.

談到我們今年在資本支出方面的進展，我們繼續展示我們對嚴格資本配置的關注。今年迄今為止，我們已透過資本支出向我們的業務投資了 710 萬美元。年初至今，成長資本支出為 440 萬美元，維護資本支出為 270 萬美元。

Now, shifting to overhead. Overhead was $20.4 million for the quarter versus $12.1 million in the prior year quarter, resulting in just over an $8 million increase in overhead. The overhead variance was driven by a onetime $5 million expense related to the company's review of strategic alternatives. This is a notable G&A expense item driven by the last of the anticipated expenses relating to this review, which concluded earlier this year.

現在，轉向頭頂。本季管理費用為 2,040 萬美元，而去年同期管理費用為 1,210 萬美元，導致管理費用增加略高於 800 萬美元。管理費用差異是由與公司策略替代方案審查相關的一次性 500 萬美元費用造成的。這是一個值得注意的一般管理費用項目，由與今年稍早結束的本次審查相關的最後一項預期費用所驅動。

You will note that it is a nonrecurring item and is reflected in our non-GAAP add-backs for adjusted EPS and adjusted consolidated EBITDA. However, for cash flow purposes, we anticipate the payment of the $5 million to be spread evenly over the course of the next 12 months.

您會注意到，它是一個非經常性項目，並反映在我們調整後每股收益和調整後合併 EBITDA 的非 GAAP 回加中。然而，出於現金流的目的，我們預計 500 萬美元的付款將在未來 12 個月內平均分攤。

Additionally, we had $1 million relating to Project Trinity costs and $800,000 for executive severance, which was also a non-GAAP add back in the period. And lastly, $400,000 of corporate short-term incentive compensation expense driven by our strong performance.

此外，我們還有 100 萬美元與 Project Trinity 成本相關，以及 80 萬美元用於高階主管遣散費，這也是該期間非 GAAP 的補充。最後，由於我們的強勁業績，公司短期激勵補償費用為 40 萬美元。

Overhead, as a percent of revenue, was 20% for the quarter. However, excluding strategic review costs and executive severance, overhead, as a percent of revenue, was 14.3% versus 12.4% in the prior year quarter.

本季管理費用佔收入的百分比為 20%。然而，不包括策略審查成本和高階主管遣散費，管理費用佔收入的百分比為 14.3%，而去年同期為 12.4%。

Now let's shift to what we can expect for the full year. Adjusted free cash flow for the full year will remain in the range of $55 million to $65 million. Although we have increased revenue guidance as we grow our business organically, the growth is projected to be primarily driven by cemetery preneed sales, which are collected over time.

現在讓我們來看看全年的預期。全年調整後的自由現金流將維持在5,500萬美元至6,500萬美元的範圍內。儘管隨著業務的有機發展，我們提高了收入指引，但預計成長將主要由墓地預需銷售推動，這些銷售是隨著時間的推移而收集的。

We are expecting capital expenditures to land about $18 million for the year, $9 million for growth CapEx and $9 million for maintenance CapEx, which is slightly lower than our initial expectation.

我們預計今年資本支出約為 1800 萬美元，其中成長資本支出為 900 萬美元，維護資本支出為 900 萬美元，略低於我們最初的預期。

For overhead, as we continue to execute on our strategic objectives, we expect to experience slightly elevated overhead costs driven by Project Trinity. However, in the long term, as previously communicated, we anticipate overhead efficiencies after implementation is complete, and after completion of other internal initiatives.

對於管理費用，隨著我們繼續執行我們的策略目標，我們預計在「三位一體」專案的推動下，管理費用將略有上升。然而，從長遠來看，正如先前所傳達的，我們預計在實施完成後以及其他內部計劃完成後會產生間接費用效率。

We are targeting a leverage ratio of 4.5 times to 4.75 times for year-end. And as I mentioned earlier, we are expecting to experience a reduction in interest expense of $400,000 to $600,000 for the rest of the year as a result of a more favorable fee schedule provided by the new credit facility amendment.

我們年底的目標槓桿率為4.5倍至4.75倍。正如我之前提到的，由於新的信貸安排修正案提供了更優惠的費用表，我們預計今年剩餘時間的利息支出將減少 40 萬美元至 60 萬美元。

That concludes my prepared remarks, and I will turn it back over to the operator to open for questions.

我準備好的發言就到此結束，我會將其轉回接線生以供提問。

Thank you. We will now conduct a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。（操作員說明）

Alex Paris.

亞歷克斯·帕里斯.

I wanted to congratulate you on another beat and the guidance raise, which we've been anticipating. So I have a couple of questions here that come to mind. First on funeral services. Volumes were down 4.5% in the quarter as expected, generally because of the pull-forward effect of COVID, largely offset by an increase in the average revenue per contract.

我想祝賀你再次獲得勝利並提高指導價，這是我們一直期待的。所以我想到了幾個問題。首先是殯葬服務。本季成交量按預期下降 4.5%，主要是由於新冠疫情的拉動效應，但在很大程度上被每份合約平均收入的增長所抵消。

Not too different than what the industry leader Service Corp announced last night, they had an unexpected decline in volume, offset partially at least by average revenue per contract. So as I said, not a surprise, but particularly because you said on the last call that March and April were a little weaker than January and February. How should we think about funeral volumes in the second half? I'm presuming that we're still going to have the effect of pull-forward and maybe some growth next year. Your thoughts?

與行業領導者服務公司昨晚宣布的情況並沒有太大不同，他們的銷量意外下降，至少部分被每份合約的平均收入所抵消。正如我所說，這並不令人意外，但特別是因為您在上次電話會議上表示，三月和四月的表現比一月和二月略弱。下半年的葬禮數量該如何看待？我認為明年我們仍然會產生拉動效應，也許還會有一些成長。你的想法？

Absolutely, Alex. As we have shared in past calls, we still feel pretty strong about the trends. We believe third quarter and fourth quarter will continue to show a slight decrease in volumes from prior year, but to wash out pretty much by Q1 of 2025. The decrease will be slight. We should be able to continue to make up a big chunk of that volume loss through revenue increase, through sales average. And so we feel pretty confident based on our current trends that we should be able to have a pretty decent third quarter and fourth quarter related to volume decrease.

當然，亞歷克斯。正如我們在過去的電話會議中所分享的那樣，我們仍然對這種趨勢感到非常強烈。我們認為，第三季和第四季的銷售將繼續較去年略有下降，但到 2025 年第一季將基本消失。下降幅度將會很小。我們應該能夠繼續透過收入增加和平均銷售來彌補銷售損失的很大一部分。因此，根據目前的趨勢，我們非常有信心，我們應該能夠在第三季和第四季實現與銷量下降相關的相當不錯的業績。

Got you. How did July go at this point? Or said it in another way, what was the trend during -- the monthly trend during the quarter in terms of funeral volumes? Was it worsening? Was it lessening? And then the first month of this quarter?

明白你了。七月此時過得怎麼樣？或者換句話說，就葬禮數量而言，本季的月度趨勢是什麼？情況有惡化嗎？有減少嗎？那麼本季的第一個月呢？

Slightly above last year on volume for July. So you can see from July alone, we feel pretty encouraged that -- we will still expect a slight decrease overall for the third quarter, we do see the balance of the year starting to level up from a comparable perspective on funeral home volume.

7 月的成交量略高於去年。因此，僅從7 月份就可以看出，我們感到非常鼓舞- 我們仍預計第三季度總體會略有下降，但從殯儀館交易量的可比角度來看，我們確實看到今年的餘額開始趨於平穩。

So in keeping with that trend that maybe the fourth quarter volume decline would be less than the third quarter volume decline. Is that reasonable?

因此，根據此趨勢，第四季的銷售下降幅度可能會小於第三季的銷售下降幅度。這樣合理嗎？

That's our expectation. Yes.

這是我們的期望。是的。

Got you. Okay. And then specifically with regard to the interest rate on the variable debt, what was it in the quarter versus the year ago quarter?

明白你了。好的。然後，特別是關於可變債務的利率，本季與去年同期相比是多少？

Specifically, to our current facility?

具體來說，我們目前的設施？

Yes. I think you gave it last quarter, a 100 basis points lower. In Q1, you had said it was 8.9% versus 7.9% a year ago. I'm wondering those same numbers on a second quarter basis.

是的。我認為上個季度你們給的利率降低了 100 個基點。在第一季度，您曾說過這一數字為 8.9%，而一年前為 7.9%。我想知道第二季的相同數字。

Only 100 basis point difference between second quarter of 2023 and second quarter of 2024.

2023年第二季與2024年第二季僅相差100個基點。

Okay. So a similar increase or was it --

好的。那麼類似的成長或是--

Similar increase. Very slight increase. We've been very -- and it's not coming, Alex, just to put some point of clarification. It's not coming from the rate itself is because we have decreased the size of our usage of the facility comparison to last year.

類似的增加。非常輕微的增加。我們一直都非常 - 亞歷克斯，它不會來只是為了澄清一些問題。這並不是來自費率本身，而是因為與去年相比，我們減少了設施的使用規模。

Exactly. So interest expense was lower because you had less revolver debt outstanding, less variable rate debt outstanding. I think $154 million at the end of the quarter versus $189 million last year because you paid down debt there.

確切地。因此，利息支出較低，因為未償左輪債務較少，未償還可變利率債務較少。我認為本季末的收入為 1.54 億美元，而去年為 1.89 億美元，因為你還清了債務。

That is correct.

這是正確的。

Okay. Great. And then last and related question regarding the credit agreement. I think Kathy just mentioned that you would have $400,000 to $600,000 less in interest expense over Q3 and Q4. I think you extended the term. What other color can you give us on the amendment to the credit agreement?

好的。偉大的。最後一個有關信貸協議的相關問題。我想凱西剛剛提到，第三季和第四季的利息支出將減少 40 萬至 60 萬美元。我認為你延長了期限。對於信貸協議的修改，您還能給我們什麼其他顏色？

Yes. Happy to share a lot of color on that. We achieved basically 5 things from our amendment to the credit facility. Number 1 was the allowance of up to 20% of EBITDA adjustments that resulted in aligning our financial and bank leverage ratios calculations.

是的。很高興能就此分享很多色彩。透過對信貸安排的修改，我們基本上實現了 5 件事。第一個是允許高達 20% 的 EBITDA 調整，從而使我們的財務和銀行槓桿率計算保持一致。

Number 2 is extending the term of the facility through 2029. Number 3 was a decrease of the rates by pretty much about 5.8% on tiers above 4.2x, which we expect will be riding over the next probably 1.5 years that will result in savings in short-term interest expense.

第二是將該設施的期限延長至 2029 年。第三，4.2 倍以上的利率下降了約 5.8%，我們預計未來 1.5 年將持續下降，從而節省短期利息支出。

Also allows for M&A flexibility with a race to the cap, as you remember, was 4.25, now it's 4.5. So we have that flexibility moving forward. And it really reiterates the high level of confidence that the banks has in Carriage. And so we're pretty excited about where we are with our very facility amendment. So very positive results from that.

還可以透過競爭上限來實現併購靈活性，正如您所記得的那樣，以前是 4.25，現在是 4.5。所以我們有向前邁進的彈性。這確實重申了銀行對 Carriage 的高度信心。因此，我們對設施改造的進展感到非常興奮。因此，結果非常積極。

I appreciate those answers to my questions. I'll get back in the queue.

我很感謝這些對我的問題的回答。我會回到隊列中。

Liam Burke, B. Riley.

利亞姆·伯克，B.萊利。

Thank you, and good morning. Carlos, the cremation margins were very high vis-a-vis even when in the past where they were mid-40s and you posted a high 40s number here. Understanding that quarter-to-quarter, these margins bounce around, but what created that significantly?

謝謝你，早安。卡洛斯，火葬利潤率非常高，即使在過去，火葬利潤率是 40 多歲，而你在這裡發布了 40 多歲的數字。在了解了季度與季度之間的情況後，這些利潤率會出現反彈，但是是什麼造成了這種顯著的變化呢？

Well, we have launched a strategy for our cremation families. And basically, it has 2 fronts. One is an educational component to show all options to all families that are choosing cremation. This is related to, let's call them packages, but it is really a walk-through of what's truly possible in cremation. So as somebody walks in with a direct cremation idea, they may walk out with a recremation with service, recremation with increased merchandise, recremation with a life celebration or some sort of gathering.

嗯，我們已經為火葬家庭推出了策略。基本上，它有兩個面向。其中之一是教育內容，向所有選擇火葬的家庭展示所有選擇。這與我們稱之為包有關，但這實際上是火葬中真正可能實現的功能的演練。因此，當有人帶著直接火葬的想法進來時，他們走出去時可能會帶著服務火化、增加商品火化、生命慶典或某種聚會的火化。

And that, of course, is increasing our sales average per contract on the cremation side. Our goal is to decrease the direct cremation impact from last year between 3% to 5%, so we'll have less recremation and more recremation with service, an ultimate goal. That has been a strategy rolled out pretty much throughout Q1 and really executed formally in Q2 across the funeral home portfolio and is making some significant impact. That's the biggest piece.

當然，這增加了我們在火葬方面每份合約的平均銷售額。我們的目標是將直接火葬影響比去年減少 3% 至 5%，因此我們將減少火葬，並透過服務增加火葬，這是我們的最終目標。這是在第一季幾乎推出的策略，並在第二季在整個殯儀館投資組合中真正正式執行，並且正在產生一些重大影響。這是最大的一塊。

The second part to that, it has been a strategic review to pricing on all of our merchandise and services product. That doesn't mean that we do fee increase across the company. It only means that we sit down with the managing partner with a lot of data analytics, so they can decide based on the trends on a 5-year basis, what is the best option to make up for pricing including market share gains, including pricing of the competition, pricing for the businesses on the different categories for 5 years. And as they see all those trends, they make the most advocated decision that is more convenient for their business.

第二部分是對我們所有商品和服務產品的定價進行策略性審查。這並不意味著我們會提高整個公司的費用。這只是意味著我們與管理合夥人坐下來進行大量數據分析，這樣他們就可以根據5年的趨勢來決定，什麼是彌補定價的最佳選擇，包括市場份額收益，包括定價競爭的結果，不同類別的企業在5 年內的定價。當他們看到所有這些趨勢時，他們會做出最受擁護的、對他們的業務更方便的決定。

On that note, did you see growth in both traditional burial and cremation contracts adjust cremation?

在這一點上，您是否看到傳統土葬和火葬合約的成長調整了火葬？

On sales average here?

這裡的平均銷售額是多少？

No, just on the actual contracts.

不，只是根據實際合約。

No. So burial rate is down a little bit, right? For the quarter, 1.8%. However, cremation rate is up 1.4%. And so we do continue to see that 1% to 2% trend that, goes up and down to the quarters on an annual basis, typically stays between 1% to 1.2%. But the strategy we're using to make up the loss of a higher average on the burial side to higher average on the cremation side is actually working really well as seen by our Q1 and Q2 performance.

不。那麼埋葬率下降了一點，對嗎？本季為 1.8%。然而，火葬率上升了1.4%。因此，我們確實繼續看到 1% 至 2% 的趨勢，每年各季度上下波動，通常保持在 1% 至 1.2% 之間。但從我們第一季和第二季的表現來看，我們用來彌補埋葬方面較高平均水平與火葬方面較高平均水平的損失的策略實際上非常有效。

Great. And then lastly, on cemetery margins, they were high 40s, which is pretty darn good. Again, a quarter-to-quarter basis, they do vary, but why were they still significantly higher? Or can you keep doing it, I guess, question?

偉大的。最後，在墓地邊緣，他們的年齡都在 40 多歲，這真是太好了。同樣，按季度計算，它們確實有所不同，但為什麼它們仍然顯著較高？或者我想你可以繼續這樣做嗎？

That's a great question. Yes, I wouldn't say they're sustainable over time. They're going to be on the high side between our first quarter and second quarter. But we did have a spectacular second quarter.

這是一個很好的問題。是的，我不會說它們隨著時間的推移而是可持續的。在我們的第一季和第二季之間，它們將處於較高水平。但我們確實有一個精彩的第二季。

And when you think about that, we did about $9 million of large sales. We had Ching Ming which in the specific case of Rolling Hills are reunitization driven preneed property marketing out of California had a spectacular Ching Ming season. And that really helped us drive these margins and this performance for the quarter.

想想看，我們的銷售額約為 900 萬美元。我們度過了清明節，在羅靈山的具體情況下，加州的房地產行銷需要重新統一，從而度過了一個壯觀的清明節。這確實幫助我們提高了本季的利潤率和業績。

We do believe that because where we are on our sales preneed cemetery journey or opening preneed sales journey, we still have a lot of upside because we have not been close to maximize our platform and our communities and the opportunities that we have out there.

我們確實相信，因為我們正處於銷售前的墓地之旅或開放前的銷售之旅中，我們仍然有很多上升空間，因為我們還沒有接近最大化我們的平台、我們的社區以及我們在那裡擁有的機會。

And Shane Pudenz, our Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, has done, with the support good results. So well, I do expect the margins to stay close to the 50% number, I do expect to -- for them to keep pretty high and for this, continuation of performance probably over the next 2 to 3 years, at least.

我們的銷售和行銷資深副總裁 Shane Pudenz 在支持下取得了良好的成果。所以，我確實預計利潤率將保持在接近 50% 的水平，我確實預計，他們會保持相當高的水平，為此，至少在未來 2 到 3 年內，業績可能會持續。

Well, thank you, Carlos.

嗯，謝謝你，卡洛斯。

You bet. Thank you so much, Liam.

你打賭。非常感謝你，利亞姆。

John Franzreb, Sidoti & Company.

約翰‧弗蘭茲雷布 (John Franzreb)，西多蒂公司 (Sidoti & Company)。

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. I have to start with your response to the previous question about cremation. I'm curious how much of that is the acceptance of other services and how much of that is maybe because cremation has a lower ASP that it's easy to raise prices in regards to increasing the value of those contracts?.

大家早安，感謝您提出問題。我必須從你對之前有關火葬問題的回答開始。我很好奇其中有多少是對其他服務的接受，其中有多少可能是因為火葬的平均售價較低，因此很容易提高價格以增加這些合約的價值？

That's a great question. I appreciate that, John. So we just started to track, when I say just about 2.5 months ago at the beginning of the quarter, really. To really understand, we have this suite from our current ERP system called CIFA to Trinity. So CIFA doesn't really allow us to do much information on that analytics, but we have some. So we were able to program the system to give us some data on this is calling for purpose of this call, packages.

這是一個很好的問題。我很感激，約翰。所以我們才剛開始追踪，我說的是大約 2.5 個月前，也就是本季初。為了真正理解，我們從目前的 ERP 系統 CIFA 到 Trinity 都有這套套件。因此，CIFA 並不允許我們在該分析上提供太多信息，但我們有一些。因此，我們能夠對系統進行編程，為我們提供一些有關此調用的數據，以實現此調用的目的，包。

So we can know how many families that come in with the idea of getting at the recremation, they've actually been upgraded to a cremation with something. Not enough data to actually me feel comfortable sharing on this call yet, but I will feel more comfortable as we close on the third quarter and now have second quarter and third quarter to compare as it is a quite new strategy for cremation consumer, but we'll give you more update on that, but it is very positive. It's a significant take-up rate as that will be my expectation as per the average that we're seeing on the cremation side.

這樣我們就可以知道有多少家庭本來想火葬，但實際上他們已經升級到火葬了。實際上，我還沒有足夠的數據在這次電話會議上分享，但當我們第三季結束時，我會感覺更舒服，現在有第二季和第三季進行比較，因為這對火葬消費者來說是一個相當新的策略，但我們會給你更多關於這方面的最新消息，但這是非常積極的。這是一個很大的採用率，因為根據我們在火葬方面看到的平均值，這將是我的預期。

Makes sense, Carlos. And in regards to your supply chain and procurement review, you said Phase 1 is done or near done and you expect results by the fourth quarter, if I heard properly, what kind of magnitude do you expect in the Phase 1 completion to impact the P&L?

有道理，卡洛斯。關於你們的供應鏈和採購審查，你們說第一階段已經完成或接近完成，你們預計第四季度會出現結果，如果我沒聽錯的話，你們預計第一階段的完成會對損益產生多大的影響？

Absolutely. So we did the prework to the phase 1, right? Prework meaning all the analytics around our merchandise, specifically more around earns and caskets and other areas to discover what was the size of the opportunity. So that work was completed.

絕對地。所以我們做了第一階段的準備工作，對嗎？前期工作意味著圍繞我們的產品進行所有分析，特別是圍繞收入和棺材以及其他領域進行分析，以發現機會的大小。這樣，這項工作就完成了。

And now we launched the strategy on the first phase, which will be related to specifically diamonds, upgrades on diamonds. That's the creation of diamonds from cremated remains and earn strategy and vendor strategy. What that means is vendor agreements. It means the selection of core lines. It means creating the specific alignment of caskets so our managing partners can choose to partner with those vendors at a better pricing than we ever had before because we are negotiating agreements with those vendors and get some additional benefit for Carriage.

現在我們推出了第一階段的策略，這將與具體的鑽石、鑽石的升級相關。這就是從火化遺骸中創造鑽石並賺取策略和供應商策略。這意味著供應商協議。就是核心線的選擇。這意味著創建棺材的特定對齊方式，以便我們的管理合作夥伴可以選擇以比以前更好的價格與這些供應商合作，因為我們正在與這些供應商談判協議並獲得一些額外的運輸利益。

On that front, just wave 1 or phase 1 of that supply chain strategy from now to the end of the year and we're in execution of phase 1 currently, we do expect to get somewhere between $450,000 to $700,000 in savings, benefits from this strategy by the end of the fourth quarter. And then we do expect for just phase 1 somewhere around $2 million in savings throughout 2025.

在這方面，從現在到今年年底，只是該供應鏈策略的第一波或第一階段，我們目前正在執行第一階段，我們確實預計將節省 450,000 至 700,000 美元，並從中受益第四季度末制定戰略。我們確實預計 2025 年僅第一階段就能節省約 200 萬美元。

Now as we go into phase 2 and phase 3, there's other elements of the merchandise both indirect and direct procurement that will land somewhere around potentially an additional $5 million over 2025 and 2026. Potentially, more to come on that front as we continue to get deeper dives into the data and the opportunity. But it is quite -- is really low-hanging fruit that is there for us to capture today and that's really the approach to at least the first phase and then phase 2 and 3 through 2025 and 2026.

現在，當我們進入第二階段和第三階段時，間接和直接採購的其他商品元素將在 2025 年和 2026 年增加 500 萬美元左右。隨著我們繼續深入研究數據和機會，這方面可能會出現更多內容。但這確實是我們今天要抓住的、唾手可得的成果，這確實是至少第一階段、然後是 2025 年和 2026 年第二階段和第三階段的方法。

That's certainly very impressive. And I guess, one last question regarding the outlook and the expectations that the debt rate is going to continue to work against you in the second half of the year. But if I recall correctly, last year, we had a surprise September. So let me start thinking about the comps on a year-over-year basis we should still have a positive comp maybe in the September quarter and a negative comp in the December quarter. Am I thinking about that properly or not?

這確實令人印象深刻。我想，最後一個問題是關於前景和預期的，即債務率將在今年下半年繼續對你不利。但如果我沒記錯的話，去年九月我們度過了一個驚喜。因此，讓我開始考慮同比的比較，我們可能在 9 月的季度仍然會有正的比較，而在 12 月的季度應該會有負的比較。我是否正確地思考了這個問題？

Well, so if you go back even to 2022, we had quite a big drop on September 2022, and we were not expecting a second big drop on September, specifically of 2023, and we have them both. For some reason, September came lower than expected both years.

好吧，所以如果你甚至回到2022 年，我們在2022 年9 月就出現了相當大的下跌，我們預計9 月不會出現第二次大幅下跌，特別是在2023 年，而且我們兩者都有。由於某種原因，9 月的數據低於兩年的預期。

I don't expect, again, especially out of the comment I made on July trends, for September to be such a big drop. I do expect that there is at least comparable, if not an increase to 2023. And so that's really where we stand. But it was a surprise '22, and it was a surprise '23, so it could be a surprise '24, but not expected.

我再次預計，尤其是根據我對 7 月趨勢的評論，9 月不會出現如此大的下降。我確實預計到 2023 年，即使沒有增加，至少也會有可比的成長。這就是我們的立場。但這是 22 年的驚喜，也是 23 年的驚喜，所以 24 年也可能是驚喜，但不是預期的。

Perfect. Thank you. Thank you for taking my questions, everyone.

完美的。謝謝。謝謝大家回答我的問題。

Thank you, John.

謝謝你，約翰。

George Kelly, ROTH Capital Partners.

喬治凱利，羅仕資本合夥人。

Thanks for taking my questions. I'm George. Morning, Carlos. Maybe if we could start as kind of a follow-up to that previous answer that you gave on the merchandise, the different phases of opportunity that you see over the next 2 or 3 years. I guess the question is, are there other areas beyond merchandise sourcing? I don't know if it's potentially labor or other significant areas that you're also targeting or does merchandise kind of represent the biggest by far area of efficiency as you look out over the next, call it, 2 to 3 years?

感謝您回答我的問題。我是喬治。早安，卡洛斯。也許我們可以作為您先前就產品給出的答案的後續行動，您在未來兩三年內看到的不同階段的機會。我想問題是，除了商品採購還有其他領域嗎？我不知道您是否也瞄準了潛在的勞動力或其他重要領域，或者當您展望未來 2 到 3 年時，商品是否代表了迄今為止最大的效率領域？

So merchandise is really the biggest bucket, but there are other opportunities we're looking at as of today. I'll give you an example. We already moved from an internal audit team to an external audit team that is going to help us from that when that big savings, but these are top of the strategies we're implementing.

因此，商品確實是最大的一桶，但截至目前為止我們還在尋找其他機會。我給你舉個例子。我們已經從內部審計團隊轉移到外部審計團隊，這將幫助我們節省大量成本，但這些是我們正在實施的策略的首要內容。

Additionally, we are actually going to fully centralize accounts payable to our new system Trinity, effectively January 1 of 2025, which should result in some additional savings. We are leveraging our scale on all technology, telephony, mobile phones, that type of thing.

此外，我們實際上將自 2025 年 1 月 1 日起將應付帳款完全集中到我們的新系統 Trinity，這應該會帶來一些額外的節省。我們正在利用我們在所有技術、電話、行動電話等領域的規模。

So it's a very, very holistic approach. We have not been able to with a specific number to every single category. And we were close to, we have enough data. We just don't want to commit to it just yet. We need to do a little bit more work on cleaning up that data up to make sure that it is recitable and achievable, but there's significant opportunity on -- that will come out of this supply chain procurement strategy as we move into the rest of this year and then over the next few years through 2026.

所以這是一個非常非常全面的方法。我們無法為每個類別提供具體的數字。我們已經接近了，我們有足夠的數據。我們只是還不想承諾這一點。我們需要做更多的工作來清理這些數據，以確保它是可背誦的和可實現的，但是當我們進入剩下的部分時，這個供應鏈採購策略將帶來重大的機會。接下來的幾年，直到2026 年。

So is it fair to say then that getting back to a consistent 40-plus -- maybe, call it, low 40% funeral EBITDA margin is a very realistic situation just as you look out over the next 2 years?

那麼，公平地說，正如您對未來兩年的展望一樣，回到穩定的 40 以上——也許可以這麼說，低 40% 的葬禮 EBITDA 利潤率是一個非常現實的情況嗎？

Well, so really great question. As you know, we're close to that right now, right? But that's been a result of a couple of things: catching up to the inflation costs, specifically on utilities, labor, transportation that we have experienced over the last couple of years and we're still doing some catching up on that front. So that gets us closer to that goal.

嗯，真是個好問題。如你所知，我們現在已經很接近了，對吧？但這是由於以下幾個因素造成的：追趕通貨膨脹成本，特別是我們在過去幾年中經歷過的公用事業、勞動力和交通成本，而且我們仍在這方面採取一些措施。這讓我們更接近這個目標。

Additionally, from the revenue side, the sales average per contract making a significant impact, making up for that slight loss of volume. But we're really encouraged is once we get this volume back on track, right? Once we wash off of this pull-forward effect and we're able to be on a comparable basis, as we continue to deliver the strategies on supply chain that I just mentioned, continue to work on our pricing strategy and on the recremation improvement for upgrading that consumer, we do feel pretty strong that revenue will continue to grow and that the margin should be expanding to that 40%. But that will be probably 2025. I don't expect to get us to 40% right through -- maybe Q4, but there's not -- no expectation just yet.

此外，從收入方面來看，每份合約的平均銷售量產生了重大影響，彌補了銷售的輕微損失。但一旦我們讓這本書重回正軌，我們真的很受鼓舞，對嗎？一旦我們擺脫了這種拉動效應，我們就能夠在可比較的基礎上，繼續實施我剛才提到的供應鏈策略，繼續致力於我們的定價策略和火葬改進升級消費者，我們確實非常強烈地認為收入將繼續增長，利潤率應該擴大到40%。但這可能是 2025 年。我不希望我們能在第四季達到 40%，但目前還沒有任何預期。

Okay. That's helpful. And then 2 last quick ones for me. Are there still more noncore assets that are under consideration for sale? And then second question is on pricing, back to your funeral business. Thinking about next year, your commentary about volumes was helpful just about your anticipation for volumes to turn positive. Maybe this year at the end of the year, but most likely early next year and I guess the question is just on pricing.

好的。這很有幫助。然後是我最後兩個快速的。是否還有更多非核心資產正在考慮出售？第二個問題是關於定價，回到您的殯葬業務。考慮明年，您對交易量的評論對您對交易量轉正的預期很有幫助。也許是今年年底，但最有可能是明年初，我想問題只是在於定價。

Are you anticipating continuing to take pricing or do you think you're getting kind of close to hitting a ceiling there, and it will go back to kind of flattish or just slightly positive for next year?

您是否預計會繼續定價，或者您是否認為您已經接近達到上限，並且明年會恢復到持平或略顯積極的水平？

I feel confident that we will continue our pricing strategy throughout Q3 and Q4. We have quarterly meetings through our regional partners and the directors of operations with our managing partners to review where we are. We can't suddenly just go 10% increase across the board. So it's been slowly but surely because we want to balance the price increase with volume, right? We don't want to have this volume and lose our ability to compete.

我有信心我們將在第三季和第四季繼續我們的定價策略。我們透過我們的區域合作夥伴以及營運總監與我們的管理合作夥伴舉行季度會議，以審查我們的進度。我們無法突然全面提高 10%。所以這是緩慢但肯定的，因為我們希望平衡價格上漲與銷量，對吧？我們不想擁有這樣的銷量而失去競爭力。

And so we're kind of like trying to see where is the demand meets that perfect pricing to continue to increase volume and gain market share if possible, which is what we've been doing. But I do expect for those meetings to continue Q3, Q4 with some improvements, maybe not as big as we have done so far on pricing, but continue to be up maybe 100 to 200 basis points by Q4. And as it relates to your question on the divestitures, I'm going to ask Steve to answer that question.

因此，我們有點像試圖看看需求在哪裡滿足完美的定價，以繼續增加銷售並在可能的情況下獲得市場份額，這就是我們一直在做的事情。但我確實預計這些會議將在第三季、第四季繼續進行，並進行一些改進，也許沒有我們迄今為止在定價方面所做的那麼大，但到第四季可能會繼續上漲100 到200 個基點。由於這與你關於資產剝離的問題有關，我將請史蒂夫回答這個問題。

Yes, good morning, George. So for divestitures, we've already closed a couple of deals earlier this year for a little more than $11 million in proceeds. We're looking at a couple of other opportunities. The good news for us is, while they are noncore assets, they're still profitable businesses.

是的，早上好，喬治。因此，對於資產剝離，我們今年早些時候已經完成了幾筆交易，收益略高於 1100 萬美元。我們正在尋找其他一些機會。對我們來說，好消息是，雖然它們是非核心資產，但它們仍然是盈利的業務。

So really kind of making sure that the premium we get is significant enough to where it makes sense for us, but we have several opportunities we're looking at. Secondary category, where we've got some momentum is excess real estate. We like that because we're not losing any EBITDA, but we do have some excess land that is not in our plans for future development in some prime locations.

因此，確實要確保我們獲得的溢價足夠大，達到對我們有意義的程度，但我們正在尋找幾個機會。我們有一些動力的第二個類別是過剩的房地產。我們喜歡這樣，因為我們沒有損失任何 EBITDA，但我們確實有一些多餘的土地，這些土地不在我們未來在一些黃金地段的開發計劃中。

So as we look ahead to the end of the year, we think there's a good opportunity potentially to get between $20 million and $30 million with relatively low EBITDA loss on that. So we'll have more to report next quarter, but it's progressing well so far.

因此，當我們展望今年年底時，我們認為有一個很好的機會，可以在 EBITDA 損失相對較低的情況下獲得 2000 萬至 3000 萬美元的收入。因此，我們下季度將有更多報告，但到目前為止進展順利。

Wow, that's significant. Appreciate all the color.

哇，這很重要。欣賞所有的顏色。

And George, just to add a little bit more on that one. Our plan is, as we continue to work on those divestitures, and we do feel we'll be able to execute on some before the end of the year, it is important to highlight that we have paid down $60 million compared to a year ago from the peak of our credit facility, and that's very significant. That's about 0.79 turns in just about a year, right, on our plan with delevering.

喬治，只是想在此基礎上再補充一點。我們的計劃是，隨著我們繼續致力於這些資產剝離，並且我們確實認為我們能夠在年底之前執行一些資產剝離，重要的是要強調與一年前相比，我們已經支付了 6000 萬美元與我們信貸額度的頂峰相比，這是非常重要的。根據我們的去槓桿化計劃，大約一年內就發生了 0.79 次轉折，對吧。

And as we find this type of opportunities from a divestiture front, we'll continue to accelerate that commitment to paying down our debt. And as you have seen, we'll see some savings from our credit facility amendment and potentially some expected savings as the Fed does execute on September potentially. So very excited about our journey about our financial position, about the execution of our plan as of right now.

當我們從剝離方面發現此類機會時，我們將繼續加速履行償還債務的承諾。正如您所看到的，我們將看到我們的信貸安排修訂帶來的一些節省，以及聯準會可能在 9 月執行時帶來的一些預期節省。我們對我們的財務狀況以及我們目前計劃的執行情況感到非常興奮。

It appears there are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over for any additional or closing remarks.

目前似乎沒有其他問題了。我想將會議轉回，以便發表補充或結束語。

Thank you, everybody, for joining our call. The future at Carriage is full of opportunity and excitement, and we are filled with great enthusiasm. Our ongoing strategic initiatives and progress over the past year place us in a strong position for continued innovation and financial growth.

謝謝大家加入我們的電話會議。Carriage的未來充滿了機會和興奮，我們充滿了極大的熱情。我們持續的策略性舉措和過去一年的進展使我們在持續創新和財務成長方面處於有利地位。

Our focus extends beyond immediate successes. We are laying the foundation for enduring value that benefits our shareholders for the long term. Thank you for your interest and support, and we look forward to reporting our progress on our next call.

我們的重點不僅在於眼前的成功。我們正在為持久價值奠定基礎，從而使我們的股東長期受益。感謝您的興趣和支持，我們期待在下次電話會議上報告我們的進展。

This concludes today's call. Thank you again for your participation. You may now disconnect and have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。再次感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接並度過愉快的一天。