Carriage Services Inc (CSV) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Carriage Services fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Carriage Services 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Steve Metzger, President. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人，總裁史蒂夫·梅茨格 (Steve Metzger)。先生，請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth-quarter and year-end results for 2024. In addition to myself, on the call this morning from management are Carlos Quezada, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors; and John Enwright, Chief Financial Officer.

大家早安，感謝您加入我們討論 2024 年第四季和年終業績。除了我自己之外，今天早上參加管理層電話會議的還有首席執行官兼董事會副主席 Carlos Quezada；以及首席財務官約翰·恩賴特（John Enwright）。

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.

在 Carriage Services 網站上，您可以找到我們的收益新聞稿，該新聞稿於昨天市場收盤後發布。我們的新聞稿旨在補充我們今天上午的發言，並包括補充財務信息，包括 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標之間差異的調節。

Today's call will begin with formal remarks from Carlos and John and will be followed by a question-and-answer period. 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.

今天的電話會議將以卡洛斯和約翰的正式發言開始，然後是問答環節。在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議中，我們將做出一些前瞻性的陳述，包括對我們的業務、預測和計劃的評論。

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 release as well as in our SEC filings, all of which can be found on our website.

前瞻性陳述本身涉及風險和不確定性，僅反映我們截至今天的觀點。這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們在收益報告以及美國證券交易委員會文件中確定的因素，所有這些因素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.

感謝大家今天上午參加我們的活動。現在我想把電話轉給卡洛斯。

Thank you, Steve, and welcome to everyone joining today's fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call. I am pleased to share the outcomes of a transformative year at Carriage Services, a testament to our dedication and strategic execution. Our results reflect our financial strategy and commitment to innovation and service excellence.

謝謝您，史蒂夫，歡迎大家參加今天的第四季和全年財報電話會議。我很高興與大家分享 Carriage Services 轉型之年的成果，證明了我們的奉獻精神和策略執行力。我們的業績反映了我們的財務策略以及對創新和卓越服務的承諾。

Before sharing the results, I want to express my deepest gratitude to every member of the Carriage team. Your unwavering dedication is the cornerstone of our success and provides needed comfort to the families we serve. We truly appreciate you and your alignment with our vision and values.

在分享結果之前，我想向 Carriage 團隊的每一位成員表達最深切的感謝。您堅定不移的奉獻精神是我們成功的基石，並為我們服務的家庭提供了所需的安慰。我們衷心感謝您以及您對我們的願景和價值觀的認同。

I am also thrilled to welcome John Enwright as Carriage's new Chief Financial Officer. In just seven weeks, John has dived deeply into our operations, embraced our culture and provided invaluable insights and leadership as we continue to grow into a best-in-class organization. Welcome to Carriage, John.

我也非常高興地歡迎約翰恩賴特 (John Enwright) 出任 Carriage 的新任財務長。在短短七週內，約翰深入我們的運營，接受了我們的文化，並在我們繼續成長為一流的組織的過程中提供了寶貴的見解和領導力。歡迎來到 Carriage，約翰。

Today, I will highlight our financial performance for the fourth quarter and the full year and update you on the progress of some of our strategic objectives. John will provide additional detail, focusing on overhead, cash flow, leverage ratio and our guidance for 2025. Now let's move on to the financial highlights.

今天，我將重點介紹我們第四季和全年的財務業績，並向您通報我們的一些策略目標的進展。約翰將提供更多細節，重點是管理費用、現金流、槓桿率以及我們對 2025 年的指導。現在讓我們來看看財務亮點。

For the fourth quarter, we reported total revenue of $97.7 million, a decrease of $1.1 million or 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. We experienced an anticipated decline in funeral volumes against a challenging prior year comparable, resulting in a 7.3% decrease partially offset by a 1.4% increase in our average revenue per funeral contract.

第四季度，我們的總營收為 9,770 萬美元，與去年同期相比減少 110 萬美元，降幅為 1.1%。與充滿挑戰的前一年相比，我們的葬禮數量預計會下降，導致降幅達到 7.3%，但每份葬禮合約的平均收入增加了 1.4%，這部分抵消了這一影響。

The volume decrease is primarily linked to a shift in the flu season, which usually starts late in the fall and increases through the winter months. Our January and February volume trends are positive, indicating that a late flu season may have shifted volume from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year.

發病率下降主要與流感季節的轉變有關，流感季節通常在秋季末期開始，並在整個冬季逐漸增加。我們一月和二月的病例數趨勢是正面的，這表明流感季節的延遲可能導致病例數從去年第四季轉移到今年第一季。

Additionally, we experienced an 8.4% increase in preneed interment rights sold and a 4.2% increase in the average price per preneed interment rights sold, which helped offset total revenue to a decrease of just 1.1%.

此外，我們銷售的預置埋葬權增加了 8.4%，銷售的每份預置埋葬權的平均價格增加了 4.2%，這有助於抵消總收入僅下降 1.1% 的影響。

When breaking down revenue, funeral operating revenue was $58.7 million in the fourth quarter versus $61.3 million last year, a $2.6 million decrease or 4.2%. Lower funeral home volumes resulted in a reduction of 831 contracts or 7.3%. This was partially offset by a slight increase in average revenue per contract of $75 or 1.4%.

具體來看，第四季殯葬營運收入為 5,870 萬美元，而去年同期為 6,130 萬美元，減少了 260 萬美元，降幅為 4.2%。殯儀館數量減少導致合約減少 831 份，降幅為 7.3%。但每份合約平均收入略有增加，為 75 美元，即 1.4%，這部分抵消了這一增幅。

Cemetery operating revenue for the fourth quarter was $29.8 million versus $26.7 million last year, resulting in a $3.1 million increase or 11.6%, driven by an increase of preneed interments sold of 263 contracts or 8.4% and an increase per preneed cemetery contract of $937 or 9.2% compared to the same period last year, almost offsetting the revenue loss in our funeral segment.

第四季墓園營運收入為 2,980 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,670 萬美元，成長 310 萬美元或 11.6%，原因是預售墓葬合約增加 263 份或 8.4%，每份預售墓園合約增加 937 美元或 9.2%，幾乎抵銷了殯葬部門的收入損失。

For the full year, total revenue finished at $404.2 million, an increase of $21.7 million or 5.7%, primarily driven by the continued growth in consolidated cemetery preneed sales as we experienced a 22.9% increase in preneed interments rights sold and a 7.3% increase in the average price per preneed interment rights sold, which led to total preneed cemetery sales of $94.3 million, an increase of $19.9 million or 26.7% when compared to the same period last year.

全年總收入達到 4.042 億美元，增加 2,170 萬美元或 5.7%，主要由於合併墓地預售銷售額持續增長，銷售的預售安葬權增加了 22.9%，銷售的每個預售安葬權的平均價格增加了 7.3%，導致預售墓地總銷售額達到 9,430 萬美元，與去年同期增加了 199.20 萬美元。

Moving to adjusted consolidated EBITDA. For the fourth quarter, we ended at $29.3 million, a decrease of $3.1 million or 9.6%. This decrease was driven by the lower revenue in our funeral segment, combined with an expected $1.2 million increase in our Trinity system investment, which we don't adjust for. For adjusted consolidated EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter, we finished at 30%, a decrease of 280 basis points compared to last year.

轉向調整後的合併 EBITDA。第四季度，我們的營收為 2,930 萬美元，下降 310 萬美元，降幅為 9.6%。造成這一下降的原因是我們的殯葬部門收入較低，加上我們的三一系統投資預計增加 120 萬美元，而我們並未對此進行調整。第四季調整後綜合 EBITDA 利潤率為 30%，較去年同期下降 280 個基點。

For the full year, adjusted consolidated EBITDA finished at $126.2 million, an increase of $13 million or 11.5%. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA margin for the full year remained strong at 31.2%, an increase of 160 basis points compared to last year. Adjusted diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.62 per share, down by $0.15 or 19.5% versus the prior year quarter.

全年調整後綜合 EBITDA 達 1.262 億美元，增加 1,300 萬美元，增幅 11.5%。全年調整後綜合EBITDA利潤率維持強勁，達31.2%，較去年同期成長160個基點。第四季調整後稀釋每股收益為 0.62 美元，較去年同期下降 0.15 美元，下降 19.5%。

And for the full year, we ended at $2.65 per share, an increase of $0.46 per share or 21%. We are pleased with our financial performance for the full year of 2024, highlighted by a continued focus on execution while optimizing our systems and approach to support organic growth.

全年每股收益為 2.65 美元，比上年增加 0.46 美元，增幅為 21%。我們對 2024 年全年的財務表現感到滿意，重點在於我們繼續注重執行，同時優化我們的系統和方法以支持有機成長。

Our strategic adjustments throughout the year paid off despite a decrease in funeral volumes in the fourth quarter, influenced by the shift in a later-than-normal flu season. After raising our guidance twice in 2024, we are thrilled to report that we exceeded expectations across most of our financial metrics. This achievement underscores our management capabilities and operational excellence, setting a strong precedent for continued growth.

儘管受流感季節晚於正常水平的影響，第四季度葬禮數量有所減少，但我們全年的戰略調整還是取得了成效。在 2024 年兩次提高預期之後，我們很高興地報告，我們的大多數財務指標都超出了預期。這項成就凸顯了我們的管理能力和卓越的營運能力，為持續成長樹立了良好的先例。

In alignment with our ongoing commitment to excellence, we're excited to announce the expansion of our supply chain strategies through the introduction of our new Earned Core line. This launch reinforces our national partnerships and aligns with our strategic objectives of continuous improvement and disciplined capital allocation. These efforts collectively enhance our service capabilities and create additional shareholder value.

為了實踐我們對卓越的持續承諾，我們很高興地宣布透過推出新的 Earned Core 系列來擴展我們的供應鏈策略。此次發布加強了我們的國家合作夥伴關係，並符合我們持續改善和嚴格資本配置的策略目標。這些努力共同增強了我們的服務能力並創造了額外的股東價值。

Moving into Phase 2 of this strategy, we're focusing on leveraging our new national partnership with Express Funeral Funding for insurance assignments. This collaboration will provide added value to the families we serve by enhancing the financial flexibility of our offerings, potentially increasing sales across our operations.

進入該策略的第二階段，我們正專注於利用與 Express Funeral Funding 建立的新的國家合作夥伴關係來開展保險業務。此次合作將增強我們產品的財務靈活性，為我們服務的家庭提供附加價值，並有可能增加我們整個業務的銷售。

The full rollout of this program is anticipated in the second quarter of this year, marking a significant milestone in our strategic plan. Subsequent phases will address casket core line fleet management and other essential procurement needs, further optimizing our operational efficiency and service excellence.

該計劃預計將於今年第二季全面推出，這標誌著我們戰略計劃的一個重要里程碑。後續階段將解決棺材核心線車隊管理和其他必要的採購需求，進一步優化我們的營運效率和卓越服務。

In closing, as we reflect on our accomplishments and insights gained in 2024, Carriage is at the dawn of an exciting future. With a robust foundation built over the past two years, we're ideally positioned for sustained financial growth and industry leadership. Our strategic commitments to passion for service, optimizing our supply chain and fostering continuous improvement have sharpened our competitive edge and set the stage for groundbreaking innovations.

最後，當我們回顧 2024 年的成就和獲得的見解時，Carriage 正處於令人興奮的未來的黎明。憑藉過去兩年建立的堅實基礎，我們已做好實現持續財務成長和產業領導地位的理想準備。我們對服務熱情、優化供應鏈和促進持續改進的策略承諾增強了我們的競爭優勢，並為突破性創新奠定了基礎。

As we move forward, our culture of excellence to our teams are more equipped than ever to deliver superior service, driven by our unwavering commitment to creating premier experiences, we are eager to expand our horizons, deepen our connections with the community and become a best-in-class organization.

隨著我們不斷前進，我們卓越的文化使我們的團隊比以往任何時候都更有能力提供優質的服務，在我們堅定不移地致力於創造一流體驗的推動下，我們渴望拓展視野，加深與社區的聯繫，成為一流的組織。

At Carriage, we don't just adapt to change. We lead it.

在 Carriage，我們不僅僅適應變化。我們引領它。

Thank you, and I will now pass the call on to John.

謝謝，現在我會把電話轉給約翰。

Thank you, Carlos. I would like to welcome everyone to the call and share a brief update on my first couple of months with the company. I have now been at Carriage for seven weeks. And in that time, I've become even more excited about the opportunity that lays ahead for me and the company.

謝謝你，卡洛斯。我歡迎大家參加電話會議，並簡短分享我在公司頭幾個月的情況。我現在已在 Carriage 工作七週了。在那段時間裡，我對我和公司未來的機會感到更加興奮。

The vision that has been laid out and executed upon over the last two years is exciting, and I feel fortunate to join the company at a time when there are so many opportunities in front of us. As important to me are the people and the culture. The team that Carlos has built is impressive and I look forward to working with everyone in the organization to continue to drive value for all stakeholders.

過去兩年所發展和執行的願景令人興奮，我很幸運能夠在我們面前有如此多機會的時候加入公司。對我來說，人民和文化同樣重要。卡洛斯組建的團隊令人印象深刻，我期待與組織中的每個人合作，繼續為所有利害關係人創造價值。

Now on to fourth quarter results. Cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $9.3 million, which was down $4.4 million from prior year quarter of $13.7 million. Adjusted free cash flow for the fourth quarter was $8.9 million, which was down $3.9 million from the prior year quarter of $12.8 million. The change in adjusted free cash flow was driven by lower income in the quarter, primarily the Funeral segment, working capital adjustments and spend for Project Trinity, which equated to approximately $1.2 million in expense.

現在來看看第四季的業績。本季經營活動提供的現金為 930 萬美元，比去年同期的 1,370 萬美元減少 440 萬美元。第四季調整後的自由現金流為 890 萬美元，較去年同期的 1,280 萬美元下降 390 萬美元。調整後自由現金流的變化是由於本季收入減少，主要是殯葬部門、營運資金調整和三位一體項目的支出，相當於約 120 萬美元的支出。

We paid $3 million towards our outstanding debt this quarter, ending the year with a maintained leverage ratio of 4.3 times, representing almost a full turn from 5.1 times at the end of 2023. This reduction in leverage illustrates our commitment to disciplined capital allocation, along with the impact of our strong annual performance.

本季我們償還了 300 萬美元的未償債務，年底的槓桿率維持在 4.3 倍，與 2023 年底的 5.1 倍相比幾乎翻了一番。槓桿率的降低反映了我們對嚴格資本配置的承諾，以及強勁年度業績的影響。

We experienced a reduction in interest expense for the quarter of $2.1 million due to the midyear amendment of our credit facility. At year-end, we had paid down our credit facility by $42.1 million from $179.1 million at the end of 2023 to $137 million at the end of 2024.

由於我們在年中修改了信貸安排，本季的利息支出減少了 210 萬美元。截至年底，我們已償還信貸額度 4,210 萬美元，從 2023 年底的 1.791 億美元減至 2024 年底的 1.37 億美元。

Turning to capital expenditures. For the full year, we have invested $8.8 million for growth CapEx, $7.3 million for maintenance CapEx and $2.9 million for Trinity. Now shifting to overhead. Overhead was $12.9 million for the quarter compared to $11.9 million in the prior year quarter, resulting in a $1 million increase in overhead expenses.

轉向資本支出。全年我們為成長資本支出投資了 880 萬美元，為維護資本支出投資了 730 萬美元，為 Trinity 投資了 290 萬美元。現在轉移到開銷。本季管理費用為 1,290 萬美元，而去年同期的管理費用為 1,190 萬美元，導致管理費用增加 100 萬美元。

The overhead variance was driven by $1.2 million relating to Project Trinity costs as we prepare for our exciting implementation of this ERP and customer experience platform early in 2025. Overhead as a percentage of revenue was 13.2% for the fourth quarter of 2024, which is up 120 basis points from the prior year quarter of 12%.

間接費用差異是由與 Project Trinity 成本相關的 120 萬美元引起的，因為我們準備在 2025 年初實施這個 ERP 和客戶體驗平台。2024 年第四季度，管理費用佔收入的百分比為 13.2%，比去年同期的 12% 上升了 120 個基點。

If you exclude costs associated with Project Trinity, overhead as a percentage of revenue was basically flat to prior year quarter at 12%, which is within our communicated range. Now let's shift to the outlook for 2025. As we review the outlook, it is important to note that all metrics include the impact of planned divestitures but do not include any potential benefits or impacts associated with acquisitions.

如果不計入與「三位一體項目」相關的成本，管理費用佔收入的百分比與去年同期基本持平，為 12%，這在我們溝通的範圍內。現在讓我們展望一下2025年。當我們回顧前景時，值得注意的是，所有指標都包括計劃資產剝離的影響，但不包括與收購相關的任何潛在利益或影響。

As we get back to growth mode, any benefits or impacts associated with acquisitions, we will adjust our forecast accordingly. Revenues are planned to be in the $400 million to $410 million range compared to $404.2 million. That would result in an expectation of sales being plus or minus 1%.

當我們恢復成長模式時，對於與收購相關的任何好處或影響，我們都會相應地調整我們的預測。計畫收入在 4 億至 4.1 億美元之間，而實際收入為 4.042 億美元。這會導致銷售額預期增加或減少 1%。

However, if we were to exclude the impact of divestitures, we are anticipating revenue growth in the low single-digit range, primarily driven by preneed property sales. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $128 million to $133 million compared to $126.2 million. We are anticipating slight improvement in our margins based on our investment in supply chain in 2024, coupled with normalization of certain corporate expenses.

然而，如果我們排除資產剝離的影響，我們預計收入成長率將在個位數低位，主要受預置房地產銷售的推動。調整後的合併 EBITDA 預計在 1.28 億美元至 1.33 億美元之間，而之前為 1.262 億美元。我們預計，基於 2024 年對供應鏈的投資，加上某些公司費用的正常化，我們的利潤率將略有提高。

Adjusted diluted EPS of $3.10 to $3.30, primarily driven by lower interest rates and a lower effective tax rate. We are expecting interest expense savings in the range of $5 million to $6 million associated with the paydown of our credit facility in both 2024 and 2025, coupled with a full year benefit of the midyear amendment, which resulted in lower fees. The adjusted tax rate is expected to be in the range of 28% to 30%, down from 34.2% in 2024.

調整後的稀釋每股收益為 3.10 美元至 3.30 美元，主要由較低的利率和較低的有效稅率推動。我們預計，2024 年和 2025 年償還信貸額度將節省 500 萬至 600 萬美元的利息支出，再加上年中修訂帶來的全年收益，從而降低費用。調整後的稅率預計將在28%至30%之間，低於2024年的34.2%。

For overhead, we continue to focus on our strategic objectives, which will result in slightly elevated overhead costs in 2025, driven by Project Trinity. However, in the long term, we anticipate overhead efficiencies after implementation is complete and in connection with other internal initiatives. For the full year, we expect adjusted overhead to finish within 13% to 14% of revenue, which is within our expected range. Based on the above assumptions, we anticipate adjusted free cash flow in the range of $40 million to $50 million.

對於管理費用，我們繼續專注於我們的策略目標，在「三位一體」專案的推動下，2025 年的管理費用將略有上升。然而，從長遠來看，我們預期實施完成後並與其他內部措施結合後，管理效率將會提高。就全年而言，我們預計調整後的管理費用將佔收入的 13% 至 14%，這在我們的預期範圍內。根據上述假設，我們預計調整後的自由現金流將在 4,000 萬美元至 5,000 萬美元之間。

As a reminder, we have adjusted our calculation of free cash flow to include total capital spend rather than just maintenance capital. Total capital spending in 2025 is expected to be in the range of $19 million to $21 million. We anticipate our leverage ratio to end 2025 between 3.7 times and 3.8 times, right within our long-term leverage ratio target of 3.5 times to 4 times. The forecast on interest expense and leverage ratio assumes that we do not have any acquisitions in 2025.

提醒一下，我們已經調整了自由現金流的計算方法，使其包括總資本支出，而不僅僅是維護資本。預計 2025 年總資本支出將在 1,900 萬美元至 2,100 萬美元之間。我們預計，到 2025 年底，我們的槓桿率將在 3.7 倍至 3.8 倍之間，正好處於我們長期槓桿率目標 3.5 倍至 4 倍的範圍內。利息支出和槓桿率的預測假設我們在 2025 年不會進行任何收購。

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

我們的準備好的發言到此結束，我將把發言交還給接線員，以便大家提問。

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。（操作員指示）

Alex Paris, Barrington Research

巴林頓研究公司（Barrington Research）的亞歷克斯·帕里斯（Alex Paris）

Hi guys, thanks for taking my call and congratulations on the beat versus a tough comp.

大家好，感謝你們接聽我的電話，恭喜你們在艱難的比賽中獲勝。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Yeah, my pleasure. First question, just a point of clarification on funeral volumes. On the last conference call, you said that October was kind of weak versus your experience in the third quarter. And it sounds like November and December were weak due to the shift of the flu season from fourth quarter to first quarter, said simply. You said that the trends improved in January and February.

是的，我很樂意。第一個問題，只是想澄清一下有關葬禮數量的問題。在上次電話會議上，您說十月份的表現與第三季相比有些疲軟。簡單地說，11 月和 12 月的銷售疲軟似乎是由於流感季節從第四季度轉移到第一季。您說一月和二月趨勢有所改善。

Are you saying January and February volume was up year-over-year? That's the point of clarification.

您是說一月和二月的銷量較去年同期成長了嗎？這就是需要澄清的重點。

Happy to address your question, Alex. Great question, by the way. So yes, in October, we noticed a little decline on volume on a year-over-year basis. It wasn't expected because I have mentioned in the past that the pull-forward effect will wind off through the fourth quarter, no later than the first quarter of 2025. And so it caught us by surprise to see that negative volume on an annual basis in October.

很高興回答你的問題，亞歷克斯。順便說一句，這個問題問得好。是的，我們注意到十月份銷量較去年同期略有下降。這並非意料之中，因為我過去曾提到過，這種提前效應將在第四季度結束，最遲在 2025 年第一季。因此，當我們發現十月份的年比數據出現負增長時，我們感到非常驚訝。

And as you remember, we updated our guidance in October as we released Q3. And we were being very, very thoughtful and conservative because of that trend. That trend continued in November and December, leading to the negative that we just disclosed for the fourth quarter.

大家還記得，我們​​在 10 月發布第三季財報時更新了我們的指導。由於這種趨勢，我們變得非常深思熟慮和保守。這一趨勢在 11 月和 12 月持續，導致了我們剛剛披露的第四季度負面業績。

However, as we look into what happened, we did some research with CDC. It seems pretty clear that there is a shift of the flu season that came late this winter season and started really more into the end of December, beginning of January and, of course, continues as we speak today. And consequence of that, it is that today, we do have greater volume for both January and February that we had in Q1 of 2024.

然而，當我們調查發生了什麼事情時，我們與 CDC 進行了一些研究。很明顯，流感季節已經發生了變化，今年冬季流感季節來得較晚，在 12 月底、1 月初才開始，當然，直到今天還在繼續。結果是，今天我們 1 月和 2 月的交易量確實比 2024 年第一季更大。

Great, thank you for that. And then your revenue guidance, $405 million at the midpoint for 2025. Again, excluding those divestitures that you called out, it would be more like $413 million, which is very close to my estimate of $415 million. On the divestitures specifically, what did you do on that front in 2024? I think there were some divestitures in 2024.

太好了，謝謝你。然後您的收入預期是，到 2025 年中期為 4.05 億美元。再說一次，除去你提到的那些資產剝離，這個數字應該更接近 4.13 億美元，這與我估計的 4.15 億美元非常接近。具體到資產剝離，您在 2024 年在這方面做了什麼？我認為 2024 年會有一些資產剝離。

The question is, how much revenue did those divestitures that were completed account for? How much adjusted EBITDA did they account for? And what were the proceeds of whatever you sold in 2024? And just to prepare you, I'm going to ask you the same question about 2025?

問題是，這些已經完成的資產剝離到底帶來了多少收入？他們的調整後 EBITDA 是多少？那麼，2024 年您出售的資產的收益是多少？為了讓您做好準備，我將問您有關 2025 年的相同問題？

Hey, good morning, Alex, this is Steve. So for 2024, roughly, we sold about $5.5 million worth of revenue, which represented around $1.8 million of EBITDA. Proceeds were just over $12 million for the year. So again, just to highlight, these are noncore assets for us so not really our premier performing assets.

嘿，早上好，亞歷克斯，我是史蒂夫。因此，到 2024 年，我們銷售的收入約為 550 萬美元，相當於 180 萬美元的 EBITDA。全年收益略高於 1,200 萬美元。所以，再次強調，這些對我們來說是非核心資產，因此並不是我們表現最好的資產。

As we look ahead, I'll skip to your next question, anticipating 2025. As we look at 2025 right now, and some of this is what we're targeting, we have a couple of things under contract that have not closed. But we're looking at roughly, call it, $25 million worth of proceeds. And there's a mix here of certain noncore assets and then some real estate. That amount accounts for around $9.5 million of revenue and about $3.3 million of EBITDA, kind of rough numbers on trailing 12.

展望未來，我將跳到您的下一個問題，預測 2025 年。現在我們著眼於 2025 年，其中有些是我們的目標，但我們還有一些合約尚未完成。但我們正在考慮大約價值 2500 萬美元的收益。這裡混合了某些非核心資產和一些房地產。該金額約佔收入 950 萬美元，EBITDA 約佔 330 萬美元，這是過去 12 年的粗略數字。

Got you. But the impact you said would be $7.9 million in revenue and $2.3 million in EBITDA. You just quoted a last 12-month number for 2024 number for those noncore assets that are being sold?

明白了。但您說的影響將是收入 790 萬美元和 EBITDA 230 萬美元。您剛剛引用了正在出售的非核心資產的 2024 年最後 12 個月的數字嗎？

Yeah, that's correct because we're seeing some of that benefit or seeing some of the revenue and EBITDA benefit in 2025 until we divest.

是的，這是正確的，因為在我們剝離之前，我們看到了其中的一些好處，或者看到了 2025 年的一些收入和 EBITDA 好處。

And then after completing these divestitures, how many funeral homes will you have remaining in terms of core funeral homes?

那麼，完成這些資產剝離之後，核心殯儀館還剩下多少家呢？

To confirm the number, this should result in more fewer funeral homes.

確認這個數字後，殯儀館的數量應該會減少。

And then what did you finish 2024 with funeral homes wise, I don't think it was in the press release.

那麼，您在 2024 年與殯儀館的合作安排是怎麼樣的呢？我認為這並沒有出現在新聞稿中。

I believe, and I had to confirm, I believe it's 2017.

我相信，而且我必須確認，我相信是 2017 年。

That includes the cemeteries, which is fine. Okay. And then moving on again on the guidance front, $130.5 million in EBITDA at the midpoint, up 3.4% year-over-year. You're getting some leverage out of OpEx and so on. But then your guidance for adjusted EPS is up 21% at the midpoint, [$3.20].

其中包括墓地，這很好。好的。然後在指導方面再次前進，中點的 EBITDA 為 1.305 億美元，年增 3.4%。您可以從營運支出等方面獲得一些槓桿。但你對調整後每股盈餘的預期中位數為上漲 21%，[3.20美元]。

Is that being driven by -- I think you touched on it in the overview comments, a lower interest rate expense assumption and a lower tax rate assumption. Does that explain the difference?

這是由——我認為您在概述評論中提到過，較低的利率費用假設和較低的稅率假設所驅動的嗎？這能解釋差異嗎？

That's correct, Alex. So ultimately, the tax rate is about, call it, 5 to 6 points lower expected to be as well as about $5 million to $6 million worth of savings in interest expense.

沒錯，亞歷克斯。因此，最終，預計稅率將降低 5 到 6 個百分點，同時利息支出將節省約 500 萬到 600 萬美元。

Got you.

明白了。

We also bring some savings that will transform into EPS from our supply chain strategies as well.

我們也透過供應鏈策略節省了一些成本，這些成本也將轉化為每股盈餘。

Great. And then I guess my last one is real quick. Our D&A and CapEx, both up D&A up 10%. I'm assuming that's related to the Trinity rollout?

偉大的。然後我想我的最後一個真的很快。我們的 D&A 和資本支出均上漲，D&A 上漲了 10%。我猜這與 Trinity 的推出有關？

A portion of that will be associated with Trinity because the Trinity won't go 100% live in 2025. So we'll see -- it won't be a full year's worth of Trinity. So that will be a portion of that. And then a portion of that will be the amortization of the cost of the preneed funeral home -- preneed property.

其中一部分將與 Trinity 相關，因為 Trinity 不會在 2025 年完全投入使用。所以我們會看到──這不會是《三位一體》全年的成果。這就是其中的一部分。其中一部分將用於攤銷預先建造的殯儀館——預先建造的財產的成本。

Got you. And then on the CapEx front, total CapEx of $21 million this year, up from around $16 million last year, up 30%. I'm assuming that's still 50-50 maintenance growth. And what explains the increase? What are you spending incremental money on in 2025 versus 2024?

明白了。在資本支出方面，今年的總資本支出為 2,100 萬美元，高於去年的 1,600 萬美元，成長了 30%。我假設這仍然是 50-50 的維持成長。那麼，這種成長的原因是什麼呢？與 2024 年相比，2025 年您將在哪些方面增加支出？

There are some larger projects we're doing in certain cemeteries ultimately that is driving -- that is inconsistent or different than what we did in 2024, which is really kind of the main driver of the increase.

我們在某些​​墓地中開展的一些大型項目最終將推動這一增長——這與我們在 2024 年所做的工作不一致或不同，而這實際上是增長的主要驅動力。

The other thing, Alex, is, as you remember, the last two years, and by that, I mean, 2023 and 2024, our focus was to drive as much as we could organic revenue. We were pretty much in the backseat of acquisitions. Our last acquisition was in March of 2023 with Greenlawn and then we focused on paying down our debt.

另一件事，亞歷克斯，正如你所記得的，過去兩年，也就是 2023 年和 2024 年，我們的重點是盡可能地推動有機收入。我們在收購方面基本上處於次要地位。我們上一次收購是在 2023 年 3 月，收購對像是 Greenlawn，之後我們專注於償還債務。

So part of that effort was to allocate capital to high-growth projects, which was basically preneed cemetery and allocating maintenance needs really that were required in the field. And so as a consequence of that, we had a lower CapEx number for '23 and '24 than what we have traditionally done. I remember 2022 was around $26 million.

因此，這項努力的一部分是將資金分配給高成長項目，這些項目基本上是預先需要的墓地，並分配現場真正需要的維護需求。因此，我們 23 年和 24 年的資本支出金額低於傳統水準。我記得 2022 年約為 2600 萬美元。

And so 2025 allow us to now, since we are in a range where we feel comfortable with the leverage ratio to allocate more capital to growth opportunities on the cemetery side for preneed property and also some of those businesses that we did not put some maintenance CapEx to work to go back to work on 2025.

因此，2025 年允許我們現在這樣做，因為我們處於一個對槓桿率感到滿意的範圍內，可以將更多的資本分配給墓地方面的預置財產的增長機會，以及一些我們沒有投入維護資本支出的業務，以便在 2025 年重新開始工作。

One more thought as I wanted to address this one on revenue. While you see that guidance on revenue a little lower than expected because you see the improvement on EBITDA and of course EPS, if we wouldn't divest from those businesses, our guidance would have been $410 million to $520 million of revenue for this year. So you want to point that out.

當我想要討論收入問題時，我還有一個想法。雖然您會看到收入指引略低於預期，因為您看到 EBITDA 和 EPS 有所改善，但如果我們不剝離這些業務，我們的預期收入今年將達到 4.1 億美元至 5.2 億美元。所以你想指出這一點。

Good. No, I appreciate that. Last question, I promise. With your year-end CapEx or net leverage ratio target of 3.7% to 3.8%, in line with that long-term goal of 3.5% to 4%, I'm assuming that you'll be perhaps in the second half, evaluating acquisitions. Again, you'll get more active on that front?

好的。不，我很感激。最後一個問題，我保證。由於您的年底資本支出或淨槓桿率目標為 3.7% 至 3.8%，與 3.5% 至 4% 的長期目標一致，我假設您可能會在下半年評估收購。再次，您會在這方面更加積極嗎？

Yeah, Alex. So we're excited to get back to growth. I think for us, we have some -- as we just mentioned, some divestiture proceeds coming in that are not insignificant. And so we will look to redeploy some of those funds towards higher-quality assets.

是的，亞歷克斯。因此我們很高興能夠恢復成長。我認為對我們來說，正如我們剛才提到的，我們所獲得的一些資產剝離收益並非微不足道。因此，我們將考慮將部分資金重新部署到更高品質的資產。

Talking to a number of owners right now with some really premier properties. I don't know how those are going to progress, but we do think it's indicative of what will be available in 2025. So as Carlos and John mentioned, while the revenue number does not contemplate growth through acquisition, we do expect to have more of an update in Q2, and we do expect to grow through acquisition this year.

目前正在與一些擁有真正優質房產的業主交談。我不知道這些將如何進展，但我們確實認為它預示著 2025 年將會實現什麼。正如卡洛斯和約翰所提到的那樣，雖然收入數字沒有考慮透過收購實現的成長，但我們確實預計第二季會有更多更新，而我們確實預計今年將透過收購實現成長。

Great. But just to be clear, the revenue guidance does not assume any incremental inorganic growth.

偉大的。但需要明確的是，收入指引並不假設任何增量無機成長。

Correct. That's right. We want to get a better feel on what that's going to look like here in Q2. So I think there will be a better update then.

正確的。這是正確的。我們希望更了解第二季的情況。所以我認為會有更好的更新。

Yeah, so Alex, think about it from this perspective, right? The organic growth continues to be a focus at Carriage. However, this is the year that we're able to go back to growth mode. We have been able to get the structure that we needed over the last two years, get the team in place, get the systems right being able to launch Trinity in 2025 is a really big deal for us this year.

是的，那麼亞歷克斯，從這個角度考慮一下，對嗎？有機成長仍然是 Carriage 關注的重點。然而，今年我們能夠恢復成長模式。在過去的兩年裡，我們已經能夠建立我們所需的結構，組建團隊，使系統正確運行，能夠在 2025 年發射 Trinity 對我們來說是一件大事。

And this enabled us with a better margin than we had before. I mean our margins are probably second to the highest one, which was '21 as a result of COVID-19. And so now we're able to focus on growth. And as Steve mentioned, we have really good plans for that and an update in Q2, I'm pretty sure will be -- get excitement across the Board from what we have planned for 2025.

這使我們獲得了比以前更好的利潤。我的意思是，由於 COVID-19 的影響，我們的利潤率可能僅次於最高的 21 年。所以現在我們可以專注於成長。正如史蒂夫所提到的，我們對此有非常好的計劃，我確信第二季的更新將讓董事會對我們 2025 年的計劃感到興奮。

Awesome thank you very much appreciate you taking my questions. I'll get back in the queue.

太棒了，非常感謝您回答我的問題。我會回到隊列中。

John Franzreb, Sidoti & Company

約翰‧弗蘭茲雷布 (John Franzreb)，Sidoti & Company

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking the questions. I'd like to start with the fourth quarter results and what you've gleaned from maybe a seasonally somewhat weaker 4Q with your changing the pricing strategy on a more regionalized basis in light of maybe some of that weakness. Carlos, anything you could share about the pricing strategy and how it's playing out when you have maybe some unexpected curves in the volume?

大家早安。感謝您回答這些問題。我想從第四季度的業績開始，以及您從第四季度可能由於季節性因素而表現較弱的情況中收集到的信息，鑑於其中的一些弱點，您在更加區域化的基礎上改變了定價策略。卡洛斯，您能分享一下定價策略嗎？當銷售出現一些意外變化時，定價策略會如何發揮作用？

Yeah, that's a great question, John. Good morning. So as we recognized back in October that we're struggling with some declines in volume that were not normal. As you remember, this -- on a normal seasonal year or seasonalized year, you will have Q1 being the largest quarter of the year, Q4 being the second largest. And again, Q2 will be the third and Q3 will be the fourth.

是的，約翰，這是一個很好的問題。早安.因此，正如我們在十月認識到的那樣，我們正在努力應對一些不正常的交易量下降。正如您所記得的，在正常季節年份或季節性年份中，第一季是一年中最大的季度，第四季度是第二大的季度。再次強調，Q2 將是第三個，Q3 將是第四個。

However, if you look at 2024, Q4 is actually the last quarter of the year, which is very abnormal. But because of that, and we were able to recognize that early, we fought for any call that was there, whether it was cremation or burial that didn't allow us to be as competitive as we were in terms of keeping the price up because we wanted to keep as much volume as we wanted.

然而，如果你看 2024 年，第四季度實際上是一年中的最後一個季度，這非常不正常。但正因為如此，我們很早就意識到了這一點，我們爭取每一個電話，無論是火葬還是土葬，這都讓我們在保持價格方面沒有那麼有競爭力，因為我們想保持盡可能多的數量。

So you didn't see that continuous trend on our pricing capacity over the last three months of the year. However, our strategic pricing review strategy continues in place. We are holding our strategic pricing review meetings for January, February and March to update our pricing for 2024 and that will continue to be an ongoing basis for 2025 quarter-to-quarter.

因此，您沒有看到我們去年最後三個月定價能力的持續趨勢。然而，我們的策略定價審查策略仍在繼續。我們將於 1 月、2 月和 3 月舉行策略性價格審查會議，以更新 2024 年的價格，並且這將繼續作為 2025 年季度的持續定價基礎。

Good, fair enough. And listen, there's been a fair amount of commentary in the media about this being the worst flu season in 15 years. You mentioned that January and February are off to good starts. Can you kind of put it in context of how good of a start it is in light of some of the flu numbers? And also, do you expect that flu season to spill over into the second quarter?

很好，很公平。聽著，媒體上有很多評論說這是 15 年來最嚴重的流感季節。您提到一月和二月開局良好。您能否根據一些流感數據來說明這是多麼好的開始？另外，您是否預期流感季節會延續到第二季​​？

I wouldn't know about the second quarter. It really depends how the weather plays out in the spring months as it's getting warmer already at least here in Houston, and it seems like it may not last as long as we thought. But as it relates to your question for volume, we're about -- I'll just give you some ranges, about 1% to 3% year-over-year volume for January and about the same for February.

我不知道第二季的情況。這實際上取決於春季的天氣情況，因為至少在休士頓這裡已經變得越來越暖和，而且似乎這種情況可能不會像我們想像的那樣持續很長時間。但就您關於交易量的問題而言，我們大概是——我只能給您一些範圍，1 月份的同比交易量約為 1% 至 3%，2 月份的同比交易量也大致相同。

Got it. Just to shift a little bit about some of the cost side of the equation here. Are you done adding personnel as far as the supply chain initiatives in 2025? Are there still additive costs that are going into the SG&A line?

知道了。這裡我們只是稍微改變一下等式中的成本方面。就 2025 年的供應鏈計畫而言，你們已經完成了人員補充嗎？銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 中是否仍有附加成本？

Just to clarify, John, you're asking if we're going to add personnel to support the supply chain focus.

約翰，只是為了澄清一下，你問的是，我們是否要增加人員來支持供應鏈重點。

Correct.

正確的。

We do have plans. We think there's a lot of opportunity there. So we do have plans to add another individual to help drive and accelerate those opportunities. So at some point in 2025, we expect that to be the case.

我們確實有計劃。我們認為那裡有很多機會。因此，我們確實計劃增加另一個人來幫助推動和加速這些機會。因此，我們預計到 2025 年的某個時候情況就會如此。

Okay. So we're going to see some increase in SG&A costs. Understood. And I guess one last question. Maybe a little bit on the debt expected paydown. Is that going to -- most of that debt paydown come post the sale of the acquisition? Are you going to do steady-state debt repayments throughout the balance of the year?

好的。因此我們將看到銷售、一般及行政費用增加。明白了。我想還有最後一個問題。或許對債務預期償還有一點影響。大部分的債務償還是在收購完成後進行的嗎？您是否打算在全年持續償還債務？

I'm struggling hearing your question. I think you're asking if we're going to allocate the proceeds from the divestitures this year to pay down our debt. Is that what you're asking?

我很難聽清楚你的問題。我想您問的是，我們是否要利用今年資產剝離所得來償還債務。這就是你要問的嗎？

Yeah, I'm just looking at the timing of debt repayments and how we should think about it through the balance of the year.

是的，我只是在考慮債務償還的時間以及我們應該如何透過全年餘額來考慮這個問題。

Yeah, we have. We have cued over the last two years that our long-term range for leverage ratio is 3.5 times to 4 times. We want to keep it like that. Short term, we do have a nice pipeline of opportunities for acquisitions. But until we have something that it is in the books, any proceeds from divestitures goes down to save interest expense to our facility. And then we'll use some of those proceeds once we're ready to close on some of those deals.

是的，我們有。我們在過去兩年中已經暗示，我們的長期槓桿率範圍是3.5倍至4倍。我們希望保持這種狀態。短期內，我們確實有許多不錯的收購機會。但在我們將其記錄在案之前，任何資產剝離所得都會減少，以節省我們設施的利息支出。一旦我們準備完成一些交易，我們就會使用其中的部分收益。

And John, just to circle back on your question regarding OpEx. We built all the additions into kind of our expectations. So our commentary in regards to OpEx or our guidance already includes any additions that we're contemplating.

約翰，我再回到你關於 OpEx 的問題。我們將所有新增內容納入我們的預期之中。因此，我們關於營運支出或指導的評論已經包含了我們正在考慮的任何補充內容。

Understood. Thanks, guys. I'll get back into you.

明白了。謝謝大家。我會回到你身邊。

Thank you, John.

謝謝你，約翰。

Liam Burke, B. Riley.

利亞姆伯克、B.萊利。

Yes, thank you. Good morning, Carlos. Good morning, John. Good morning, Steve. Carlos, you had a higher average revenue per funeral contract in the quarter, but also a higher percentage of cremations in the mix. Typically, cremations are a lower revenue per contract. How are you able to have more cremation customers but higher revenue per contract?

是的，謝謝。早安，卡洛斯。早安，約翰。早安，史蒂夫。卡洛斯，本季你們的葬禮合約平均收入較高，但火葬的比例也較高。通常，火葬的每份合約收入較低。您如何能夠擁有更多的火葬客戶，但每份合約的收入更高？

That's a great question, Liam. What we've been focusing on over the last, I would say, about a year, maybe 10 months is what we call conversion ratio, right? It is those families that come in with the idea of having a cremation. And perhaps for that -- for them that means a direct cremation. And through a process of educating the families on what it is available to them, we're able to have them choose something that is not just a direct cremation.

這是一個很好的問題，利亞姆。我想說，過去大約一年或十個月我們一直關注的就是所謂的轉換率，對嗎？正是這些家庭提出了火葬的想法。對他們來說，這可能意味著直接火化。透過教育家屬了解他們可以採取哪些處理方式，我們可以讓他們選擇不僅僅是直接火葬的葬禮方式。

That could be a cremation with a full service. That could be a cremation with just an upgraded urn and perhaps a small gathering to say a final goodbye. That could be some memorialization options for the family. It could be also a full-blown visitation followed by a life celebration.

這可能是一場提供全套服務的火葬。這可能是一場火葬，只使用升級的骨灰盒，也許還會舉行一個小型聚會來做最後的告別。這可能是一些為家人紀念的選擇。這也可能是一次全面的拜訪，隨後是一場生命的慶祝。

And so now we're really working on team development and helping our teams of funeral directors across our businesses so they can really present all options to all families because we believe that perhaps some of those families that come in, they come in with that idea of cremation, but don't really know what it means and what is actually available to them. And that's been the strategy over the last 10 months, and we will continue to be for 2025.

因此，現在我們正致力於團隊建設，並幫助我們各個業務部門的殯儀館團隊，以便他們能夠真正向所有家庭提供所有選擇，因為我們相信，也許有些家庭來這裡是為了火葬，但他們並不真正了解火葬的含義以及他們實際上可以選擇哪些方案。這就是過去 10 個月以來的策略，2025 年我們仍將繼續執行這項策略。

Thanks Carlos. And John, on your free cash flow guidance, I know you mentioned that all -- it's an all-in CapEx estimate. But how much influence does the preneed cemetery sales have on that cash flow guidance?

謝謝卡洛斯。約翰，關於你的自由現金流指導，我知道你提到了這一切——這是一個全資本支出估算。但是預先出售的墓地對現金流指導有多大影響呢？

So it includes kind of the similar kind of ratio as you would think from prior years that preneed is going to kind of turn a little bit slower than in kind of funeral business. So ultimately, you could think about it is discounting kind of the transition from revenue into free cash flow.

因此，它包括一種類似的比例，正如你從前幾年所認為的那樣，預付費業務的變化速度會比殯葬業務慢一點。因此，最終，您可以認為這是從收入到自由現金流的折現轉變。

Okay. So the preneed sales rate is going to be above or below this year's cadence or 2024 cadence?

好的。那麼預售率將高於還是低於今年或 2024 年的節奏？

The expectation, it will be kind of below this year's cadence, but it's still higher than funeral revenue expectation.

預計，它將略低於今年的節奏，但仍高於喪葬收入預期。

Great. Okay.

偉大的。好的。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

George Kelly, Roth Capital Partners

喬治凱利（George Kelly），羅斯資本合夥公司

Everybody thank you. Just a couple of questions for me. First, on Trinity, I was curious if you could go through the expected timing of the various sort of functionality, what Trinity is bringing? Can you just walk us through when you expect to turn on that functionality?

大家謝謝大家。我只想問幾個問題。首先，關於 Trinity，我很好奇您是否可以介紹一下各種功能的預期時間，Trinity 會帶來什麼？您能否向我們介紹一下您預計何時啟用該功能？

Yeah absolutely. Happy to do that, George. So over the last year, as you know, we've been working mostly on programming. But the last few months have been now working on the testing side, doing parallel testing, making sure that everything that's been done on the programming will work once we go live.

是的，絕對是。很高興這樣做，喬治。所以，正如你所知，在過去的一年裡，我們主要致力於程式設計。但過去幾個月我們一直在進行測試方面的工作，進行並行測試，確保程式設計上所做的一切都會在我們上線後發揮作用。

There's been several iterations of that to make sure, as you know, any ERP implementation, it's very involved, it is quite challenging, and you find surprises along the way. I don't think I've heard of one that goes 100% successful to plan.

為了確保這一點，我們已經進行了多次迭代，正如您所知，任何 ERP 實施都非常複雜，非常具有挑戰性，並且在此過程中您會發現驚喜。我認為我從未聽說過有哪個計劃能 100% 成功。

However, we're pretty much at that point where we're going to go to a pilot of the program in the second quarter of this year and then 30 to 60 days after that, depending on how that pilot goes, a full launch to a rollout throughout the remaining of 2025 in every business, specifically funeral homes and then we'll move into cemetery in the first quarter of 2026.

然而，我們基本上已經到了那個階段，我們將在今年第二季度對該計劃進行試點，然後根據試點的進展情況，在 30 到 60 天后，在 2025 年剩餘時間內在所有企業，特別是殯儀館全面推出該計劃，然後我們將在 2026 年第一季度進入墓地。

We do believe that Trinity will be quite a significant opportunity to maximize to become more efficient, improve our systems and it is not just an ERP. I do want to emphasize that. It is it will give us all the back office that we currently have with our legacy system, which we call Cypress which is pretty outdated today. But it will enable us to do analytics. It will allow us to bring AI into our accounting procedures and become more efficient on that.

我們確實相信 Trinity 將是一個相當重要的機會，可以最大限度地提高效率、改進我們的系統，而不僅僅是一個 ERP。我確實想強調這一點。它將為我們提供目前使用遺留系統的所有後台辦公室，我們稱之為 Cypress，但它在今天已經相當過時了。但它使我們能夠進行分析。它將使我們能夠將人工智慧引入我們的會計程序並提高其效率。

Reporting will become tremendously better. But most importantly, in addition to our compliance items, is it contains a Family Portal. That's how we call it, the Family Portal. What that is, is a way to engage families from the moment they call the business to the moment they leave the funeral home or cemetery post services and it is a way where they can continuously see where they are in each step of the stage of the funeral or the cemetery.

報告將會變得更好。但最重要的是，除了我們的合規項目外，它還包含一個家庭入口網站。這就是我們所說的家庭門戶。這是一種讓家人參與其中的方式，從他們打電話給殯儀館的那一刻到他們離開殯儀館或墓地後的那一刻，這是一種讓他們能夠不斷了解他們在葬禮或墓地的每個階段所處位置的方式。

That's how we're going to be able to submit paperwork, documentation, and they can track every single item within their services that are being provided. Very exciting. We're very, very happy about that because I don't believe that's an option that's currently available out there for families today maybe but those that I know of, at least or familiar with.

這樣我們就可以提交文書、文件，他們可以追蹤所提供的服務中的每一項內容。非常令人興奮。我們對此感到非常非常高興，因為我認為對於當今的家庭來說這可能不是一個可行的選擇，但至少對於我所知道或熟悉的家庭來說是這樣。

And so from my point of view, I think we're the first one to have something like that, and that will certainly deliver better experience to the families and that should also deliver referrals and better experience, better reviews and as a consequence of that, potentially also better average because we'll be able to present better to families our services and our products.

因此，從我的角度來看，我認為我們是第一個擁有類似產品的人，這肯定會為家庭帶來更好的體驗，也應該帶來推薦和更好的體驗、更好的評論，並且因此也可能帶來更好的平均水平，因為我們將能夠更好地向家庭展示我們的服務和產品。

Okay. That's really helpful context, thank you. And then second question on your guidance. So on your revenue guide, I'm a little confused. You mentioned in your prepared remarks that your guide reflects a low single-digit organic growth number.

好的。這確實很有幫助，謝謝。第二個問題是關於您的指導。因此，對於您的收入指南，我有點困惑。您在準備好的發言中提到，您的指南反映了較低的個位數自然成長數字。

But the confusion, I guess, is just why wouldn't it be higher? You just mentioned that January and February funeral volume was positive low single-digits. I would imagine there's pricing on top of that.

但我想，令人困惑的是，為什麼它不會更高呢？您剛才提到，一月和二月的葬禮數量為正低個位數。我想這上面一定還有定價。

And then your cemetery preneed, I'm guessing would be at, I don't know, maybe a double-digit rate or close to it. So I'm just a little confused on what the disconnect is. What am I missing, I guess, on your organic growth target?

然後，我猜你的墓地預付款可能會達到，我不知道，也許是兩位數的比率或接近這個比率。所以我只是有點困惑，不知道斷開的原因是什麼。我想，我在你的有機成長目標上遺漏了什麼？

So George, I mean, I know the low single digit is when you excluded the impact of the divestitures, right? So that is part of the driver. But I think your question is why isn't the core business that is still here growing at a greater rate given the fact that January and February businesses have uptick to last year. But as Carlos indicated, that was low single-digits, 1% to 3% is the information he gave.

所以喬治，我的意思是，我知道當你排除資產剝離的影響時，低個位數是這樣的，對嗎？這就是驅動因素的一部分。但我認為你的問題是，既然一月和二月的業務比去年同期有所回升，為什麼核心業務沒有以更高的速度成長？但正如卡洛斯所指出的，這是一個較低的個位數，他給出的信息是 1% 到 3%。

And from a cemetery perspective, our numbers might be a little bit lower than kind of double digits right now as an expectation as we kind of work through the year. So I think it might be around if you're looking at your model associated with what you have in there for cemetery.

從墓地的角度來看，隨著我們全年的工作，我們的數字可能略低於目前的兩位數。因此，我認為，如果您正在查看與墓地相關的模型，它可能就在附近。

Okay. So maybe just to be more specific, your organic growth assumptions in your funeral and cemetery business for 2025 are what?

好的。那麼也許只是為了更具體地說，您對 2025 年殯葬和墓地業務的有機成長假設是什麼？

It's about 1% on the funeral side and about high-single digits on the cemetery side.

葬禮方面約為 1%，墓地方面約為個位數高位。

Okay. And so not to belabor this too much, but are you just saying on the funeral side, it's too hard to have comps, two months doesn't make a trend and you want to watch the year develop before you get too optimistic. Is that the real issue or is there some kind of challenging comp that you'll be facing midyear?

好的。所以我不想對此過度解釋，但你是否只是說在葬禮方面，很難有可比性，兩個月並不能形成一種趨勢，你需要觀察一年的發展，然後再過於樂觀。這是真正的問題嗎？還是說您在年中會面臨某種具有挑戰性的競爭？

No, I don't think it's a challenging comp. I do feel pretty confident where the pull forward is today for 2025. I do think we are at the end of it. But if it is a fact that the flu season shifted from the Q4 of last year to Q1 of this year that's not sustainable, right? It will go away of 2020 -- Q1 and so I don't think that's going to create a trend in terms of volume for the rest of the year.

不，我不認為這是一場具有挑戰性的比賽。我確實對今天 2025 年的進展非常有信心。我確實認為我們已經走到了盡頭。但如果流感季節從去年第四季轉移到今年第一季是事實，這是不可持續的，對嗎？它將在 2020 年第一季消失，因此我認為這不會在今年剩餘時間內形成銷售趨勢。

And so while Q1 is looking better than we expected for that reason, and it's 1% to 3% better on the volume side, I'm not speaking about revenue, just volume. It will be difficult to assume that that's going to be the trend for the remaining of the year. So as you have noticed, our style is more around making sure that we commit to something that we believe we're going to really hit.

因此，雖然出於這個原因，第一季的表現比我們預期的要好，而且銷量方面也增長了 1% 到 3%，但我說的不是收入，只是銷量。很難假設這將成為今年剩餘時間的趨勢。因此，正如您所注意到的，我們的風格更在於確保我們致力於我們認為真正能夠實現的事情。

Hopefully, we can do better and overpromise what we -- I'm sorry, overdeliver what we promised and so that's been pretty much our thesis of work and why we've been, somewhat to your question, conservative on the guidance organically speaking because we did have pretty good 2024 organically speaking and so it will be a significant amount of growth on top of that already pretty significant growth for 2024. So that's why we're trying to be somewhat conservative.

希望我們能夠做得更好，並且超額兌現我們的承諾——對不起，是超額兌現我們的承諾，所以這基本上是我們工作的論點，也是為什麼我們對有機指導持保守態度，這在某種程度上是對你的問題的回答，因為從有機角度來說，我們在 2024 年確實取得了相當不錯的成績，因此在 2024 年已經實現相當顯著的增長。所以這就是為什麼我們試圖採取某種保守的態度。

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you

好的，這很有幫助。謝謝

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

謝謝。目前似乎沒有其他問題。我想將會議交還給卡洛斯，讓他發表任何補充或結束語。

Thank you, operator. As we conclude today's call, the key takeaway is that our 2024 results reflect our collective passion, innovation and unwavering determination to achieve our strategic objectives as demonstrated by the impressive organic growth and a significant debt repayment accomplished last year. Carriage is set for an exciting and promising future.

謝謝您，接線生。在我們結束今天的電話會議時，關鍵的一點是，我們的 2024 年業績反映了我們集體的熱情、創新和實現戰略目標的堅定決心，正如去年令人印象深刻的有機增長和大量債務償還所證明的那樣。馬車的未來充滿希望，令人興奮。

We are dedicated to creating premier experiences and concentrating on growth. We will continue to reach new heights and attain even greater success. Thank you. We look forward to speaking to you again when we report our first quarter performance. Have a fantastic day.

我們致力於創造一流的體驗並專注於發展。我們將繼續攀登新的高峰，取得更大的成功。謝謝。我們期待在報告第一季業績時再次與您交談。祝您有美好的一天。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。