Service Corporation International (SCI) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the SCI second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 SCI 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to SCI management. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給 SCI 管理層。請繼續。

Good morning. This is Trey Bocage, Director of Investor Relations and Strategic Finance. Welcome to our second quarter earnings call of 2025. We will have some prepared remarks about the quarter from Tom and Eric in just a minute. But before that, let me quickly go over the Safe Harbor language.

早安.我是投資者關係和策略財務總監 Trey Bocage。歡迎參加我們 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。稍後我們將聽取湯姆和埃里克關於本季度的一些準備好的演講。但在此之前，請容許我快速回顧一下安全港條款。

Any comments made by our management team that state our plans, beliefs, expectations, or projections for the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such statements.

我們的管理團隊所作的任何陳述我們的計劃、信念、期望或未來預測的評論均為前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與此類陳述中預期的結果有重大差異。

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors identified in our earnings release and in our filings with the SEC that are available on our website. Today, we might also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these measures can be found in the tables at the end of our earnings release and on our website.

這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們在收益報告和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定的因素（可在我們的網站上查閱）。今天，我們可能也會討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些措施的對帳可以在我們的收益報告末尾的表格中以及我們的網站上找到。

With that out of the way, I will now turn the call over to Tom Ryan, Chairman and CEO.

解決了這個問題之後，我現在將電話轉給董事長兼執行長湯姆·瑞安 (Tom Ryan)。

Thanks, Trey. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. This morning, I'm going to begin my remarks with some high-level color on our business performance for the quarter, then provide some greater detail around our funeral and cemetery results. I will then close with some thoughts about our earnings expectations for the rest of 2025.

謝謝，特雷。大家好，感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。今天上午，我將首先簡要介紹我們本季的業務表現，然後詳細介紹我們的葬禮和墓地業績。最後，我將談談 2025 年剩餘時間獲利預期的一些想法。

For the second quarter, we generated adjusted earnings per share of $0.88, which was more than an 11% increase compared to the $0.79 reported in the prior year period. We saw impressive increases in funeral revenue and gross profit, partially offset by slightly lower cemetery gross profit and higher corporate, general and administrative expenses, which when combined, resulted in $0.05 of earnings per share growth from operating income.

第二季度，我們的調整後每股收益為 0.88 美元，較去年同期的 0.79 美元成長 11% 以上。我們看到殯葬收入和毛利均有顯著增長，但墓地毛利略有下降，公司、一般及行政費用增加，這兩項費用合計導致每股收益增加 0.05 美元。

Below the line, the favorable impact of a lower share count and a slightly lower net interest expenses resulted in an additional $0.04 of earnings per share growth. Now let's take a deeper look into the funeral results for the quarter.

總體而言，較低的股票數量和略低的淨利息支出的有利影響導致每股收益額外增加 0.04 美元。現在讓我們深入了解本季的葬禮結果。

Total comparable funeral revenue increased over $15 million or about 3% over the prior year quarter, primarily due to solid growth from both core revenue and core general agency revenue. Comparable core funeral revenues increased by $8 million or about 2%, primarily due to a healthy 3.3% growth in the core average revenue per service, which was modestly impacted by a 20 basis points increase in the core cremation rate.

總比殯葬收入比去年同期增加了 1,500 多萬美元，約 3%，這主要歸功於核心收入和核心一般代理收入的穩健增長。可比核心殯葬收入增加了 800 萬美元，增幅約為 2%，這主要歸因於每項服務的核心平均收入健康增長 3.3%，而核心火化率增加 20 個基點對其產生了輕微影響。

The favorable impact from the core average growth was partially offset by a 1.5% decrease in core funeral services performed. Core general agency and other revenue grew by an impressive $7 million, primarily driven by higher average commission rates derived from our new preneed insurance marketing agreement, which were partially offset by a decline in insurance-funded preneed funeral sales production.

核心殯葬服務量下降 1.5% ，部分抵消了核心平均成長的有利影響。核心總代理和其他收入增長了驚人的 700 萬美元，這主要得益於我們新的預付保險營銷協議產生的平均佣金率提高，但保險資助的預付葬禮銷售額的下降部分抵消了這一增長。

Funeral gross profit increased by about $15 million, while the gross profit percentage increased by 210 basis points or about 20%. This gross profit increase was the result of the solid 3% revenue increase combined with managing our fixed costs below inflationary trends to about a 1% increase for the quarter as we continue to focus on leveraging our scale, both in the field operations through staffing metrics and in our overhead support functions.

殯葬毛利增加約1500萬美元，毛利率增加210個基點，約20%。毛利的成長是由於營收穩定成長 3%，同時我們將固定成本控制在通膨趨勢以下，本季固定成本成長了約 1%，因為我們繼續專注於利用我們的規模，無論是在透過人員配備指標進行的現場營運中，還是在我們的間接支援職能中。

Preneed funeral sales production decreased by $29 million or about 9% over the second quarter of 2024. Core preneed funeral sales production decreased by $18 million or 7%, primarily due to the transition to our new preneed insurance provider in July of 2024. We anticipate comparable core preneed sales production growth in the back half of 2025.

2024 年第二季度，預付殯葬銷售額減少了 2,900 萬美元，降幅約 9%。核心預付喪葬銷售額減少了 1800 萬美元，即 7%，這主要是由於 2024 年 7 月我們轉向了新的預付保險提供者。我們預計 2025 年下半年核心預售銷售產量將實現可比成長。

Non-funeral home preneed sales production decreased $10 million or 14% as SCI Direct transitions from the sale of trust to insurance-funded preneed contracts. This transition has required many of our sales counselors in certain states to go through extensive training, obtain insurance licenses and change the payment terms for customers financing their preneed, all of which contributes to a temporary reduction in the number of contracts written.

由於 SCI Direct 從信託銷售轉向保險資助的預付合同，非殯儀館預付銷售額減少了 1000 萬美元，降幅為 14%。這項轉變要求我們在某些州的許多銷售顧問接受大量培訓、獲得保險執照並改變為預先融資的客戶提供的付款條款，所有這些都導致簽訂的合約數量暫時減少。

As of today, we have made the transition in markets that represent 95% of our production. We expect that in early 2026 that we will experience year-over-year growth again for SCI Direct as a whole.

截至今天，我們已經在占我們產量 95% 的市場實現了轉型。我們預計，到 2026 年初，SCI Direct 整體將再次實現年成長。

Now shifting to cemetery. Comparable cemetery revenue increased by $2 million or almost 1%. Slightly higher core revenue and higher other revenue accounted for the increase. Our core revenue increase of about $1 million over the prior year quarter was primarily attributable to a $3 million increase in at-need revenue, which was partially offset by a $2 million decline in recognized preneed revenue.

現在轉移到墓地。可比墓地收入增加了 200 萬美元，即近 1%。核心收入略有增加，其他收入也增加，是導致收入成長的原因。我們的核心收入比去年同期增加了約 100 萬美元，主要歸因於按需收入增加了 300 萬美元，但被已確認的預付費收入減少 200 萬美元所部分抵消。

Within recognized preneed revenue, higher preneed merchandise and service revenues, which include recognized trust fund income were more than offset by lower preneed property revenue, which was negatively affected by a lower recognition rate on new construction compared to the prior year.

在已確認的預付收入中，較高的預付商品和服務收入（包括已確認的信託基金收入）被較低的預付財產收入所抵消，而與前一年相比，新建築的確認率較低對其產生了負面影響。

While recognized preneed cemetery revenue declined due to lower recognition rates, comparable preneed cemetery sales production increased by almost $19 million or over 5%, driven by a healthy increase in large sales as well as a modest increase in core sales. While these incremental sales were deferred for revenue recognition in the second quarter, they should benefit future periods as we achieve the required payment criteria and or complete construction of the project.

雖然由於確認率較低導致已確認的預定墓地收入有所下降，但可比預定墓地銷售額卻增加了近 1900 萬美元，增幅超過 5%，這得益於大額銷售額的健康增長以及核心銷售額的適度增長。雖然這些增量銷售額被推遲到第二季確認收入，但隨著我們達到所需的付款標準和/或完成專案建設，它們應該會對未來期間產生好處。

Cemetery gross profit in the quarter decreased by $4 million and the gross profit percentage declined by 110 basis points, generating an operating margin percentage of 33%. Our modest revenue growth was offset by higher selling compensation on higher sales production. The profit decline was partially mitigated by less than inflationary fixed cost growth of 1% as we continue to focus on leveraging our scale, both in the field operations and in our overhead support functions.

本季墓地毛利減少 400 萬美元，毛利率下降 110 個基點，營業利潤率為 33%。我們適度的收入成長被更高的銷售產量帶來的更高的銷售報酬所抵消。由於我們繼續專注於在現場營運和間接支援職能方面發揮我們的規模優勢，利潤下滑在一定程度上被低於通膨率 1% 的固定成本成長所抵消。

Now let's shift to a discussion about our outlook for the remainder of 2025. As you saw in the earnings release, we are confirming our normalized earnings per share guidance range of $3.70 to $4 for 2025, and we are raising our cash flow outlook due to stronger working capital trends in the business as well as anticipated lower cash taxes from recent legislative changes that were enacted.

現在讓我們來討論一下 2025 年剩餘時間的展望。正如您在收益報告中看到的，我們確認 2025 年每股收益的正常化指導範圍為 3.70 美元至 4 美元，並且由於業務中營運資本趨勢增強以及預計最近頒布的立法變化將導致現金稅降低，我們上調了現金流預期。

For the back half of 2025, we expect growth in revenues and margins for both the funeral and cemetery segments, resulting in impressive earnings per share growth versus the prior year six-month period as well as compared sequentially to the first six months of 2025. We also expect both preneed cemetery sales production as well as preneed funeral sales production to grow at low to mid-single-digit percentages over the prior year six-month period.

我們預計 2025 年下半年殯葬和墓地部門的收入和利潤率都將增長，與去年同期相比以及與 2025 年前六個月相比，每股收益將實現顯著增長。我們也預計，與去年同期相比，預付墓地銷售額和預付葬禮銷售額都將以低至中等個位數的百分比成長。

Below the line, we expect the favorable impact from a lower share count will be substantially negated by a higher effective tax rate, particularly in the third quarter as we compare to a prior year rate reduced by the deductibility of excess tax benefits from certain stock option exercises, which is no longer deductible for us in 2025.

總體而言，我們預計較低股份數量帶來的有利影響將被較高的有效稅率大幅抵消，尤其是在第三季度，因為我們將上一年的稅率與某些股票期權行使產生的超額稅收優惠的扣除額進行比較，但到 2025 年，這些優惠將不再具有抵扣額。

In conclusion, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire SCI team for their daily commitment to our customers, our communities, and one another. Your skill, dedication, compassion, and attention to detail is the foundation of our success.

最後，我要感謝整個 SCI 團隊對我們的客戶、我們的社區以及彼此的日常承諾。您的技能、奉獻精神、同情心和對細節的關注是我們成功的基礎。

While I know many of our professional team members help client families navigate painful loss every day, I would like to particularly recognize our Texas teams who have been caring for so many families impacted by the heartbreaking tragedy that occurred on July 4 in the Texas Hill Country. What I have witnessed and heard from countless friends and colleagues, including other independent funeral operators is that our teams have performed above and beyond.

我知道我們的許多專業團隊成員每天都在幫助客戶家庭度過痛苦的損失，但我要特別感謝我們的德克薩斯團隊，他們一直在照顧許多受到 7 月 4 日德克薩斯丘陵地區發生的令人心碎的悲劇影響的家庭。我從無數朋友和同事（包括其他獨立殯葬經營者）那裡看到和聽到的是，我們的團隊表現超乎預期。

Thank you for being a source of strength, respect, and peace. Your grace and compassion will never be forgotten. Thank you all for making a difference every day.

感謝您成為力量、尊重和和平的泉源。您的恩惠和同情永遠不會被忘記。感謝你們每天所做的貢獻。

And with that, operator, I'll turn it over to Eric.

接線生，接下來我將把麥克風交給 Eric。

Thanks, Tom. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us on the call today. To start, I really need to just continue some of the statements that Tom just mentioned and express all of our heartfelt gratitude to each of our associates.

謝謝，湯姆。大家早安，感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。首先，我真的需要繼續湯姆剛才提到的一些話，並向我們的每一位同事表達我們衷心的感謝。

Again, your exceptional service and dedication make it possible for us to support client families during some of the most difficult times of their lives. Your hard work truly does make a difference, and we are appreciative and proud of all that you do to support the families as well as the communities that we serve.

再次，您卓越的服務和奉獻精神使我們能夠在客戶家庭生命中最困難的時期為他們提供支持。您的辛勤工作確實發揮了重要作用，我們對您為支持我們服務的家庭和社區所做的一切表示感謝和自豪。

So with those statements, I'd now like to shift to beginning my remarks today, as I typically do, by providing highlights on our cash flow and capital investments during this quarter. I'll then make a few comments about corporate G&A, and I'll conclude with an update on our overall financial position.

因此，在聽完這些發言之後，我想像往常一樣開始今天的發言，重點介紹一下我們本季的現金流和資本投資。然後，我將對公司一般及行政費用發表一些評論，最後介紹一下我們的整體財務狀況。

So we generated adjusted operating cash flow of $168 million during the quarter. Adjusting for $84 million of higher cash taxes, adjusted operating cash flow really increased $33 million from the prior year after making this adjustment.

因此，我們在本季產生了 1.68 億美元的調整後經營現金流。考慮到 8,400 萬美元的較高現金稅，調整後的營運現金流量實際上比前一年增加了 3,300 萬美元。

Let's break that down a little bit during the quarter. From an underlying funeral and cemetery business perspective, adjusted operating cash flow was supported by higher funeral and cemetery gross profits of just under $14 million during the quarter that Tom really just walked us through.

讓我們在本季度對此進行一些分析。從殯葬和墓地業務的角度來看，調整後的營業現金流是由殯葬和墓地業務毛利的上升所支撐的，在湯姆剛剛帶我們經歷的這個季度，該毛利略低於 1400 萬美元。

Additionally, we had a net $43 million source of working capital in the quarter, driven by $20 million of higher cemetery installment receipts and $23 million, which were sources of cash related to the timing -- working capital timing of payroll payables and some other working capital items.

此外，本季我們的淨營運資金來源為 4,300 萬美元，其中包括 2,000 萬美元的較高墓地分期付款收入和 2,300 萬美元與時間相關的現金來源——工資應付款項的營運資金時間表以及其他一些營運資金項目。

Partially offsetting these increases, corporate G&A expenses increased and cash interest was also higher by about $14 million, which was due to the timing associated with the bond financing and coinciding reduction of our bank credit facility, which we completed last September of 2024. Lower rates on floating rate debt were largely offset by higher floating rate balances for the remainder of the quarter.

部分抵銷了這些成長，企業一般及行政費用增加，現金利息也增加了約 1,400 萬美元，這是由於與債券融資相關的時間以及我們銀行信貸額度的減少（我們於 2024 年 9 月完成）。浮動利率債務的較低利率在很大程度上被本季剩餘時間內較高的浮動利率餘額所抵銷。

Lastly, related to cash taxes, recall that prior year cash flow was favorably impacted by a change in tax accounting method that benefited cash taxes. Cash taxes of $94 million were significantly higher than the prior year by $84 million, which we fully expected and have communicated several times over the past few quarters.

最後，關於現金稅，回想一下，前一年現金流受到了有利於現金稅的稅務會計方法變化的積極影響。9,400 萬美元的現金稅比上一年高出 8,400 萬美元，這完全在我們預料之中，並且在過去幾個季度中已經多次溝通過。

So now let's move on to capital investments. We invested $100 million in the quarter into existing locations, cemetery development, new builds, business acquisitions, and real estate purchases. So breaking down this spend, we invested $69 million of maintenance capital, primarily into our current funeral homes and cemeteries, which was in line with our expectations. $35 million of this was allocated to highly profitable cemetery development projects, $29 million into current funeral and cemetery locations and $5 million into digital investments and some corporate spend.

現在讓我們來討論資本投資。本季度，我們向現有地點、墓地開發、新建、業務收購和房地產購買投資了 1 億美元。因此，分解這些支出後，我們投資了 6,900 萬美元的維護資金，主要用於我們現有的殯儀館和墓地，這符合我們的預期。其中 3500 萬美元分配給高利潤的墓地開發項目，2900 萬美元分配給現有的殯儀館和墓地，500 萬美元用於數位投資和一些企業支出。

We also invested $18 million of growth capital in the quarter to purchase real estate and for the construction of new funeral homes and cemeteries. Finally, we invested $13 million into business acquisitions in the quarter. And on that topic, we again remain optimistic about our acquisition pipeline and we anticipate achieving our $75 million to $125 million acquisition investment target for 2025 for the full year.

我們還在本季度投資了 1800 萬美元的成長資本，用於購買房地產和建造新的殯儀館和墓地。最後，我們在本季投資了 1,300 萬美元用於業務收購。關於這個主題，我們再次對我們的收購管道保持樂觀，我們預計 2025 年全年收購投資目標將達到 7,500 萬至 1.25 億美元。

So moving on to capital distributions. We returned a substantial $239 million of capital to our shareholders in the second quarter through $45 million of dividends and $194 million of share repurchases. We repurchased about 2.5 million shares at an average price of about $78 during the quarter, bringing the number of shares outstanding to just over 140 million shares at the end of the quarter.

接下來討論資本分配。我們在第二季透過 4,500 萬美元的股利和 1.94 億美元的股票回購向股東返還了 2.39 億美元的巨額資本。我們在本季以平均約 78 美元的價格回購了約 250 萬股，使本季末的流通股數量略高於 1.4 億股。

So year-to-date, we've repurchased 4.1 million shares at an average price of also about $78, returning a total of $320 million of capital to shareholders through this repurchase program. Subsequent to the quarter, we have completed another 0.5 million shares for about $39 million, which equates to an average repurchase price of about $79 million.

因此，今年迄今為止，我們已經以平均約 78 美元的價格回購了 410 萬股，並透過該回購計畫向股東返還了總計 3.2 億美元的資本。本季之後，我們又完成了 50 萬股回購，價值約 3,900 萬美元，相當於平均回購價格約 7,900 萬美元。

So moving to our corporate G&A expense during the quarter. After adjusting for a $6.4 million pretax estimated charge for certain legal matters, G&A expenses increased $4.1 million quarter-over-quarter, which primarily was related to an increase in general and auto liability insurance costs as well as higher expenses related to the timing of incentive compensation accruals.

因此，本季我們轉向了公司一般及行政費用。在調整了 640 萬美元的某些法律事務稅前估計費用後，一般及行政費用比上一季增加了 410 萬美元，這主要與一般和汽車責任保險成本的增加以及與激勵薪酬應計時間相關的費用增加有關。

We continue to expect the recurring corporate G&A expense will average somewhere around $40 million per quarter for the remainder of the year, although we fully expect there'll be some variability in this quarterly number due to our long-term incentive compensation plans that could push us above or below this during a particular quarter.

我們仍然預計，在今年剩餘時間內，經常性企業一般及行政費用平均每季度將在 4,000 萬美元左右，儘管我們完全預計，由於我們的長期激勵薪酬計劃可能導致某個季度的支出高於或低於這一數字，這一季度的數字會有所波動。

So let's talk about the outlook now for the rest of the year. And as you saw in the press release, we revised and increased our 2025 adjusted operating cash flow guidance range to now $880 million to $940 million, which is a new higher midpoint, which equates to $910 million, which is $50 million increase over the original guidance midpoint of $860 million.

現在讓我們來談談今年剩餘時間的前景。正如您在新聞稿中看到的，我們修改並提高了 2025 年調整後經營現金流指導範圍，現在為 8.8 億美元至 9.4 億美元，這是一個新的更高中點，相當於 9.1 億美元，比原來的指導中點 8.6 億美元增加了 5000 萬美元。

About $30 million of this cash flow increase relates to cash taxes and another $20 million relates primarily to stronger-than-anticipated preneed customer installment receipts. After deducting $315 million of expected maintenance capital for the full year, we now expect very impressive adjusted free cash flow of almost $600 million for the full year of 2025.

其中約 3,000 萬美元的現金流量增加與現金稅有關，另外 2,000 萬美元主要與強於預期的預付客戶分期付款收據有關。在扣除全年預計的 3.15 億美元維護資本後，我們預計 2025 年全年調整後的自由現金流將非常可觀，達到近 6 億美元。

And as we have addressed for the past several quarters, cash taxes will revert to a more normalized level in 2025 compared to 2024, following a tax accounting method change that has benefited our cash flow since the third quarter of '23. Previously, we expected cash taxes to increase $150 million year-over-year. However, we now expect less of an increase due to the recently enacted federal tax legislation.

正如我們在過去幾季中提到的那樣，自 2023 年第三季以來，稅務會計方法的改變使我們的現金流受益，因此，與 2024 年相比，2025 年的現金稅將恢復到更正常的水平。此前，我們預計現金稅將年增 1.5 億美元。然而，由於最近頒布的聯邦稅法，我們預計增幅將會減少。

While we continue to study the newly enacted law, we believe that certain components such as accelerated depreciation changes will now cause our 2025 cash taxes to rise only about $120 million year-over-year, which again results now in a full year revised estimate of cash tax of $145 million.

在我們繼續研究新頒布的法律的同時，我們認為某些因素（例如加速折舊變更）現在將導致我們的 2025 年現金稅同比僅增加約 1.2 億美元，這再次導致全年現金稅的修訂估計為 1.45 億美元。

As we've addressed in prior quarters, we also expect our effective tax rate to be 25% to 26% in 2025 as excess tax benefits are no longer recognized on the settlement of certain executive employee share-based awards. And again, Tom also covered that.

正如我們在前幾個季度中提到的那樣，我們也預計 2025 年我們的有效稅率將達到 25％至 26％，因為在結算某些高階主管員工股權獎勵時不再確認超額稅收優惠。湯姆也再次談到了這一點。

So I'll conclude my comments this morning with an update on our financial position. We continue to have a very attractive and manageable debt maturity profile with significant liquidity. We ended the quarter with liquidity of about $1.4 billion, consisting of approximately $250 million of cash on hand and approximately $1.2 billion available on our long-term bank credit facility.

因此，今天早上我將以更新我們的財務狀況來結束我的演講。我們的債務到期狀況仍然非常有吸引力且易於管理，流動性充足。本季末，我們的流動資金約為 14 億美元，其中包括約 2.5 億美元的庫存現金和約 12 億美元的長期銀行信貸額度。

Additionally, leverage at the end of the second quarter was 3.68 times net debt to EBITDA, which again remains in the center of our long-term leverage target range of 3.5 times to 4 times. Our strong balance sheet position and this liquidity, combined with our robust cash flows, continue to support our capital investment program, providing us tremendous flexibility to invest opportunistically for the long-term benefit of SCI, our associates, and our shareholders.

此外，第二季末的槓桿率為淨負債與 EBITDA 比率為 3.68 倍，這仍處於我們長期槓桿率目標範圍 3.5 倍至 4 倍的中間。我們強勁的資產負債表狀況和流動性，加上我們強勁的現金流，繼續支持我們的資本投資計劃，為我們提供了巨大的靈活性，讓我們能夠抓住機會進行投資，從而為 SCI、我們的員工和股東帶來長期利益。

So finally, in closing, I want to reiterate how extremely proud we are of our entire SCI team. The way we continue to serve our customers in their greatest time of need is truly inspiring. Thank you for everything that you do.

最後，我想重申一下，我們對整個 SCI 團隊感到非常自豪。我們在客戶最需要的時候繼續為他們提供服務的方式確實令人鼓舞。感謝您所做的一切。

So with that, operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. And with that, we're going to turn it back over to you, and we'll open the call for questions.

接線員，我們的準備好的發言到此結束。接下來，我們將把時間交還給您，並開始回答問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指示）

AJ Rice, UBS.

瑞銀的 AJ Rice。

Maybe I have a couple of questions I would ask if that's possible. First, on the dip in the recognition rate in the current quarter. Is that just -- do you attribute that to the normal volatility you sometimes see in the cemetery production area? Or was there anything unusual that drove that? And it sounds like you think that's going to step back up to more normal recognition rate in the back half of the year, and therefore, you'll be able to book those sales. Is that the right way to think about it?

如果可能的話我可能想問幾個問題。首先，本季識別率有所下降。這僅僅是——您是否將其歸因於您有時在墓地生產區看到的正常波動？或者有什麼不尋常的事情導致了這種情況？聽起來您認為今年下半年的識別率將回升至更正常的水平，因此您將能夠預訂這些銷售。這是正確的思考方式嗎？

It is, AJ I mean, any time that we are starting to build a new project or develop new parts of our cemetery, we obviously, at some point, release that to our sales force and kind of presell that project with consumers in our particular cemeteries. And as we all know, that essentially gets moved from production into revenues, which that ratio is the rec rate you were describing at the time the completion -- the construction project is completed.

AJ，我的意思是，任何時候我們開始建造一個新項目或開發我們墓地的新部分，我們顯然會在某個時候將其發布給我們的銷售人員，並向我們特定墓地的消費者預售該項目。眾所周知，這基本上是從生產轉化為收入，這個比率就是您在建築項目完工時所描述的收益率。

By definition, that's going to kind of ebb and flow. You usually see it in the low 90s in the first half and the higher 90s in the second half. What you saw in the press release of the low 90s is pretty sequentially consistent with what you saw last quarter.

根據定義，這將是一場潮起潮落。通常，上半場的溫度在華氏 90 度出頭，下半場的溫度在華氏 90 度出頭。您在新聞稿中看到的 90 年代初期的情況與您上個季度看到的情況非常一致。

So what you should see in the back half of the year as projects complete and previously sold inventory gets recognized for revenues upon that completion is you're going to see that recognition rate raise in the second half of the year into the mid- to higher 90s. I think as a general statement, I think last quarter, we -- someone asked me about it.

因此，隨著專案的完成以及先前售出的庫存在專案完成後被確認為收入，您應該會在下半年看到確認率上升到 90 年代中後期。我認為，總的來說，上個季度，有人問過我這個問題。

And I said, I think you're going to end the year somewhere around mid-90s in terms of that rec rate. That's very consistent with what we ended last year as well. So the punchline really, AJ, at the end of the day is the natural ebb and flow of this process that occurs. There's nothing in the quarter that's deviating from that ebb and flow, and we feel very good about it.

我說，我認為今年年底的收訊率將在 90 年代中期左右。這與我們去年結束的結果非常一致。所以，AJ，真正的妙語是，到最後，這個過程自然而然地會消退和流動。本季度沒有任何事物偏離這種起伏，我們對此感覺非常好。

Okay. That's great. On the cremation rate, off and on for the last year, one and half years, we've seen the rate of increase seemingly moderate. I know you're up 20 basis points this quarter. Historically, we've forecast 100 basis points to 150 basis points. That's created a revenue headwind that you've each year had to overcome.

好的。那太棒了。關於火化率，在過去的一年半里，我們看到火化率斷斷續續地呈現溫和成長趨勢。我知道本季你的利潤上漲了 20 個基點。從歷史上看，我們預測利率為 100 個基點至 150 個基點。這造成了收入方面的阻力，你每年都必須克服它。

Do we think that we're entering a period where that pace of increase is going to moderate? Any thoughts on what you've been seeing in the cremation rate?

我們是否認為我們正進入一個成長速度放緩的時期？您對火化率有何看法？

AJ, this has been kind of an ongoing debate between Jay and I, and I think he's winning. I think two things are probably impacting this. One is when you get to cremation rates in some of these larger metropolitan markets, they're already pretty high.

AJ，這是我和傑伊之間持續不斷的爭論，我認為他贏了。我認為有兩件事可能會影響這一點。一是，當你了解一些較大的大都市市場的火葬率時，你會發現它們已經相當高了。

So where you have a lot of volume, the cremation rate is probably starting to stall a bit because it's gotten to that level. And so the cremation changes are happening in probably more rural markets and places like that. And the other thing is just the demographic makeup. We probably serve a lot more consumers that are Hispanic customs, Asian customs, which may be lower cremation rates as you think about the population as a whole.

因此，在火化量很大的地方，火化率可能開始有所停滯，因為已經達到了那個水準。因此，火葬的改變可能發生在更多的農村市場和類似的地方。另一件事就是人口組成。我們可能服務於更多具有西班牙裔習俗和亞洲習俗的消費者，從整個人口來看，這可能會導致火葬率較低。

So yes, we've kind of dialed back our expectations. I do think 20 is still a little low. But to probably say 50 to 80 isn't an area that we think probably as we go forward is our expectations.

所以是的，我們確實降低了我們的期望。我確實認為 20 還是有點低。但可能說 50 到 80 並不是我們認為的範圍，這可能是我們未來的預期。

Is there any way to translate that into at the 100 basis points to 150 basis points, it's X percent headwind to revenue growth each year and now at the new [50 to 80], it's more like Y percent? Or is that probably a bridge too far?

有沒有辦法將其轉化為，在 100 個基點到 150 個基點時，每年收入增長將面臨 X% 的阻力，而在現在新的 [50 到 80] 時，則更像是 Y%？或者那可能太遙遠了？

I think what we used to say, we used to lose 1%. So think about it as if we put in a 3% price increase, it get us 2% with that old -- and now I think instead of a 100 basis point headwind, maybe it's more like a 50 is the way to think about it. So I mean, as an example, you saw our 3.3% increase in the quarter because the cremation rate was modest. That's an area that I think we can start to model in is closer to the 3% rather than in the old days of thinking more around the 2%, 2.5%.

我想我們過去常說，我們過去常常損失 1%。因此，想像一下，如果我們將價格提高 3%，那麼我們得到的將是 2% 的收益——現在我認為不是 100 個基點的逆風，也許更像是 50 個基點的逆風。舉個例子，你會看到我們本季的火葬率增加了 3.3%，因為火葬率適中。我認為我們可以開始在這個領域進行建模，使其更接近 3%，而不是像過去那樣更多地考慮 2%、2.5%。

Okay. And maybe just a final question on the comments around cash flow and the tax benefits from the federal bill, et cetera. Can you just, Eric, maybe comment a little more about what is stuff that you can realize this year? How much of a benefit versus stuff that's just going to persist? I know some of it is going to be permanent and some maybe just you taking advantage of things that are available on a shorter-term basis. Can you give us a little more flavor on how much this affects your thinking about long-term cash taxes?

好的。也許最後一個問題是關於現金流和聯邦法案的稅收優惠等的評論。艾瑞克，你能否再多評論一下今年你可以實現哪些目標？與那些會持續存在的東西相比，它能帶來多大的好處？我知道其中一些將是永久性的，而有些可能只是你利用短期可用的東西。您能否進一步說明這對您對長期現金稅的看法有多大影響？

Yes. I think it does affect it, AJ, frankly, because of the components of it. So when you talk about accelerated depreciation, you think like, okay, it would accelerate something and then the depreciation is done with. But what it really -- what you're accelerating are capital improvements. And we're going to have a consistent ongoing capital improvement program.

是的。坦白說，AJ，我認為它確實會對其產生影響，因為它的組成部分。因此，當您談論加速折舊時，您會想，好吧，它會加速某些事情，然後折舊就完成了。但實際上──你們正在加速的是資本改善。我們將實施持續不斷的資本改善計劃。

So when you think of our maintenance CapEx of $315 million, we've always broken that down for you that the true piece of maintenance is somewhere around $125 million, $135 million. That's the type of stuff as long as it's less than 20 years as part of the tax depreciation tables is the stuff that makes it eligible now that wasn't eligible prior to this newly enacted law.

因此，當您想到我們的維護資本支出為 3.15 億美元時，我們始終會為您分解，真正的維護費用約為 1.25 億美元或 1.35 億美元左右。只要期限少於 20 年，作為稅收折舊表的一部分，這些東西現在就符合條件，但在這項新頒布的法律之前，它們是不符合條件的。

And to me, that's not a onetime benefit. That's something that will continue over a period of time. There's other stuff such as software, internal use software that we create. Well, we do ongoing update our software and create our software. Some of our core software is homegrown, such as our HMIS system.

對我來說，這不是一次性的福利。這種現象將會持續一段時間。還有其他東西，例如我們創建的軟體、內部使用的軟體。嗯，我們確實不斷更新我們的軟體並創建我們的軟體。我們的一些核心軟體是自主開發的，例如我們的 HMIS 系統。

So that's something that you're going to have to continue to maintain. Beacon is homegrown. We'll continue to maintain. We'll continue to expand. So look, it's early in the process for us to get it perfect. We definitely think there's a $30 million benefit to us from a cash tax perspective this year. And -- but I don't think this is a onetime thing. I think there's going to be some type of benefit similar to what I just described to you going forward as well from a cash tax perspective.

所以這是你必須繼續保持的事情。Beacon 是本土產品。我們將繼續維護。我們將繼續擴大。所以你看，我們現在還處於完善過程的早期階段。我們確實認為，從現金稅的角度來看，今年我們將獲得 3,000 萬美元的收益。而且——但我不認為這是一次性的事情。我認為從現金稅的角度來看，未來也會出現類似我剛才所描述的某種好處。

Okay. Great. Thanks so much.

好的。偉大的。非常感謝。

Parker Snure, Raymond James.

帕克·斯努爾、雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hey, good morning and thanks for the question. Just any comments on seasonality of funeral volumes in the back half of the year. It looks like the third quarter is a little bit of a tougher comp versus the last year. So just anything you would note in terms of your expectations for funeral volumes in third quarter versus fourth quarter?

嘿，早上好，謝謝你的提問。只是對下半年葬禮數量的季節性發表一些評論。與去年相比，第三季的情況似乎更加嚴峻。那麼，您對第三季和第四季的葬禮數量有何預期？

You hit the nail on the head. As we think about -- and we use seasonality trends over multiyears. You would think that the third quarter from a volume perspective is a tough comp. The good news is preneed cemetery is probably an easier comp.

你說得太對了。正如我們所思考的——我們使用多年的季節性趨勢。您可能會認為，從銷售角度來看，第三季的業績將會十分艱難。好消息是，預先建造墓地可能比較容易。

And so I think as we think about the third quarter, we'd expect cemetery revenues to be really strong. Funeral will be a tougher comparison. And then as you get into the fourth quarter, I think it moderates a bit and you have a little more of a normal seasonality. So a good observation.

因此，我認為，當我們考慮第三季時，我們預計墓地收入將會非常強勁。葬禮將是一個更艱難的比較。然後，當進入第四季度時，我認為它會有所緩和，並且會出現更正常的季節性。這是一個很好的觀察。

Okay. And then I know just on payment terms in preneed cemetery, I know there was a mention of installment receipts in the prepared remarks in terms of working capital. Has there been any changes in the customer financing or payment terms in preneed cemetery, whether that be percentage of money down at the beginning or length of payment terms?

好的。然後我知道，就預置墓地的付款條件而言，我知道在準備好的備註中提到了營運資金方面的分期付款收據。預置墓地的客戶融資或付款條款是否有任何變化，無論是開始時的首付百分比還是付款期限的長度？

No, we haven't done anything materially in that area where we're lengthening installment terms or changing down payments or anything along those lines. Typically, you'll see us -- to recognize the revenue of undeveloped property, you have to get to 10% down. You typically have seen a pattern over the years where in the first half of the year, we have some incentives where maybe we're not getting 10% down, but knowing that the customer will pay into that by the full fiscal year, and that will get recognized in the back half of the year.

不，我們在該領域沒有採取任何實質性的措施，例如延長分期付款期限或改變首付款或諸如此類的事情。通常，你會看到我們——為了確認未開發房地產的收入，你必須獲得 10% 的首付。多年來，你通常會看到一種模式：在上半年，我們會提供一些激勵措施，也許我們不會獲得 10% 的首付，但我們知道客戶會在整個財政年度支付這筆款項，而這將在下半年得到確認。

That concept plays into the previous question on the call in terms of a lower recognition rate in the lower 90s and a higher recognition in the higher 90s in the second half of the year. But we're not materially changing. The truth to it is -- the installment payments are solid. They're strong. They're probably a little bit above our expectations, frankly. The consumer continues to hang in there in the cemetery segment.

這個概念與電話會議中先前提出的問題相呼應，即 90 年代初期的識別率較低，而下半年 90 年代後期的識別率較高。但我們並沒有發生實質的改變。事實是－分期付款是可靠的。他們很強大。坦白說，他們可能有點超出我們的預期。消費者繼續在墓園部分停留。

We continue to have a large jump in production that we all know about during the COVID years. And we probably underestimated how much of those installments are really going to kind of hang in there versus historical levels. And I think it's just done a little bit better and the consumer is a little bit better than probably what we ultimately modeled, which is $20 million of the $50 million raise in our midpoint of cash flow that we're very excited about.

眾所周知，在新冠疫情期間，我們的產量持續大幅成長。我們可能低估了這些分期付款相對於歷史水準的實際金額。我認為它做得更好一些，消費者也比我們最終模擬的要好一些，這是我們現金流中點 5000 萬美元增加中的 2000 萬美元，我們對此感到非常興奮。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Tobey Sommer, Truist.

托比·索默 (Tobey Sommer)，Truist。

I wanted to ask a question about the financial benefit of the shift in life insurance partner. What sort of incremental benefit may you still get on an ongoing basis now that we've lapped the initial year? I'm not sure whether everybody was fully on board and fully sort of equipped to sell at scale, so there might be some ongoing benefits. So I'd love to get your thought there.

我想問一個有關更換人壽保險合夥人所帶來的經濟利益的問題。現在我們已經度過了第一年，您還能持續獲得哪些增量效益？我不確定是否每個人都完全參與並做好了大規模銷售的充分準備，因此可能會有一些持續的好處。所以我很想知道你的想法。

Yes. I think the incremental benefit is going to be in the type of insurance product that we sell, Tobey. So you get more benefit from a multi-pay versus a single pay, how much of your preneed sales streams going into pure insurance. If you're selling at levels in the mid-60s, low 70s, that's going to make a difference. So I think, again, as you mentioned, as people become more equipped to present the benefits of insurance that's something that we can focus on.

是的。托比，我認為增量收益將反映在我們銷售的保險產品類型上。因此，與單次付款相比，多次付款可以為您帶來更多收益，而您的預付銷售流中有多少會流向純保險。如果你的銷售價格在 60 多美元到 70 多美元之間，情況就會有所不同。所以我認為，正如您所說，隨著人們越來越有能力展示保險的好處，這是我們可以關注的事情。

But I also think having gone through this now, we feel like production is something that we can raise across the board. And that could be in the insurance product, it could be in the trust product. But we feel really good about our momentum going forward and growing whether it's an insurance product or a trust. But within the insurance bucket itself, it's the type of insurance product. And like you said, we've got counselors that are better at giving that presentation. We'd expect an ability to grow that bucket.

但我也認為，經歷了這一切之後，我們覺得我們可以全面提高生產力。這可能存在於保險產品中，也可能存在於信託產品中。但無論是保險產品還是信託，我們對未來和成長的勢頭感到非常滿意。但在保險桶本身內，它是一種保險產品類型。正如您所說，我們有更擅長進行此類演講的顧問。我們期望能夠擴大這一規模。

Quantifying that is if we're getting -- if we got 7% year-over-year kind of in the reported quarter, is it something that's going to be appreciable? Do you think it's a single point, a couple of points? How would you think about it numerically?

量化一下，如果我們得到——如果我們在報告季度獲得 7% 的同比增長，這是否是一個值得關注的成績？您認為這是一個重點，還是幾個要點？您會如何從數字角度來考慮這個問題？

Yes, maybe a couple of points. I mean because, again, because you're lapping yourself and so you effectively have the similar rates that you had before. So now it just gets back to what is your production within that bucket. And the points that you're making are we've got a counselor that now is up and ready and sell insurance and knows how to do it, understands the benefit. So kind of just the normal perfecting the presentations. And so yes, that type of increase is not something we'd anticipate going forward.

是的，也許有幾點。我的意思是，因為，再說一次，因為你在自我圈數，所以你實際上擁有與以前相似的速率。所以現在它只是回到你在那個桶子裡的產量。您要說的是，我們已經有一位顧問，他已經準備好銷售保險，並且知道如何銷售，了解保險的好處。所以這只是正常的完善演示。是的，我們預計未來不會出現這種成長。

Got you. My last question. From a pricing standpoint for preneed, have you changed the percent down payment required at all?

明白了。我的最後一個問題。從預付定價的角度來看，您是否改變了所需的首付百分比？

Yes.

是的。

Yeah okay, perfect. Thank you. Very clear. I'll get back in the queue.

是的，很好，完美。謝謝。非常清楚。我會回到隊列中。

Joanna Gajuk, Bank of America.

美國銀行的喬安娜‧加朱克 (Joanna Gajuk)。

Hey, good morning. Thanks so much. So first, just a follow-up or clarification. Did I hear it right you said preneed sales production expect to grow low to mid-single digits in both funeral and cemetery. So is that for the full year? And did I hear it right, does it mean that you expect faster growth? Because I guess the cemetery preneed sales production was expected to be up low single digits for the year? Or was it a comment for the second half?

嘿，早安。非常感謝。因此首先，只是進行跟進或澄清。我是否聽得正確？您說預計殯葬和墓地的預售產量將增長低至中等個位數。那麼這是全年的情況嗎？我沒聽錯吧，這是否意味著您預期成長速度會更快？因為我猜墓園預售產量預計今年會成長個位數？還是這是對下半部的評論？

Yes. My comments were specifically to the second half of the year that we think low to mid-single-digit percentages for both preneed funeral and preneed cemetery. And again, on the annualized guidance, I don't have that in front of me.

是的。我的評論具體針對的是下半年，我們認為預付費葬禮和預付費墓地的百分比都將處於低至中等個位數。再說一次，關於年度指導，我面前還沒有這個。

But obviously, preneed funeral has been a challenge in the first half. We expect that to turn around in the second half and carry that momentum into 2026. We've kind of gotten through the -- all the impacts from change.

但顯然，提前葬禮在上半年一直是個挑戰。我們預計這種情況將在下半年出現好轉，並將這種勢頭延續到 2026 年。我們已經克服了變化帶來的所有影響。

In cemetery, Joanna, we feel really good about. We saw some great momentum, as I spoke to in the second quarter, both in large sales and in core sales, and we expect that momentum to continue in the back half of the year. So feeling good about particularly where we are in the cemetery sales cycle.

在墓園裡，喬安娜，我們感覺非常好。正如我在第二季度所說的那樣，我們看到了大宗銷售和核心銷售方面的強勁勢頭，我們預計這種勢頭將在今年下半年繼續保持下去。因此，我們對墓地銷售週期的現況感到十分滿意。

So on the cemetery still for the year, I guess, it's going to be low single digits growth, maybe a little bit higher.

因此，我猜今年墓地的成長率仍將維持在個位數以下，或許還會更高。

I think it could be low to mid. We can climb back into the mid too. I think we feel good about -- obviously, we need a mid- or to high single-digit back half to achieve that. But because the first quarter was a bit of a challenge. But the momentum in the second quarter, we feel pretty good. We can get back to low, but also mid for the year, again, depending on our success as it relates to large sales in core.

我認為它可能處於低到中等水平。我們也可以爬回中間。我認為我們感覺很好——顯然，我們需要一個中等或高個位數的後半段來實現這一目標。但因為第一季有點挑戰。但第二季的勢頭我們感覺相當不錯。我們可以回到低位，但也可以回到年中的水平，這取決於我們的成功，因為它與核心的大規模銷售有關。

Right. And that was my other question in terms of the other specifics because you did say you saw a healthy increase in large sales and modest growth in core. So I guess in Q1, the problem was the large sales were down to more like a $30 million or so in the quarter. So what was the number in the second quarter for large sales?

正確的。這是我關於其他細節的另一個問題，因為您確實說過，您看到大額銷售額健康成長，核心銷售額溫和成長。所以我猜想第一季的問題在於大額銷售額下降到了 3000 萬美元左右。那麼第二季大宗銷售數字是多少呢？

Like $52 million. So we had a great second quarter as it relates to large sales. And I think, again, that compares back to last year's quarter. I want to say $38 million, if I'm remembering correct. So pretty healthy increase. And again, you can't get too excited and too depressed either way because these sales come in a little bit lumpy.

約 5200 萬美元。因此，由於銷售額龐大，我們第二季表現非常出色。我認為，這與去年季度的情況再次相符。如果我沒記錯的話，我想說的是 3800 萬美元。因此增長相當健康。再說一次，無論如何你都不能太興奮或太沮喪，因為這些銷售業績有點不穩定。

So we had really good sales in the second quarter. I'd say July is off to a really nice start, but we still got August and September. So we feel confident that momentum is good. Cemetery sales should be impressive in the third quarter and carry into the fourth quarter.

因此我們第二季的銷售情況非常好。我想說七月的開始非常好，但我們還有八月和九月。因此，我們相信發展勢頭良好。第三季墓地銷售額預計將會非常可觀，並將持續到第四季。

Yes. And I guess if I might, a little bit different topic. So thanks for the July commentary that was good to hear that, too. But on a different topic around your cash flows, right, increasing, it sounds like the $30 million benefit on the lower cash taxes might be a sustainable number.

是的。我想如果可以的話，我可以談談稍微不同的話題。所以感謝您七月份的評論，我也很高興聽到這個。但是關於現金流的另一個主題，對，增加，聽起來降低現金稅帶來的 3000 萬美元收益可能是一個可持續的數字。

So if that's the case, how should we think about capital deployment? Does that change your appetite, say, doing more deals or maybe some other capital deployment opportunities that you would kind of be more aggressive on given the higher cash flows? Thank you.

那如果真是這樣，我們該如何考慮資本配置呢？這是否會改變您的意願，比如說，進行更多交易或進行一些其他資本配置機會，考慮到更高的現金流，您會更積極地進行這些交易嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. I think it's more of the same of the formula, Joanna, that you've seen us done. I mean we're going to invest capital to the highest return. Certainly, we've done a lot in shares the first half of the year. I think you'll see some momentum there that will continue at least the shares at this level. But the M&A program is going strong. I know someone commented that we spent $30 million year-to-date and the guidance is $75 million to $125 million in terms of investment. I think we'll get there. I feel really good about the pipeline.

是的。喬安娜，我認為這和你看到我們做的公式更相似。我的意思是我們將投入資本以獲得最高的回報。當然，今年上半年我們在股票方面做了很多。我認為你會看到一些勢頭，至少股價會繼續維持在這個水平。但併購計劃進展順利。我知道有人評論說，今年迄今為止我們花費了 3000 萬美元，而投資方面的指導金額是 7500 萬至 1.25 億美元。我想我們會到達那裡。我對這條管道感覺非常好。

Some of the deals, I mean, if we just get through our LOIs alone right now, we'd be into that guidance, frankly, and there's a lot more that we're out there discussing. So I think we'll get into that 75 -- I think that's a good guidance number for investment for M&A. Would we do more? Absolutely.

我的意思是，如果我們現在僅僅透過意向書 (LOI)，我們就會遵循這一指導，坦白說，我們還在討論更多的事情。所以我認為我們會達到 75——我認為這對於併購投資來說是一個很好的指導數字。我們會做得更多嗎？絕對地。

The other thing that you have to remember, though, is -- are the greenfield investments that we're making, the new funeral homes and sometimes new cemeteries. This is a nice robust program, which we've told you -- this year alone, we're going to spend probably about $70 million on that.

不過，你必須記住的另一件事是——我們正在進行的綠地投資，新的殯儀館，有時還有新的墓地。這是一個非常好的、強有力的項目，我們已經告訴過你們——光是今年，我們就將花費約 7,000 萬美元。

Could that go up? It's possible, but it takes time. That's a three-year cycle. At any point in time, we have 30 to 35 projects that are in the pipeline. About a third of those turn every year. And that's at a more better velocity than what we've had in the past, but we're excited about that.

還能漲嗎？這是有可能的，但需要時間。這是一個三年的周期。無論何時，我們都有 30 到 35 個項目正在籌備中。其中約有三分之一每年都會轉換。這比我們過去的速度要快得多，但我們對此感到興奮。

M&A has its benefits because you get EBITDA and cash flow right away, but so do these construction projects have these benefits where you can build exactly where you want and exactly what you want, especially having a modern celebration of life venue when we design these brand-new funeral homes.

併購有其好處，因為您可以立即獲得 EBITDA 和現金流，但這些建設項目也有這些好處，您可以在您想要的地方建造您想要的東西，特別是在我們設計這些全新的殯儀館時擁有一個現代化的生命慶典場所。

So there's a lot of opportunities out there, but they're not different than what we have talked about in the past, and we'll continue to invest as we can in both of those programs as well as the share repurchase program.

因此，有很多機會，但它們與我們過去談論的沒有什麼不同，我們將繼續盡可能地投資這兩個計劃以及股票回購計劃。

Great. Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

偉大的。非常感謝。太感謝了。

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

Thanks very much. I have -- I think it's a grand total of three. Cemetery preneed, we just heard that you're doing quite well in large sales. Could you speak more on the core? Are you -- that sounded like that was strong as well, certainly relative to expectations. Are you selling up in the high tier? I believe the cutoff to get the large is 80,000.

非常感謝。我有——我認為總共有三個。墓地預售，我們剛剛聽說你們的大宗銷售做得相當不錯。能再多談談核心嗎？你是說——這聽起來也很強勁，當然是相對於預期而言的。您在高端市場銷售嗎？我認為獲得大額的截止點是 80,000。

Are you up in the 50,000, 60,000, 70,000, or is it broad-based across that? And then part two of that question is, is this -- is what you're seeing overall velocity or volume trends speeding up? Or is it more from pricing, what you're getting in that preneed cemetery? Thanks.

您是在 50,000、60,000 還是 70,000 範圍內？那麼問題的第二部分是，這是——您所看到的整體速度或數量趨勢正在加快嗎？或者更多的是從定價角度考慮，你在那個預先需要的墓地裡得到了什麼？謝謝。

So on the core, it just wasn't as big of a percentage increase. Obviously, it's the biggest chunk of our cemetery production. So it was a nice increase. But percentage-wise, large sales was much bigger. It's really across the board. We're not seeing it at any specific point. And again, back to your velocity versus pricing, both of those were positive within the core for the quarter.

因此從核心角度來看，百分比增幅並沒有那麼大。顯然，這是我們墓地生產的最大份額。所以這是一個不錯的成長。但從百分比來看，大宗銷售額要大得多。這確實是全面的。我們沒有在任何特定點看到它。再次回到速度與定價的問題，本季的核心部分中，這兩項都是正值。

So all signs are looking good. It's hard to find anything we don't like right now, at least in the second quarter production. So all is good and really across the board, no specific price points, Scott, that I'd point out to you other than the over 80 that you already mentioned.

所以所有跡像都看起來不錯。現在很難找到我們不喜歡的東西，至少在第二季的產量中是如此。所以一切都很好，而且確實是全面的，沒有具體的價格點，斯科特，除了你已經提到的 80 多個之外，我想向你指出。

All right. Thanks. Sounds good. Moving on to the next section. Funeral revenue per service, that was a bit higher than we expected. It sounds like the lower cremation rate is contributing. I'm just curious, how sustainable is this plus 3% going forward? And what will be the drivers behind that?

好的。謝謝。聽起來不錯。繼續下一部分。每次葬禮的收入比我們預期的要高一些。聽起來較低的火化率是造成這現象的原因之一。我只是好奇，這個成長 3% 在未來還能持續多久？這背後的驅動因素是什麼？

I mean 3.3% might be a little higher than you'd anticipate going forward. But yes, I think we're pretty comfortable in that 2.5% to 3% range depending on the cremation rate change. We're really focused on discounts. I think I have done a good job of managing those things. And the other piece that wasn't as impactful for the quarter is keep in mind, what's coming out of the preneed backlog.

我的意思是 3.3% 可能比你預期的要高一點。但是的，我認為根據火化率的變化，我們在 2.5% 到 3% 的範圍內感覺相當舒適。我們確實非常注重折扣。我認為我已經很好地管理了這些事情。對本季影響較小的另一件事是記住預先需要的積壓工作會產生什麼結果。

The preneed backlog has the component of what did you write the Corpus at when you wrote the preneed, which we've done a really great job, and then you get the compounded interest if it's a trust product. So those type of things can have an impact on the average as well. But I think as we think forward, Scott, I think we feel pretty good about being able to come close to that 3% if cremation mix changes that we're seeing in most recent years hold.

預先需求積壓包含您在編寫預先需求時編寫的語料庫的組成部分，我們在這方面做得非常出色，然後如果它是一種信託產品，您將獲得複利。所以這些事情也會對平均值產生影響。但是史考特，我認為，當我們展望未來時，如果我們最近幾年看到的火葬組合變化能夠持續下去，我們會很高興能夠接近 3%。

Great, thanks, Trey. All right. Eric, I'm pulling you in from my last launch on too long the break here. The G&A, how should we think about that in the back half versus the first half? And maybe a little granularity on to what kind of changes and how we should model that? Thanks.

太好了，謝謝，特雷。好的。艾瑞克，我上次發表會時就把你拉過來了，這次發表會已經過去太久了。對於 G&A，我們應該如何看待後半部和前半部？也許我們可以稍微詳細地了解哪些類型的變化以及我們應該如何對其進行建模？謝謝。

Yes. I mean I think you're safe modeling it around that $40 million, $42 million type guidance that we've given you before. Maybe it's a little bit higher than what we've said before. But ultimately, when you talk about general liability and auto claims, those are going to be event specific, and they're going to ebb and flow. And we had a heavy amount of them during the quarter as we've talked about.

是的。我的意思是，我認為您可以安全地按照我們之前給您的 4000 萬美元、4200 萬美元的指導進行建模。可能比我們之前說的要高一點。但最終，當你談論一般責任和汽車索賠時，這些將是特定事件，它們會起起落落。正如我們之前談到的，本季我們遇到了大量此類問題。

And then the last thing that I would tell you is, and we say this in my remarks, we say -- and I've said this before, is the longer-term incentive comp accruals are going to move it. So yes, $40 millions to $41 millions, $40 millions to $42 millions is a good baseline for it.

然後我要告訴你們的最後一件事是，我們在我的演講中說過，我們說——我之前也說過，長期激勵補償應計計畫將推動這一進程。所以是的，4000 萬美元到 4100 萬美元，4000 萬美元到 4200 萬美元是一個很好的基準。

Could it be $44 millions if the comp accruals need to go up? Yes. Could it be $38 millions if comp accruals need to go down? Yes. So you got to remember that variability that's going to be a few million dollars as well. But generally, that's how I would characterize modeling it for the second half.

如果應計薪酬需要增加的話，會是 4,400 萬美元嗎？是的。如果需要降低應計薪酬，那麼這個數字會是 3,800 萬美元嗎？是的。所以你必須記住，這種改變也會造成數百萬美元的損失。但總的來說，這就是我對下半部建模的描述。

Great, thanks guys.

太好了，謝謝大家。

Parker Snure, Raymond James.

帕克·斯努爾、雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hey, thanks again. Just one more question. Just on the long-term growth algorithm of 8% to 12%. I know this year had a pretty strong benefit from the insurance transition. I mean now that preneed cemetery production is kind of comping at a higher rate, it's remained elevated post-COVID. Any thoughts that there's any change into the composition of your long-term growth algorithm?

嘿，再次感謝。還有一個問題。只是依照8%到12%的長期成長演算法。我知道今年保險轉型帶來了相當大的好處。我的意思是，現在預先需求的墓地生產正在以更高的速度進行，在新冠疫情之後，這一速度仍然保持在高位。您是否認為您的長期成長演算法的組成會發生任何變化？

Or just now that preneed cemetery is kind of at an elevated rate, does that make it a little bit harder to grow on an organic basis? Just kind of any general thoughts on your long-term growth algorithm as we exit the year?

或者現在預先需求的墓地數量正在增加，這是否會使有機成長變得更加困難？在即將結束的這一年中，您對長期成長演算法有什麼整體想法嗎？

So Parker, I think we still feel very comfortable with that algorithm. There are some things that are -- that you point out that are tougher comps as you go forward, but I also think there's things that are going in our direction. Again, I'd point you back to SCI Direct. We have taken that business from a certain level of profitability down to essential breakeven.

所以帕克，我認為我們對該演算法仍然感到非常滿意。有些事情——正如您所指出的，隨著我們前進，它們會變得更加艱難，但我也認為有些事情正在朝著我們的方向發展。再次，我建議您參考 SCI Direct。我們已經將該業務從一定的獲利水準降至基本損益平衡。

And it's all related to the way that we operate the business and the way the accounting works. And as you play that out, that should be kind of a natural growth business as more and more of that comes out of the backlog, it's going to be higher averages.

這一切都與我們的經營方式和會計工作方式有關。當你實施這項策略時，這應該是一種自然成長的業務，因為越來越多的業務從積壓訂單中出來，平均值將會更高。

So we've just got some, I think, positive trends in the business. We talked about the sales average being stronger on the funeral side. I still think demographics are going to play into both the funeral and the cemetery side. So we're very optimistic about the 8% to 12%. And I think there's some years coming up where we can go above that. So overall, we feel very good about the guidance we're giving you and continue to feel that way.

所以我認為我們的業務出現了一些積極的趨勢。我們談到葬禮方面的銷售平均水平更高。我仍然認為人口統計數據會對葬禮和墓地產生影響。因此，我們對 8% 到 12% 的成長率非常樂觀。我認為未來幾年我們能夠超越這個目標。因此，總的來說，我們對給予您的指導感到非常滿意，並且會繼續保持這種感覺。

Okay. And then sorry, I know I said one last one, but actually one more. The LA fires in Rose Hill, are you sensing that there's any kind of continuing or lingering just disruption in that market? Or are all your KPIs that you track that, that property is kind of tracking along as it should?

好的。然後抱歉，我知道我說了最後一個，但實際上還有一個。洛杉磯玫瑰山火災，您是否感覺到市場正在遭受某種持續或揮之不去的干擾？或者您追蹤的所有 KPI 是否都按照應有的方式進行追蹤？

I think overall, obviously, there's so much -- the people are still dealing with so many things. And so you never want to belittle that. That's going to continue to happen for years and years. But I think as it relates to our business and our ability to sell, we're not seeing anything that's impacting that business related to that event.

我認為總體而言，顯然還有很多事情——人們仍在處理很多事情。所以你永遠不想貶低這一點。這種現象將會持續很多年。但我認為，就我們的業務和銷售能力而言，我們沒有看到任何與該事件相關的影響業務的事情。

Unfortunately, people are still suffering. People are still trying to build their lives back. But it's not noticeable, I'd say, in the sales process today.

不幸的是，人們仍在遭受苦難。人們仍在努力重建生活。但我想說，在今天的銷售過程中，這並不引人注目。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to SCI management for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給 SCI 管理層，請他們發表結束語。

Thank you, everybody. I appreciate you being here, and we'll talk to you next quarter. Have a great week.

謝謝大家。感謝您的到來，我們將在下個季度與您交談。祝您有個愉快的一周。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。