Service Corporation International (SCI) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the SCI third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to SCI management team. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加SCI 2025年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。現在我將把會議交給SCI管理團隊。請繼續。

Good morning. This is Trey Bocage, AVP of Investor Relations and Treasury. Welcome to our third-quarter earnings call. 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.這是投資者關係和財務副總裁 Trey Bocage。歡迎參加我們的第三季財報電話會議。稍後湯姆和艾瑞克將就本季發表一些準備好的講話，但在此之前，讓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.

我們的管理團隊發表的任何關於未來計劃、信念、期望或預測的評論都是前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與此類陳述中設想的結果有重大差異。

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盈利報告和提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中列明的因素，這些文件可在我們的網站上查閱。今天我們可能也會討論一些非GAAP財務指標。這些措施的核對情況可以在我們獲利報告末尾的表格以及我們的網站上找到。

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

既然如此，我現在將把發言權交給董事長兼執行長湯姆·瑞安。

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.

謝謝你，特雷。大家好，感謝各位今天參加我們的電話會議。今天上午，我將首先概述我們本季的業務表現，然後再詳細介紹我們的殯葬和墓地業務業績。最後，我將談談我們對 2025 年剩餘時間的獲利預期。

For the third quarter, we generated adjusted earnings per share of $0.87, which is more than 10% increase compared to the $0.79 in the prior year period. We saw impressive increases in cemetery revenue and gross profit, as well as lower corporate general and administrative expense, which was partially offset by slightly lower funeral revenues and gross profits, which when combined resulted in $0.10 of earnings per share growth from operating income.

第三季度，我們調整後的每股盈餘為 0.87 美元，比去年同期的 0.79 美元成長了 10% 以上。我們看到墓地收入和毛利大幅增長，公司一般及行政費用有所下降，但殯葬收入和毛利略有下降，部分抵消了這些增長，兩者加在一起導致營業收入每股收益增長了 0.10 美元。

Below the line, the favorable impact of a lower share count was more than offset by a higher tax rate and a slightly higher net interest expense, resulting in a negative [$0.02] decline in earnings per share. The higher tax rate was the result of the non-deductibility of certain excess tax benefits from the settlement of stock option rewards.

在實際操作中，較低的股數帶來的有利影響被較高的稅率和略高的淨利息支出所抵消，導致每股收益下降了0.02美元。較高的稅率是由於股票選擇權獎勵結算中某些超額稅收優惠不能扣除造成的。

If the tax rate had remained constant, we would have had an additional $0.04 in earnings per share, resulting in 15% earnings per share growth over the prior year quarter. Now let's take a deeper look into the funeral results for the quarter.

如果稅率保持不變，我們的每股盈餘將增加 0.04 美元，比上年同期成長 15%。現在讓我們更深入地了解本季的殯葬業績。

Total comparable funeral revenue declined by almost $2 million or less than 1% compared to the prior year quarter. Comparable core funeral revenue declined by $3 million or just under 1%, primarily due to a 3.5% decrease in core funeral services performed, partially offset by a 3% increase in the core average revenue per service.

與去年同期相比，喪葬服務總收入下降了近 200 萬美元，降幅不到 1%。可比核心殯葬收入下降了 300 萬美元，降幅略低於 1%，主要原因是核心殯葬服務量下降了 3.5%，但核心平均每次服務收入增加了 3%，部分抵消了這一降幅。

The core cremation rate increased modestly by 50 basis points to 57.3%. Non-funeral home revenue increased by $3 million primarily due to a 13.4% increase in the average revenue per service. We expect this impressive growth in the average revenue for service to continue as older pre-need contracts that are maturing out of our backlog have higher cumulative trust earnings. In more recent pre-need contracts written will mature with higher value in the backlog due to our 2024 operational decision to no longer deliver preneed merchandise at the time of sale.

核心火化率小幅上升 50 個基點，達到 57.3%。非殯儀館收入增加了 300 萬美元，主要是由於每次服務的平均收入增加了 13.4%。我們預計，隨著積壓訂單中較早的預購合約到期，累計信託收益增加，服務平均收入的這種令人矚目的成長勢頭將會持續下去。由於我們 2024 年的營運決定不再在銷售時交付預售商品，因此最近簽訂的預售合約將隨著積壓訂單價值的增加而到期。

Non funeral home preneed sales revenue decreased by $4.6 million primarily due to our decision to stop delivering preneed merchandise at the time of sale, as I previously mentioned. This quarterly decline should cease later in 2026 as we anniversary the date of not delivering merchandise prior to need. In the non-funeral home average revenue per service will have a meaningful compounded growth in the coming years. As each year, a higher percentage of contracts with higher value mature out of the backlog.

正如我之前提到的，由於我們決定停止在銷售時交付預售商品，非殯儀館預售銷售收入減少了 460 萬美元。這種季度下滑趨勢應該會在 2026 年稍後停止，屆時我們將迎來不再提前交付商品的周年紀念日。未來幾年，非殯儀服務的平均單次服務收入將出現顯著的複合成長。每年，積壓合約中價值較高的合約到期比例都會越來越高。

The decline in merchandise revenue this quarter was partially offset by higher general agency revenue due to our conversion from selling a trust funded preneed product to an insurance funded preneed product. Core, general agency and other revenue grew by $3 million or 6%, primarily driven by higher pre-need insurance sales production.

本季商品收入的下降被一般代理收入的增加部分抵消，因為我們從銷售信託基金資助的預付產品轉變為銷售保險基金資助的預付產品。核心收入、一般代理收入和其他收入成長了 300 萬美元，增幅達 6%，主要得益於預付保險銷售額的成長。

This positive impact from higher sales production was slightly offset by a modestly lower average general agency rate as we decided to offer a non-insured flex product in several West Coast markets, which generates a lower general agency commission rate in the current period.

銷售提高帶來的正面影響被略微下降的平均總代理費率所抵消，因為我們決定在西海岸的幾個市場提供非保險靈活產品，這導致本期總代理佣金率降低。

Funeral gross profit decreased by $9.5 million while the gross profit percentage declined by 170 basis points to about 18%. This gross profit decrease was attributable to the slight decline in revenues for the quarter, coupled with higher selling costs and a moderate fixed cost increase. Declines in higher margin merchandise revenue were somewhat offset by increases in general latency revenue.

喪葬業務毛利減少了 950 萬美元，毛利率下降了 170 個基點，至約 18%。毛利下降是由於本季收入略有下降，加上銷售成本上升和固定成本適度增加。高利潤商品收入的下降被一般延遲收入的成長部分抵消。

This general agency revenue is substantially offset by a higher portion of our selling costs being recognized currently for GAAP purposes. We continue to manage our fixed costs below inflationary trends to about a 1.4% 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. Preneed funeral sales production increased by $6 million or about 2% over the third quarter of 2024.

由於目前根據公認會計準則確認的銷售成本比例較高，因此該一般代理收入大幅抵銷。我們繼續將固定成本控制在通膨趨勢以下，本季增幅約為 1.4%。我們將繼續專注於發揮我們的規模優勢，無論是在現場營運中透過人員配備指標，還是在我們的管理支援職能方面。2024 年第三季度，預付喪葬服務銷售額增加了 600 萬美元，增幅約 2%。

Core preneed funeral sales production increased by $20 million or 9%, as we have now lapsed the anniversary date of the transition to Global Atlantic, and we experienced growth in both insurance and trust funded sales production.

核心預付喪葬銷售收入增加了 2000 萬美元，增幅達 9%，因為我們已經過了過渡到 Global Atlantic 的周年紀念日，而且我們在保險和信託基金的銷售收入方面都實現了增長。

Non funeral home preneed sales production decreased $14 million or almost 20%, as SCI Direct transitions from the sale of trust to insurance funded pre-need contracts. This transition has required many of our sales counselors in certain states to go through extensive training, obtain insurance licenses, both of which contributes to the temporary reduction in the number of contracts written.

由於 SCI Direct 從出售信託產品過渡到出售保險資助的預售合同，非殯儀館預售銷售額減少了 1400 萬美元，降幅近 20%。這一轉變要求我們某些州的許多銷售顧問接受廣泛的培訓，並獲得保險執照，這兩件事都導致了合約數量的暫時減少。

We expect in early 2026, we will experience year-over-year sales production growth again for SCI Direct as a whole. Now shifting to cemetery. Comparable cemetery revenue increased by $31 million or almost 7%. Higher core revenue was the primary driver complemented by higher other revenue.

我們預計到 2026 年初，SCI Direct 整體銷售額將再次實現年成長。現在轉移到墓地。可比墓地收入增加了 3,100 萬美元，增幅近 7%。核心收入成長是主要驅動因素，其他收入的成長也起到了補充作用。

Our core revenue increase of $27.5 million or 7% over the prior year quarter, was primarily due to a $27 million increase in total recognized pre-needed revenue, Of which $21 million resulted from higher property revenue and $6 million from higher merchandise and services revenue, which includes recognized merchandise and service trust fund income.

我們的核心收入比去年同期增加了 2,750 萬美元，增幅為 7%，這主要是由於已確認的預售收入總額增加了 2,700 萬美元，其中 2,100 萬美元來自更高的物業收入，600 萬美元來自更高的商品和服務收入，其中包括已確認的商品和服務信託基金收入。

Other revenue, primarily internal care fund trust income, increased as well by $3.5 million or 10%. Total recognized preneed revenue benefited from growth in comparable cemetery preneed sales production of $30 million or almost 10%. Large sales grew by an impressive $8 million or 19% over the prior year quarter. Maybe more impressively, core sales accounted for $22 million of the sales production increase as solid velocity growth was complemented by higher sales averages.

其他收入，主要是內部照護基金信託收入，也增加了 350 萬美元，增幅達 10%。已確認的預售收入總額受惠於可比墓地預售銷售額成長 3,000 萬美元，增幅近 10%。大宗銷售額較上年同期成長了驚人的 800 萬美元，增幅達 19%。更令人印象深刻的是，核心銷售額佔銷售額成長的 2,200 萬美元，這得益於穩健的銷售速度成長以及更高的平均銷售額。

Cemetery gross profit in the quarter grew by $18 million and the gross profit percentage increased by 160 basis points, generating an operating margin percentage of 34%, primarily due to the strong growth in cemetery revenues. Now let's shift to a discussion about our outlook for the remainder of 2025. As you saw on our earnings release, we are confirming the midpoint of our normalized earnings per share guidance and narrowing the range to $3.80 to $3.90 for 2025, and we are slightly raising our cash flow outlook due to stronger working capital trends in the business as well as anticipated lower cash taxes.

本季墓地毛利成長了 1,800 萬美元，毛利率提高了 160 個基點，營業利潤率達到 34%，這主要歸功於墓地收入的強勁增長。現在讓我們來討論一下我們對 2025 年剩餘時間的展望。正如您在我們發布的收益報告中所看到的，我們確認了2025年每股收益正常化預期的中點，並將範圍縮小至3.80美元至3.90美元，同時由於業務營運資本趨勢增強以及預期現金稅收減少，我們略微提高了現金流預期。

Therefore, the fourth quarter range would be $1.09 to $1.19 in normalized earnings per share. In the funeral segment, we expect volumes to range in the slightly down 1% range to the slightly up 1% range, bringing the 12 month volume for 2025 and it's slightly below flat.

因此，第四季度調整後每股收益範圍為 1.09 美元至 1.19 美元。在殯葬領域，我們預計銷量將在略微下降 1% 到略微上升 1% 的範圍內波動，使 2025 年的 12 個月銷量略低於持平水平。

This is 200 basis points better than 2024, and we believe now the pull forward effect going forward will be negligible and can begin to see the effects of demographics, our premier locations and outstanding people, and the impact of our tremendous pre-need funeral backlog affect volume growth in the years to come.

這比 2024 年好 200 個基點，我們相信，未來一段時間的提前到期效應將微乎其微，人口結構、我們優越的地理位置和傑出的人才，以及我們巨大的預售喪葬訂單積壓，都將對未來幾年的業務增長產生影響。

We would expect the sales average in the quarter to continue to see solid growth. We expect our core general agency revenues to slightly decline, even though we anticipate pre-need funeral sales production growth as the average commission rate should decline due to certain markets having the ability to sell non-insured flex products this year that carry a lower commission rate.

我們預計本季平均銷售額將持續保持穩健成長。我們預期核心一般代理收入將略有下降，儘管我們預期預付喪葬服務銷售額將會成長，因為由於某些市場今年能夠銷售佣金率較低的非保險彈性產品，平均佣金率應該會下降。

Overall, we expect modest funeral revenue and gross profit growth as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. In the cemetery segment, we would expect to see low to mid-single-digit cemetery preneed sales production growth. But a lower construction revenue recognition rates, as we should have a slightly muted effect on the recognized cemetery revenue growth.

總體而言，我們預計與 2024 年第四季相比，殯葬收入和毛利將出現溫和成長。在墓地領域，我們預期墓地預售銷售額將實現個位數低至中等的成長。但建築收入確認率會降低，因為這會對已確認的墓地收入成長產生輕微影響。

Overall, we expect flat to low single-digit revenue growth, resulting in flat to slightly down gross profits as compared to the fourth-quarter of 2024. Below the line, we expect the impact from our share repurchase program to have a favorable effect on earnings per share as compared to the prior year which will be somewhat negated by a slightly higher tax rate in the fourth-quarter.

總體而言，我們預計營收成長將持平或略低於個位數，導致毛利與 2024 年第四季相比持平或略有下降。在財務方面，我們預期股票回購計畫將對每股盈餘產生有利影響，與前一年相比，但第四季略高的稅率將在一定程度上抵銷這一影響。

We feel very good about our momentum that we will carry into 2026. We expect favorable trends in funeral volume, funeral average, SCI Direct, printing cemetery sales, and lower interest rates, and believe that we can achieve earnings per share growth within our long-term growth framework of 8% to 12%.

我們對目前的好動能充滿信心，相信這股動能將延續到2026年。我們預計殯葬量、殯葬平均價格、SCI Direct、印刷墓地銷售額以及較低的利率都將呈現有利趨勢，並相信我們可以在8%至12%的長期增長框架內實現每股收益增長。

In conclusion, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire SCI team for their daily commitment to our customers, our communities, and to one another. Your skill, dedication, compassion, and attention to detail are the foundation of our success. Thank you all for making a difference every day.

最後，我要感謝 SCI 團隊全體成員每天對我們的客戶、社群以及彼此的付出和奉獻。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石。感謝大家每天都在貢獻。

And with that operator, I will now turn it over to Eric.

接下來，我將把操作交給艾瑞克。

Morning, everyone. Thanks, Tom. Thank you everybody for joining the call today, and as I usually do, I'm going to kick it off the way Tom just ended. So before I start my prepared remarks, I'd like to extend my sincere appreciation to all our dedicated and talented associates. Your commitment, your compassion, enable us to serve client families with care and professionalism.

大家早安。謝謝你，湯姆。感謝大家今天參加電話會議，和往常一樣，我將以湯姆剛才結束的方式開始今天的會議。在開始我的演講之前，我想向我們所有敬業且才華橫溢的同事們表達我誠摯的感謝。你們的奉獻和同情心，使我們能夠以關懷和專業的態度為客戶家庭提供服務。

During some of life's most challenging moments, which ultimately makes a meaningful difference in the communities that we serve. I am truly proud of the work you do every day, and continue to be grateful for your continued dedication to our client families and to the communities that we serve.

在人生一些最具挑戰性的時刻，這最終會對我們服務的社區產生有意義的影響。我為你們每天所做的工作感到無比自豪，並繼續感謝你們對我們的客戶家庭和我們所服務的社區的持續奉獻。

So with that, I'm going to begin today by providing highlights on our cash flow and our capital investments during the quarter, and then I'm going to make a few comments on corporate G&A and then touch on our remaining 2025 cash flow expectations, and then conclude with an update on our overall very positive financial position here at SCI.

那麼，今天我將首先重點介紹我們本季的現金流量和資本投資情況，然後我會對公司一般及行政費用做一些說明，接著談談我們對2025年剩餘現金流的預期，最後總結一下SCI目前非常積極的整體財務狀況。

So we generated adjusting operating cash flow of $268 million in the quarter, neutralizing for an expected $11 million of higher cash taxes, adjusted operating cash flow increased $10 million from the prior year. So let's break that down a little bit more. Our underlying business supported adjusted operating cash flow by generating higher operating income of about $14 million during the quarter that Tom just walked you through in his comments.

因此，本季我們產生了 2.68 億美元的調整後經營現金流，扣除預計增加的 1,100 萬美元現金稅款後，調整後的營運現金流比去年增加了 1,000 萬美元。那麼，讓我們更詳細地分析一下。正如湯姆剛才在評論中向大家介紹的那樣，我們的基礎業務在本季度產生了約 1400 萬美元的更高營業收入，從而支撐了調整後的經營現金流。

Cash interest was also lower by about $13 million but that was due largely to cash interest payment timing associated with the note refinancing that we completed in September of 2024 and coincide in reduction of our drawn bank credit facility. Additionally, lower rates on our floating rate debt were offset by higher floating rate balances.

現金利息也減少了約 1300 萬美元，但這主要是由於我們在 2024 年 9 月完成的票據再融資相關的現金利息支付時間，並且與我們提取的銀行信貸額度的減少同時發生。此外，浮動利率債務利率的降低被浮動利率餘額的增加所抵銷。

So setting these favorable impacts were working capital uses of about $17 million, which really related to just normal timing of payables and receivables during the three month period. So let's move on to capital investment.

因此，這些有利影響體現在約 1700 萬美元的營運資金使用上，這實際上只是與三個月期間應付帳款和應收帳款的正常時間有關。接下來我們來談談資本投資。

We invested $140 million in the quarter into our existing locations, new builds, funeral home, and cemetery acquisitions, and real estate purchases. So let's break that down a little bit. We invested $86 million of maintenance capital primarily into our current funeral homes and cemeteries in the quarter, which was in line with our internal expectations.

本季度，我們投資了 1.4 億美元用於現有場所、新建項目、殯儀館和墓地收購以及房地產購買。那麼，讓我們來詳細分析一下。本季度，我們投入了 8,600 萬美元的維護資金，主要用於我們現有的殯儀館和墓地，這符合我們的內部預期。

$45 million of this was allocated to highly profitable cemetery development projects. $35 million into our current funeral, and cemetery locations, and then $6 million into digital investments and some corporate spend as well. We also invested $17 million of growth capital in the quarter, primarily for the construction of new funeral homes and crematories.

其中4500萬美元被分配給了利潤豐厚的墓地開發項目，3500萬美元用於我們現有的殯葬和墓地設施，另外600萬美元則用於數位化投資和部分企業支出。本季我們也投入了 1700 萬美元的成長資本，主要用於建造新的殯儀館和火葬場。

Finally, we invested $37 million into business acquisitions during the quarter, bringing our full year business acquisition investment to $65 million. Also, subsequent to quarter end, we invested an additional $3 million for a few locations in Canada, bringing us currently just shy of the low end of our full year acquisition target range.

最後，我們在本季投資了 3,700 萬美元用於業務收購，使我們全年的業務收購投資達到 6,500 萬美元。此外，季度末之後，我們又投資了 300 萬美元用於在加拿大收購幾處房產，使我們目前的收購額略低於全年收購目標範圍的下限。

The pipeline of acquisition opportunities today as we speak, continues to be robust, and we fully expect to achieve our $75 million to $125 million acquisition investment range target for 2025. So moving on to capital distributions. We returned $123 million of capital to shareholders in the quarter through $45 million of dividends and [$78 million] of share repurchases.

目前，收購機會儲備依然充足，我們完全有信心實現 2025 年 7,500 萬美元至 1.25 億美元的收購投資目標。接下來是資本分配部分。本季度，我們透過 4,500 萬美元的股利和 7,800 萬美元的股票回購，向股東返還了 1.23 億美元的資本。

We repurchased just under 1 million shares at an average price of about $79 during the quarter. This brings the number of shares outstanding to just over 140 million shares at the end of the quarter. Year-to-date though, we've returned $538 million in capital to shareholders, repurchasing 5.1 million shares at an average price of $78 which totals right around $400 million and an additional $135 million of dividends.

本季我們以平均每股約 79 美元的價格回購了近 100 萬股股票。截至本季末，流通股數略高於 1.4 億股。不過，今年迄今為止，我們已向股東返還了 5.38 億美元的資本，以平均每股 78 美元的價格回購了 510 萬股股票，總計約 4 億美元，此外還派發了 1.35 億美元的股息。

And by the way, we currently still have about 410 million of remaining share repurchased authorization as we speak today. So shifting gears now for the quarter, I'm going to now make some comments about our corporate G&A expense, which decreased $5.4 million quarter-to-quarter, which was primarily due to timing of incentive compensation accruals versus the prior year quarter.

順便一提，截至目前，我們仍有約 4.1 億股剩餘的股票回購授權額度。現在讓我們轉換一下話題，談談本季的公司一般及行政費用。該費用環比減少了 540 萬美元，這主要是由於激勵性薪酬提列的時間與去年同期相比有所變化。

We remained very comfortable with our fourth quarter 2025 range of $39 million to $41 million for corporate G&A expense. Although, as you've seen in the past, We fully expect some variability in this due to our long-term incentive compensation plans that could push us above or below this range slightly during any particular quarter.

我們對 2025 年第四季企業一般及行政費用的預期範圍（3,900 萬美元至 4,100 萬美元）仍然非常滿意。不過，正如您過去所看到的，我們完全預料到這種情況會有一些波動，因為我們的長期激勵薪酬計劃可能會在任何特定季度使我們略微超出或低於這個範圍。

So shifting now to the rest of 2025 and as you saw on the release, we updated our 2025 adjusted operating cash flow guidance range to $910 million to $950 million with a midpoint of $930 million. That is a $20 million increase over our midpoint of $910 million which we talked about last quarter. $10 million of this increase is related to lower cash taxes, and $10 million is related to better working capital expectations.

現在讓我們展望 2025 年剩餘時間，正如您在新聞稿中看到的那樣，我們將 2025 年調整後的經營現金流預期範圍更新為 9.1 億美元至 9.5 億美元，中位數為 9.3 億美元。這比我們上季討論的9.1億美元的中位數增加了2000萬美元。其中1000萬美元與現金稅收減少有關，另外1000萬美元與營運資金預期改善有關。

So after deducting $315 million of expected maintenance capital at the midpoint of our ranges, we expect to achieve very impressive adjusted free cash flow of $615 million which by the way, approximates about $4.40 of free cash flow per share. And as I've discussed in prior quarters, cash taxes have continued to return to more normal levels in 2025 after the tax accounting method change that benefited cash flow since the third quarter of '23.

因此，在扣除我們預期區間中點的 3.15 億美元維護資本後，我們預計將實現非常可觀的調整後自由現金流 6.15 億美元，順便說一句，這相當於每股約 4.40 美元的自由現金流。正如我在前幾個季度討論的那樣，自 2023 年第三季度以來，由於稅收會計方法的改變有利於現金流，現金稅收在 2025 年繼續恢復到更正常的水平。

Well, this normalization created an expected headwind, the impact of this is now partially offset by the newly enacted federal tax legislation during this year. We now expect a full year amount of cash taxes to be approximately $135 million, which compares to the $145 million that I anticipated last quarter. And again, this is $115 million greater than the $20 million of cash taxes paid in 2024.

嗯，這種正常化帶來了預期的阻力，但其影響現在已被今年新頒布的聯邦稅收立法部分抵消。我們現在預計全年現金稅收約為 1.35 億美元，而我上個季度的預期為 1.45 億美元。而且，這比 2024 年繳納的 2,000 萬美元現金稅多了 1.15 億美元。

Lastly, as we've addressed in prior quarters, we expect our effective tax rate to be 25% to 26%, [excess] tax benefits are no longer recognized on the settlement of certain executive share-based compensation awards. So I'm now going to conclude my comments with an update on our financial position.

最後，正如我們在前幾個季度中提到的，我們預計實際稅率為 25% 至 26%，[超額]稅收優惠不再在結算某些高階主管股份支付獎勵時予以確認。現在，我將以關於我們財務狀況的最新情況來結束我的演講。

We continue to have a favorable and manageable debt maturity profile with ample liquidity. We entered the quarter with liquidity of just under $1.5 billion consisting of about $240 million of cash on hand and approximately $1.2 billion available on our long-term bank credit facility. Additionally, leverage at the end of the third quarter was 3.6 times net-debt-to EBITDA, which is down from almost 3.8 times at the end of the third quarter of 2024 and remains toward the lower end of our long-term leverage target range of 3.5 times to 4 times.

我們繼續保持良好且可控的債務到期結構，並擁有充足的流動性。本季初，我們的流動資金略低於 15 億美元，其中包括約 2.4 億美元的現金和約 12 億美元的長期銀行信貸額度。此外，第三季末的槓桿率為淨負債與 EBITDA 的 3.6 倍，低於 2024 年第三季末的近 3.8 倍，並且仍處於我們 3.5 倍至 4 倍的長期槓桿率目標範圍的下限附近。

So our strong balance sheet position and this liquidity combined with the robust cash flows continue to support our ongoing capital investment program, which provides us tremendous flexibility to invest opportunistically for the long-term benefit of SCI's customers, our associates, and our shareholders.

因此，我們強勁的資產負債表狀況和流動性，加上穩健的現金流，繼續支持我們正在進行的資本投資計劃，這為我們提供了極大的靈活性，可以抓住機會進行投資，從而為 SCI 的客戶、我們的員工和我們的股東帶來長期利益。

So in closing, I want to again emphasize how proud we are of our entire SCI team. Your unwavering commitment to supporting our customers as they plan, and as they manage through their most difficult times is truly inspiring. Thank you again for all that you do.

最後，我想再次強調我們為整個 SCI 團隊感到多麼自豪。您在客戶制定計劃和幫助他們度過最艱難時期時所展現出的堅定不移的支持，真的令人敬佩。再次感謝您所做的一切。

So with that operator, this concludes Tom's and I's prepared remarks, and we'd like to go ahead and open the call up now to questions.

至此，我和湯姆的演講就結束了，接下來我們將開始接受提問。

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

謝謝。現在開始問答環節。（操作說明）

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

Hey, good morning. It's, Daniel Hultberg for Scott. Thank you for taking our questions. I'd like to start with the cemetery premium sales production. I mean, velocity was clearly good in the quarter. Could you discuss how velocity trended in this quarter on a year-on-year basis versus last quarter? It sounds like it's accelerating. So some perspective on that, please. And what do you think that means for the consumer and as we look into next year, your comfort level with this trend to be sustained. Thank you.

嘿，早安。是斯科特的丹尼爾·霍特伯格。感謝您回答我們的問題。我想先從墓地高級銷售業績說起。我的意思是，這一節的球速顯然很好。能否談談本季與上季相比，銷售速度的年比變化趨勢？聽起來像是在加速。請您就此提供一些看法。那麼，您認為這對消費者意味著什麼？展望明年，您對此趨勢能否持續感到放心？謝謝。

Yeah, I think if you look at our results and then some of the other retailers that are out there, it doesn't, jive very well because we really saw across the board a lot of great velocity in the quarter and again, a quarter is a quarter, it's not a year, but I think one having the flexible financing plans for our consumers to the extent we can has made a big difference.

是的，我認為如果你看看我們的業績，再看看其他一些零售商的業績，你會發現兩者並不完全吻合，因為我們確實看到本季整體銷售速度非常快。當然，一個季度只是一個季度，它不是一年，但我認為，我們盡可能為消費者提供靈活的融資計劃，這產生了很大的影響。

I think just focusing on the basic metrics, that we utilize in order to generate leads, good leads, and bring them to close. So a lot of us just good fundamental, sales management, and sales techniques that are bringing in more customers and accommodating them with financing terms that work.

我認為應該專注於基本指標，利用這些指標來產生潛在客戶、優質潛在客戶，並最終促成交易。所以我們很多人都有良好的基本銷售管理和銷售技巧，能夠吸引更多客戶，並提供他們合適的融資條款。

But I think you're right. I mean, what's really great about this quarter is we saw great growth on the high end with large sales, up almost 18% and then within the core itself was the primary growth and we saw more of an effect from velocity than from sales average, which is very inspiring when you think about that component of what we do.

但我認為你是對的。我的意思是，本季最棒的地方在於，我們看到高端市場實現了強勁增長，銷售額增長了近 18%，而核心業務本身才是主要的增長點，我們看到銷售速度的影響比平均銷售額的影響更大，考慮到我們業務的這一組成部分，這非常令人鼓舞。

So right now based on what we see we see continued, ability to focus on, growing velocity, getting these inflationary cost increases, and we're still seeing a lot of activity at the large sales level. So we feel good about those trends going into the fourth quarter and in about as we head into 2026.

所以，就目前我們所看到的，我們看到的是持續的專注能力、不斷增長的速度、應對這些通貨膨脹成本的成長，而且我們仍然看到大宗銷售層面有很多活動。因此，我們對這些趨勢在第四季以及2026年左右的發展前景感到樂觀。

Got it, thank you. Following up on that, I mean, it sounds like you're targeting your typical 8% to 12% EPS growth range for next year. Could you please, discuss your confidence level in achieving that? And is there anything on the cash flow side that's unique or different, for next year that we should be thinking about?

明白了，謝謝。接著剛才的話題，我的意思是，聽起來你們明年的目標是實現典型的 8% 到 12% 的每股盈餘成長。請問您能否談談您對實現這目標的信心程度？那麼，明年現金流方面是否有任何獨特或不同的情況是我們應該考慮的呢？

Yes, so I'll speak to the 8% to 12% and I'll let Eric speak to the cash flow. On the 8% to 12%, like we've always said, our degree of assurance in a typical year is probably 85% to 90%. I mean, we have achieved that level or greater for the most part in those types of situations. I don't know what 2026 holds, so there's no guarantee.

是的，我會談談那 8% 到 12% 的部分，至於現金流方面，就讓 Eric 來談談吧。對於 8% 到 12% 的情況，正如我們一直所說，我們在典型年份的保證程度可能在 85% 到 90% 之間。我的意思是，在大多數情況下，我們已經達到了那個水平，甚至更高。我不知道2026年會發生什麼，所以我無法保證。

But if you look historically over almost any period of time, if you want to take 20 years, 10 years, 6 years, I use 6 because COVID is 5 and that's unusual. But if you look at these, we've generally grown at about 14% compounded. And so we do have a tendency to be able to achieve above the target. We never know when that's going to happen because it takes a little bit of things falling into place for that to occur.

但如果你從歷史角度來看幾乎任何一段時間，例如 20 年、10 年、6 年，我用 6 年，因為 COVID 是 5 年，這很不尋常。但如果你看一下這些數據，我們總體上實現了約 14% 的複合成長率。因此，我們往往能夠取得超出預期目標的成績。我們永遠無法預知這種情況何時會發生，因為這需要一些條件恰好具備才能實現。

But again, I think it's really, for the most part it's about revenue growth. And if we get volume, if we get average in the same time, you're going to see margins pop on the funeral side. Cemetery is going to be predominantly driven by preneed cemetery sales, particularly preneed property sales.

但我認為，歸根究底，這主要還是關乎營收成長。如果我們能提高銷量，如果我們能在相同時間內達到平均水平，你會看到殯葬業的利潤率大幅提升。墓地市場將主要由預售墓地，特別是預售房產的銷售所驅動。

More and more of it is the merchandise and services that are rolling out of the backlog that's become a nice growth driver complimenting. But at the end of the day to really drive cemetery margins, you got to have those sales. So I'd tell you, we still believe 85% to 90%. I don't know what '26 holds and I'll turn the cash flow question over there.

越來越多的積壓商品和服務開始推出，這已成為一個不錯的成長驅動力。但歸根究底，要真正提高墓地利潤，就必須實現銷售。所以我想說，我們仍然相信 85% 到 90% 的人。我不知道 2026 年會發生什麼，現金流問題就交給他們來處理吧。

Hi, Daniel. Yeah, I mean, I think the part that you need to understand and really model as it relates to cash flows is related to cash taxes. Before I get in there, absent cash taxes, I don't know of anything unusual in terms of working capital or whatever, but as the EBITDA grows, as the company grows, which Tom just says we expect, you'll see cash flow from operations grow.

你好，丹尼爾。是的，我的意思是，我認為你需要理解並真正建模的與現金流量相關的部分是現金稅。在我深入探討之前，撇開現金稅不談，我不知道在營運資金或其他方面有什麼不尋常之處，但隨著 EBITDA 的增長，隨著公司的增長（正如 Tom 所說，我們預計會如此），你會看到經營活動產生的現金流增長。

Which is, depending on the year, been growing over a long period of time in the kind of 4% to 6% type CAGR for cash flow from operations and that should generally continue as we move forward independent of cash taxes. So we started the year, as we all know, with about $150 million tail -- excuse me, headwind, as it relates to cash taxes, we paid [$25] last year. We expected originally to pay [$175]. That has come down by about $40 million.

根據年份不同，經營活動現金流長期以來一直保持著 4% 至 6% 的複合年增長率，而且隨著我們不斷向前發展，這種增長勢頭應該會繼續下去，而與現金稅收無關。正如我們所知，年初時我們面臨著大約 1.5 億美元的尾款——抱歉，是逆風，就現金稅而言，我們去年支付了 [25] 美元。我們原本預計支付[175 美元]這個數字已經下降了約4000萬美元。

A lot of that has to do with the federal tax legislation that was new this year. Some of it would be a little bit more recurring, which is more of the accelerated depreciation depending on the assets we put into play and invest in, but some of it, such as some of the internal use of software and some of those things may be more like one time. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I think we'll give some of that $40 million back.

這很大程度上與今年新出台的聯邦稅收立法有關。其中一些會更頻繁一些，例如根據我們投入使用和投資的資產而產生的加速折舊，但有些，例如一些內部軟體使用等，可能更像是一次性的。所以我想說的是，我認為我們會把那4000萬美元中的一部分退還出去。

I don't know how much now. Maybe it'll be more like $20 million to $30 million of that $40 million we'll get back, but that is something we'll talk in more detail in February when we give you more specific guidance. But that's the one place that I think you got to think of in terms of the cash flow. Still with all that being said, we don't see huge amounts of changes and investment.

我現在還不知道具體是多少。或許我們能收回的4000萬美元中，只有2000萬到3000萬美元，但這是我們將在2月詳細討論的問題，屆時我們會給出更具體的指導。但就現金流而言，我認為這是你需要考慮的一個面向。儘管如此，我們並沒有看到大量的變革和投資。

In our maintenance capital expenditures, which is about $315 million this year. So when you think of the free cash flow being well over, it's almost into the mid-4s, it still should be over $4 a share, $4.25 a share, which is really significant for a company that we're very proud of.

今年我們的維護性資本支出約為 3.15 億美元。所以，考慮到自由現金流已經遠遠超過，幾乎達到了 45% 左右，每股收益仍然應該超過 4 美元，4.25 美元，這對於一家我們引以為豪的公司來說意義重大。

Got it. I appreciate all the call guys. Thanks so much, and congrats on the quarter. Thank you.

知道了。感謝各位來電。非常感謝，也恭喜你本季業績優異。謝謝。

Joanna Gajuk, Bank of America.

Joanna Gajuk，美國銀行。

Hi, good morning. Thanks so much for taking the questions. So I guess, maybe just to follow-up on the, seminary pre sales production sounds like. Very robust number and I guess you gave us some details on there, so thanks for that. And how should you think about next year? I mean, sounds like you, believe you're on track for the 8% to 12% EPS growth. So should we assume that single-digits growth, next year for the presales direction doesn't make sense. There's any reason to think about, a different number.

您好，早安。非常感謝您回答這些問題。所以我想，也許只是為了跟進一下，神學院的預售產品聽起來像是。這個數字非常可靠，我想您也提供了一些細節，非常感謝。那麼，你該如何看待明年呢？我的意思是，聽起來你相信你正朝著每股收益成長 8% 到 12% 的目標穩步前進。所以，我們是否應該假設明年預售方向的成長率為個位數，這是不合理的？任何理由都值得考慮，換個數字吧。

Yeah, I think Joanna, thanks for the question. Overall, we do expect cemetery sales will trend like they kind of have historically. We feel very good about low-to-mid single-digit growth. A component of that is large sales, and that's the one that tends to have a little more volatility to it, quarter-to-quarter, but overall, we would expect to be able to grow that again in the kind of low-to-mid single-digits with each of these categories.

是的，我想是喬安娜，謝謝你的提問。整體而言，我們預期墓地銷售趨勢將與以往大致相同。我們對個位數低至中等的成長速度感到非常滿意。其中一個組成部分是大額銷售額，而這部分銷售額的季度波動性往往較大，但總體而言，我們預計每個類別都能再次實現個位數低到中等的成長。

We just feel very good. I think the inventory is out there. The sales force is doing a tremendous job of, taking people through there and educating them. The one component we talked a little bit about this, is the cremation consumer continues to be a high growth opportunity in our cemeteries. We're seeing more cremation consumers pick, either cremation gardens, cremation niches, we have a lot of products.

我們感覺非常好。我認為庫存應該還在。銷售團隊做得非常出色，他們帶領客戶參觀並進行產品解說。我們剛才稍微談到的一個面向是，火葬消費者仍然是我們墓園的一個高成長機會。我們看到越來越多的火葬消費者選擇火葬花園、火葬龕位，我們有許多產品可供選擇。

I tell you, consumers really don't have familiarity with. I think a lot of cremation consumers come in and don't really understand what we have available. So we're really focused this year with some consumer research that we've done about trying to tie that consumer in a better way to educate them about what we have because we found in the focus groups that almost 0 out of 10 knew what we had, and about 8 out of 10 once they saw it said I'm interested in looking, doesn't mean they're going to buy.

我告訴你，消費者對這方面真的不太了解。我認為很多選擇火葬的客戶來到這裡，並不真正了解我們提供的服務。所以今年我們非常注重一些消費者研究，我們試圖以更好的方式與消費者建立聯繫，讓他們了解我們擁有什麼，因為我們在焦點小組中發現，幾乎 0/10 的人知道我們擁有什麼，而大約 8/10 的人在看到後表示“我有興趣看看”，但這並不意味著他們會購買。

But I think there's a consumer there that we probably have not done as good a job with as we've done with the barrel consumer so. Tie that into cemetery over the next couple of years, I think it's a real growth opportunity, albeit not a huge one, but one that has an ability to grow at a higher growth rate.

但我認為，對於這部分消費者，我們可能做得不如對待桶裝酒消費者那麼好。未來幾年，將墓地產業與墓地發展聯繫起來，我認為這是一個真正的成長機會，雖然不是巨大的成長機會，但具有更高的成長速度。

So on the last, comment on the cremation customer, buying into the cemeteries, way to say it sounds like it's a huge one, but I guess with that, could this add a point of growth or so per year?

最後，關於火葬客戶購買墓地，這聽起來像是一個很大的市場，但我想，這樣一來，每年能增加多少成長率？

Yeah, I think the other parts are going to grow in traditional ways, I think we feel very good. We've really focused on the types of leads and our ability to close the leads and this kind of gets back to sales productivity and sales growth, but our salesforce has done a I think a tremendous job. Our revenue team has helped construct some really nice inventory across our cemeteries, we spend about $160 million a year.

是的，我認為其他部分也會以傳統的方式發展，我們感覺很好。我們一直非常關注銷售線索的類型以及我們促成交易的能力，這最終會回到銷售效率和銷售成長上來，但我認為我們的銷售團隊做得非常出色。我們的收入團隊幫助我們在各個墓園建造了一些非常優質的墓地，我們每年花費約 1.6 億美元。

Injecting new inventory into the system and we do a real good job of converting that pretty quickly into sales. So we feel very good about next year right now based on everything we know at the high end at the core level and like I said, I just want to identify if some of these productivity gains or velocity gains if we can get more cremation consumers in there, it's going to drive more sales, not as high an average obviously.

我們將新庫存注入系統，並且能夠非常迅速地將其轉化為銷售。所以，根據我們目前對高端核心業務的了解，我們對明年充滿信心。就像我說的，我只是想確定，如果我們能吸引更多火葬消費者，提高生產力或速度，是否能推動更多銷售，當然，平均銷售額不會那麼高。

But, drive more velocity, more familiarity. And the nice thing about cemeteries is it's really a family tree component to this, right? Because people are going to visit the cemeteries, people are going to want to buy adjacent properties for the family. So this is really good in educating and providing future leads and opportunities to our sales force.

但是，要提高駕駛速度，更熟悉路況。而墓地的好處在於，它實際上是家譜的一部分，對吧？因為人們會去祭掃墓地，所以人們會想為家人購買附近的房產。所以這對於教育我們的銷售團隊，並為我們提供未來的銷售線索和機會來說，是非常有益的。

Okay, great. Thank you. And if I may ask, can you talk about the sales trends I guess at your largest location, the Rose Hills, stuff like that's really, having a lot of what's happening with the company. So can you flash out, how the quota's been going and anything to flag there. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。請問您能否談談貴公司最大的門市－羅斯希爾門市的銷售趨勢？我想，這類情況很大程度反映了公司的發展狀況。所以你能簡單說明一下配額完成情況如何，以及有什麼需要注意的地方嗎？謝謝。

Yeah, I would say Rose Hills is doing very well. Really congrats to Rachel and her sales team. They've done a tremendous job of setting the inventory up, bringing in the consumer, driving the leads, and so they had a very successful quarter, well into the double-digit growth, and we expect great things to come, because again, there's great inventory, there's great people, a great team, and so we expect Rose Hills to be a big part of our growth story in 2026 and beyond.

是的，我覺得羅斯希爾斯發展得非常好。真心祝賀瑞秋和她的銷售團隊。他們在庫存管理、吸引消費者、拓展銷售線索方面做得非常出色，因此他們取得了非常成功的季度業績，實現了兩位數的成長。我們期待未來會有更好的發展，因為他們擁有充足的庫存、優秀的人才和出色的團隊，所以我們預計 Rose Hills 將在 2026 年及以後成為我們成長故事的重要組成部分。

Great, thank you. I'll go back to the queue.

太好了，謝謝。我回去排隊。

Tobey Sommer, Truist.

Tobey Sommer，Truist。

Thanks. Good job on an expense control in the quarter. Do you have pretty good confidence in being able to extend the trend and low expense growth into 2026, and are there any areas where you are seeing pressure?

謝謝。本季費用控製做得很好。您對能否將這種趨勢和低成本成長延續到 2026 年有相當大的信心嗎？您認為有哪些領域有壓力？

Well, I think historically, Tobey, we've seen a little pressure on the cemetery maintenance front as you look over the last few years. And again, that's kind of easy to understand as you think about cost of water, cost of labor, those types of trends we definitely have been instituting some new strategies that we believe can continue to kind of manage those costs down.

嗯，托比，我認為從歷史角度來看，回顧過去幾年，我們在墓地維護方面確實看到了一些壓力。再說一遍，這很容易理解，想想水費、勞動成本之類的趨勢，我們肯定已經實施了一些新的策略，我們相信這些策略可以繼續降低這些成本。

But probably the biggest lever we have in the margins is our staffing metrics and so our operating teams do a tremendous job and it's really, being able to flex when you have volume or you don't have volume. So the way I look at it is this, I would expect that if we were to get more volume in 2026, well, it's going to be hard to hold 1% to 2% cost growth, but that's okay because it's supported by the revenues.

但可能我們在利潤方面最大的槓桿是我們的人員配置指標，因此我們的營運團隊做得非常出色，關鍵在於能夠在業務量大或業務量小的時候靈活調整。所以我的看法是這樣的，我預計如果我們在 2026 年獲得更大的銷量，那麼將成本增長控制在 1% 到 2% 將會很困難，但這沒關係，因為它有收入支撐。

So utilizing those staff metrics and that's both using part time people, it's about, how we're managing the staff themselves, about trying to leverage technology to take some of the burdens off our caregivers and funeral directors.

因此，利用這些員工指標（包括兼職人員），關鍵在於我們如何管理員工本身，以及如何利用科技來減輕護理人員和殯儀館工作人員的一些負擔。

So that's really how we're managing today. We're, it's a more challenging volume environment and we're able to kind of flex and manage those costs. So that's, I think that's the way I would think about the field and then obviously at the home office level, we're always trying to look for ways, particularly today with AI and technology, can we begin to think about how we do our jobs differently, and begin to leverage those tools to where maybe we don't have to hire an extra person or two persons. So I think that's the way by department, we're trying to manage the costs going forward.

這就是我們目前實際的應對方式。我們現在面臨的是更具挑戰性的銷售環境，但我們能夠靈活應對並控制這些成本。所以，我認為這就是我對這個領域的思考方式。顯然，在總部層面，我們一直在尋找方法，尤其是在今天人工智慧和技術的幫助下，我們能否開始思考如何以不同的方式完成工作，並開始利用這些工具，這樣我們或許就不必再僱用一兩個人了。所以我認為這就是我們各部門未來控製成本的方法。

Thanks. And I wanted to maybe ask a follow-up on the cemetery, excuse me, the cremation comment that you made in response to a prior question. With respect to the company's, journey and educating prospective customers about the options. How would you compare and contrast, the various, cemetery options in customer awareness versus cremation and how quickly can you affect change there, do you think?

謝謝。我想就您之前回答問題時提到的墓地，抱歉，是火葬的評論，再問一個後續問題。關於公司的發展歷程以及向潛在客戶介紹各種選擇。您認為在顧客認知度方面，各種墓園選擇與火葬有何異同？您認為您能多快在這方面產生影響？

Well, I hope very quickly, but as usual, I think on the cemetery side, I think about a burial customer, they're thinking about that cemetery option, if they haven't already arranged it. By the way, most of them, 80% of our customers come in with a burial place already. So that's, I think we're pretty good at that because we've got a customer that expected a customer that wants to go to the cemetery.

我希望很快就能實現，但像往常一樣，我認為在墓地方面，我想到的是墓地客戶，他們正在考慮墓地這個選項，如果他們還沒有安排好的話。順便說一句，我們80%的客戶來之前就已經選好了墓園。所以，我認為我們在這方面做得相當不錯，因為我們有一位客戶期望一位想要去墓地的客戶。

What's unusual about the cremation opportunity in our combo facilities, it's pretty easier, right? Because now you've got it, there's a cemetery behind there, you might ask the question, but one of the things we're trying to do is just create visibility both on the web as people are searching out there, putting it on our websites a little more prominently.

我們綜合設施提供的火葬服務有何特別之處？它相當便捷，對吧？因為現在你知道了，後面有個墓地，你可能會問，但我們正在努力做的事情之一就是提高它在網路上的可見度，讓人們在搜尋時能夠更清楚地看到它，並在我們的網站上更突出地展示它。

We're going to have things in our lobby as people are waiting to meet with somebody that's going to flash across the screen that's going to tell you. You're going to see aerial views of some of these beautiful crematory gardens and niches, and so again kind of soliciting a little bit of education there for our consumer and then also just training even our standalone funeral homes to realize, we've got that offering and be able to talk about it and be able to, again set up appointments to go out and see so we've got a variety of tools to create more awareness, more discussion around it, and it's happened naturally by the way, and again we have great people, and so there's locations today to do a great job of that, and there's some that don't and so it's really about standardizing that educational process across the network.

我們將在大廳裡設置一些設施，當人們等待與某人會面時，螢幕上會快速閃現一些訊息，告訴你一些事情。您將看到一些美麗的火葬場花園和龕位的空拍照片，因此，我們希望藉此機會對我們的消費者進行一些教育，並培訓我們獨立的殯儀館，讓他們意識到我們提供這項服務，能夠談論這項服務，並能夠安排預約參觀。我們擁有各種工具來提高人們的意識，促進更多相關的討論。順便說一句，這一切都是自然而然發生的，而且我們擁有優秀的人才。目前，有些地方在這方面做得很好，而有些地方則不然。因此，關鍵在於在整個網路中標準化此教育流程。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Parker Snure, Raymond James.

Parker Snure，Raymond James。

Hey, good morning. You guys mentioned the non-insured Flex product out on the West Coast. Maybe just dive deeper there, explain the rationale of why you think that product was appropriate for that market?

嘿，早安。你們提到了西海岸的無保險 Flex 產品。或許可以更深入探討一下，解釋一下你認為該產品適合該市場的理由？

Yeah, so think of the non-insured flexes a product that's more similar to trust. If you remember, so an insured product gives a consumer protection. So if you were to enter into let's say a three year as an example, so you're paying over 36 months. If I die in month eight, my family's covered. They're protected by that insurance product.

是的，所以可以把沒有保險的人看成是一種類似信任的產品。如果你還記得的話，投保產品可以提供消費者保障。例如，如果您選擇三年期貸款，那麼您將在 36 個月內付款。如果我在第八個月去世，我的家人就有了保障。他們受到該保險產品的保障。

Well, it's a little more expensive than a trust product because the trust product doesn't have that protection. So Tom dies in month eight, they're going to go to my family and say I need to collect the balance in order to vary so a lot of this is about providing a product that you know is suitable for the consumer from an affordability perspective, and so we have that product called trust in most markets.

嗯，它比信託產品貴一些，因為信託產品沒有這種保障。所以，如果湯姆在第八個月過世，他們會去找我的家人，說我需要拿回剩餘款項才能進行調整。所以，很多時候，這都是為了提供一種從價格角度來看適合消費者的產品，因此，我們在大多數市場上都有一種叫做「信任」的產品。

Some of these markets, particularly in California is where this occurs, where we've offered a Flex product which acts a little more like trust. And it doesn't generate as much of a commission for us, but it also doesn't provide the protection for that consumer.

在某些市場，尤其是在加州，這種情況尤其突出，我們在那裡推出了 Flex 產品，該產品的作用更像是一種信任。而且，這種方式雖然無法為我們帶來那麼多佣金，但也無法為消費者提供保護。

So as we switched over to Global Atlantic, we didn't offer the Flex product in certain markets and we saw that consumers needs weren't getting met. So this was an attempt to say we have a consumer that needs this product. Let's utilize it because it's becoming an issue that is keeping them from being able to go under contract.

因此，當我們改用 Global Atlantic 時，我們在某些​​市場沒有提供 Flex 產品，我們發現消費者的需求尚未被滿足。所以，這其實是在試圖表明我們有消費者需要這款產品。我們應該利用這一點，因為這正在成為一個阻礙他們簽訂合約的問題。

So that's all it is. I don't think we expect it to expand much more than the markets we're in because we have trust products as an alternative in other markets. So I think we're the changes in and you'll see a little bit of a comparison as you go into early '26 when you think about the general agency rates going forward.

事情就是這樣。我認為我們預計它不會在我們現有市場之外擴張太多，因為我們在其他市場有信託產品作為替代方案。所以我認為我們已經做出了一些改變，當你展望 2026 年初，考慮未來的一般代理費率時，你會看到一些比較。

Okay. And then you mentioned that the funeral volume pull forward, do you think it's going to be more negligible going forward? So should we read that through that funeral volumes, kind of trend slightly up next year, kind of more back to a more normal cadence and then maybe just talk about the knock-on effect that that provides to the preneed cemetery business as that acts as a lead source for that business.

好的。然後您提到葬禮數量會提前，您認為未來葬禮數量會減少到幾乎可以忽略的程度嗎？所以我們應該從葬禮數量來看，明年可能會略有上升，節奏會更加正常，然後討論一下這對預售墓地業務的連鎖反應，因為這是該業務的潛在客戶來源。

Yeah, so if you think about it, we do some ratios that kind of says around 55% I think is the percentage of our ability to sell preneed off of the funeral volume that walks in. So as we get a little bit more, the incremental symmetry piece should be about 55 basis points of that growth as you think about it now there are things we can do to tune that up and we hope we can go higher.

是的，所以如果你仔細想想，我們計算出的一些比例表明，大約 55% 是我們能夠從前來辦理喪葬業務的喪葬服務銷售中占到總業務量的百分比。所以隨著我們獲得更多，增量對稱部分應該大約是成長的 55 個基點。現在想想，我們可以做一些事情來調整它，我們希望能夠做得更好。

But to your point it should be positive for symmetry sales leads as well and I think the way we're thinking about it is this, and we modeled it a long time ago and nothing's perfect, but it's been pretty well done in the sense of the diminishing effect of the pull forward is real, and we've seen it year to year to year. It's still there. I don't want you to say there's none. But we just don't expect it now to be a material factor going forward.

但正如你所說，這對對稱銷售線索來說也應該是積極的，我認為我們是這樣考慮的，我們很久以前就建立了模型，沒有什麼是完美的，但它做得相當不錯，因為提前購買的遞減效應是真實存在的，而且我們年復一年地看到了這一點。它還在那裡。我不想聽到你說沒有。但我們預計它目前不會成為未來發展的重要因素。

So now you think about the things that are positive. We've got the best locations, the best people, we've got demographics beginning to work for us. We've got this massive backlog that nobody else in our competitors really has, and so I think we've captured some share and some high value share, because remember the contracts coming out of the backlog are bigger than the ones that are walking in the door.

所以現在你要想想正面的事情。我們擁有最佳的地理位置、最優秀的人才，人口結構也開始對我們有利。我們擁有大量積壓訂單，這是我們的競爭對手所沒有的，所以我認為我們已經獲得了一些市場份額，而且是一些高價值的市場份額，因為記住，從積壓訂單中產生的合約比新來的合約要大。

So all those things point towards, and again, I don't know for sure when it hits, but when it does, it's very incremental. We know when you get a little bit of revenue growth, you can pop the margins. Look at this quarter alone, we've got a little over 4% revenue growth, and if you normalize the taxes, we're up 15%. That's what happens when you get 4% revenue growth.

所以所有這些跡像都表明，雖然我不能確定它何時發生，但當它發生時，它的發展是一個漸進的過程。我們知道，當收入略有成長時，利潤率就會大幅提升。單看本季度，我們的營收成長略高於 4%，如果將稅收因素考慮在內，我們的營收成長將達到 15%。這就是營收成長4%的後果。

When you get 2%, that can't happen. So, what we like is with demographics, with the backlog, we feel very good about the ability to generate earnings per share growth in the coming years.

當你的收益率只有2%時，這種情況就不可能發生。因此，我們看好人口結構和積壓訂單，我們對未來幾年實現每股盈餘成長的能力感到非常樂觀。

Okay. If I can squeeze in one more, the insurance transition on the SCI Direct side has led to some declines in production. I understand that was 100% trust before it's a different sale, a different product, and it's been a phased roll out, but is there an expectation that that will return to sort of pretransition levels at some point or we're going to be kind of working off of a lower base going forward, and then also has there been any changes or inflections and turnover with the sales force on that on that segment.

好的。如果我能再擠出一點時間，SCI Direct 方面的保險轉型導致產量下降。我知道以前是 100% 的信任，但現在銷售方式不同，產品也不同，而且是分階段推出的。但是，我們是否預期這種情況會在某個時候恢復到過渡前的水平，還是說我們未來的發展將基於一個較低的基數？此外，該細分市場的銷售團隊是否發生了任何變化、轉折或人員更迭？

And you're talking specifically about SCI Direct, yeah?

您指的是 SCI Direct，對嗎？

Yeah, SCI, yeah.

是的，SCI，是的。

It is a pretty drastic change. I mean, the product is very different. It does require a licenser, so I think the way to think about it is this, we expect in '26, that we're going to see growth again off that new base. I don't think we get back to pre-change levels is probably going to take a couple of years to get back to those types of levels, but we're going to get there.

這是一個相當大的變化。我的意思是，這款產品非常不同。它確實需要授權，所以我認為應該這樣想，我們預計在 2026 年，我們將在這個新基礎上再次看到成長。我認為我們可能無法恢復到變革前的水平，可能需要幾年時間才能恢復到那種水平，但我們終究會實現的。

And again I think part of that is, hiring the sales force where we've had the turnover, getting people licensed and comfortable with the product. The thing I feel better about is, this really is about familiarity of sales, I mean, people have been doing it a certain way for a long time and we really disrupted their world, and we really appreciate the sales counselors and sales leadership at SCI Direct and all the hard work they've done.

我認為部分原因在於，我們需要招募銷售團隊（因為我們的銷售人員流動比較大），讓員工取得執照並熟悉產品。我感到欣慰的是，這真的與銷售的熟悉程度有關。我的意思是，人們長期以來一直以某種方式進行銷售，而我們確實顛覆了他們的世界。我們非常感謝 SCI Direct 的銷售顧問和銷售領導，以及他們所做的所有辛勤工作。

So the fruits of their labor is coming. I think it's going to take a couple of years, but I think you're going to see some pretty impressive growth rates. And again, combine that with the fact, so you're going to see, higher general agency revenues and now think about that backlog. That backlog is going to unwind and it is very valuable and very incrementally profitable.

所以他們的勞動成果即將到來。我認為這需要幾年時間，但我相信你會看到一些非常可觀的成長率。再結合其他因素，你會看到一般代理商收入增加，現在想想積壓訂單的問題。積壓的訂單將會逐步減少，這些訂單非常有價值，而且利潤會逐年增加。

So as you model this thing out 10 years, it's incredibly impressive, the rates of growth as you think about earnings going forward for SCI Direct.

因此，當你對未來 10 年的情況進行建模時，SCI Direct 的成長率令人印象深刻，尤其是在考慮其未來的收益時。

Alright, great. Thank you so much.

好的，太好了。太感謝了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給SCI管理階層，請他們致閉幕詞。

Thank you everybody, for being on the call today. We appreciate your attendance. Happy Halloween to everybody tomorrow. Have a good safe one, and we'll speak to you in our fourth quarter call in next February. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.

感謝各位今天參加電話會議。感謝您的出席。祝大家明天萬聖節快樂！祝您一切順利，平安健康，我們將在明年二月的第四季電話會議上與您聯繫。非常感謝。再見。

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

會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線了。