Service Corporation International (SCI) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the SCI first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to SCI management. Thank you, and over to you.

大家好，歡迎參加 SCI 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。現在我想把會議交給 SCI 管理團隊。謝謝，交給你們。

Good morning. This is Trey Bocas, AVP of Treasury and Investor Relations. Welcome to our first 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 go over the safe harbor language.

各位早安。我是 Trey Bocas，財務部與投資人關係副總裁助理（AVP）。歡迎參加我們的第一季財報電話會議。稍後 Tom 與 Eric 將就本季表現提供一些事先準備的發言。但在此之前，先由我說明安全港聲明。

Any comments made by our management team that state our plans, beliefs, expectations or projections about the future are forward-looking statements.

我們管理團隊所做的任何評論，只要提及我們對未來的計畫、信念、預期或預測，均屬前瞻性陳述。

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such statements. 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.

這些前瞻性陳述受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與該等陳述所預期者出現重大差異。這些風險與不確定性包括但不限於：我們在新聞稿以及向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交、並可於本公司網站查閱之文件中所揭露的因素。

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.

今天我們也可能討論某些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些指標的調節表可在我們財報新聞稿末尾的表格以及公司網站上找到。

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

以上說明完畢，現在我把電話會議交給董事長兼執行長 Tom Ryan。

Thanks, Trey. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'll start with an overview of our quarterly performance followed by a deeper look at our funeral and cemetery results and then conclude with our outlook for the remainder of 2026.

謝謝你，Trey。各位早安，感謝各位加入我們。我將先概述本季營運表現，接著更深入說明我們的殯葬與墓園業務結果，最後以 2026 年剩餘期間的展望作結。

For the first quarter, we generated adjusted earnings per share of $0.97, which compared to $0.96 in the prior year. Cemetery revenue and gross profit increased meaningfully, supported by double-digit growth in preneed cemetery sales production.

第一季我們的調整後每股盈餘為 0.97 美元，去年同期為 0.96 美元。墓園營收與毛利顯著成長，主要受惠於預售（preneed）墓園銷售產出達到雙位數成長。

This performance was more than offset by lower funeral revenue and gross profit, driven by a mid-single-digit decline in case volume, resulting in a $0.02 reduction in earnings per share from operating income.

然而，這項表現被殯葬營收與毛利下滑所抵銷；殯葬案件量中個位數中段（mid-single-digit）下降，導致營業利益對每股盈餘造成 0.02 美元的減少。

Below the line, the favourable impact of a lower share count and a slightly lower effective tax rate was partially offset by higher interest expense, which when combined resulted in an additional $0.03 of earnings per share growth.

在營業利益以下（below the line），較低的流通股數與略低的有效稅率帶來有利影響，但部分被較高的利息費用所抵銷；合計之下，額外帶來每股盈餘成長 0.03 美元。

Despite a meaningful decline in funeral case claims during the quarter, the company delivered strong underlying performance across several key operating metrics.

儘管本季殯葬案件量明顯下滑，公司在多項關鍵營運指標上仍展現強勁的基本面表現。

Preneed funeral and cemetery sales grew exceptionally well, reflecting continued success in building long-term customer relationships and future revenue visibility. In addition, average revenue per funeral service increased meaningfully, demonstrating the strength of our offerings and disciplined pricing execution.

預售殯葬與預售墓園銷售成長表現極佳，反映我們在建立長期客戶關係與提升未來營收能見度方面持續成功。此外，每場殯葬服務的平均營收也顯著提升，展現我們產品服務的競爭力以及嚴謹的定價執行。

At the same time, we maintained strong control over our cost structure, effectively managing controllable expenses, minimizing the impact on margins in a challenging volume environment.

同時，我們持續嚴控成本結構，有效管理可控費用，在案件量具挑戰的環境下將對毛利率的影響降至最低。

Importantly, had funeral case volumes been flat for the quarter, we estimate earnings per share would have been approximately $1.12, representing roughly 17% growth over the prior year quarter.

重要的是，若本季殯葬案件量持平，我們估計每股盈餘約可達 1.12 美元，較去年同期約成長 17%。

Taken together, these results underscore the resilience of our business model and our ability to execute strategically despite near-term headwinds.

綜合而言，這些結果凸顯我們商業模式的韌性，以及在短期逆風下仍能策略性執行的能力。

Now let's take a deeper look into the funeral results for the quarter. Total comparable funeral revenues decreased by $17 million or just less than 3% over the prior year quarter, mainly due to a decline in core funeral revenue. Comparable core funeral revenue declined by $18 million or just more than 3%, primarily due to a 6%. 6% decrease in core funeral services performed.

接下來更深入看看本季殯葬業務的表現。可比（comparable）殯葬總營收較去年同期減少 1,700 萬美元，降幅略低於 3%，主要因核心殯葬營收下滑。可比核心殯葬營收減少 1,800 萬美元，降幅略高於 3%，主要因核心殯葬服務執行件數下降 6.6%。

The decline in services reflects the impact of a strong flu season in the prior year quarter and is consistent with broader first quarter mortality trends as indicated by data from the CDC as well as reporting from other industry participants. While we saw a notable decline in first quarter volumes, it's important to put that in historical context.

服務件數下滑反映去年同期流感季較強的影響，亦與 CDC 數據以及其他同業所揭示的第一季整體死亡率趨勢一致。雖然我們第一季案件量出現明顯下滑，但將其放在歷史脈絡中理解很重要。

Outside of the COVID-impacted era, over the past 20 years, we have experienced five instances where first quarter volumes declined from 4% and to 9%.

在不含 COVID 影響的期間，過去 20 年中，我們曾有五次第一季案件量下滑介於 4% 至 9% 的情況。

In each of those periods, we saw a meaningful improvement as the year progressed, with full year results improving by an average of 400 basis points relative to the first quarter's decline.

在上述每個期間，隨著年度推進，我們都看到明顯改善；全年結果相較第一季的下滑幅度，平均改善 400 個基點。

While each year is different, this pattern reinforces our expectation that performance can improve as we move through the balance of the year.

雖然每一年情況不同，但這樣的模式強化了我們的預期：隨著今年剩餘期間推進，表現有機會改善。

This unfavourable impact from funeral volume decline was partially offset by a healthy 3.5% growth in the core average revenue per service.

殯葬案件量下滑帶來的不利影響，部分被核心每服務平均營收 3.5% 的健康成長所抵銷。

This core average growth was achieved despite a modest increase of 40 basis points in the core cremation rate. Nonfuneral home revenue increased by $2 million primarily due to a 10% increase in the average revenue per service.

即便核心火化率小幅上升 40 個基點，核心每服務平均營收仍達成上述成長。非殯儀館（nonfuneral home）營收增加 200 萬美元，主要因每服務平均營收提升 10%。

We expect this impressive growth in the average revenue per service to continue as older preneed contracts that are maturing out of our backlog have higher cumulative trust earnings.

我們預期每服務平均營收的亮眼成長將可延續，因為從我們待履約存量（backlog）中逐步到期的較早期預售合約，累積的信託收益較高。

In more recent preneed contracts written will mature with higher value in the backlog due to our operational decision to no longer deliver pre-need merchandise at the time of sale.

而較近期簽訂的預售合約，因我們營運決策改為不再於銷售時交付預售商品，將使待履約存量中到期合約的價值更高。

Funeral gross profit declined by approximately $23 million with the gross profit percentage down 300 basis points to just over 21%. This is primarily driven by a $17 million decline in funeral revenues.

殯葬毛利約減少 2,300 萬美元，毛利率下降 300 個基點至略高於 21%。主要原因是殯葬營收減少 1,700 萬美元。

We also saw a modest increase in selling compensation consistent with higher preneed funeral sales production and a greater mix of insurance-funded contracts, which accelerates selling expense recognition. Importantly more than offering and offsetting this variable cost increase, the team held fixed cost growth to just over 1% for the quarter, and roughly 3% inflation on fixed costs.

我們也看到銷售佣金小幅增加，與預售殯葬銷售產出提升以及保險資金支持合約占比提高一致；後者會加速銷售費用的認列。更重要的是，團隊將本季固定成本成長控制在略高於 1%，而固定成本通膨約為 3%，足以抵銷並超過上述變動成本增加的影響。

Preneed funeral sales production increased by $18 million or about 6% over the first quarter of 2025. Core preneed funeral sales production increased by $13 million or 6%.

預售殯葬銷售產出較 2025 年第一季增加 1,800 萬美元，約成長 6%。核心預售殯葬銷售產出增加 1,300 萬美元，成長 6%。

Nonfuneral home preneed sales production increased by over $5 million or 9% over the prior year quarter. We feel great about our momentum in both channels, and we have worked through the initial challenges of the insurance partner transition in the core segment. And as of the end of 2025, we have now rolled the insurance product into 100% of our SCI Direct locations.

非殯儀館預售銷售產出較去年同期增加超過 500 萬美元，成長 9%。我們對兩個通路的動能都感到非常振奮，且在核心業務中，我們已克服保險合作夥伴轉換初期的挑戰。截至 2025 年底，我們已將該保險產品導入 100% 的 SCI Direct 據點。

Now shifting to cemetery. Comparable cemetery revenue increased by $31 million or about 7%, primarily due to higher core revenue complemented by an increase in other revenue.

接著談墓園業務。可比墓園營收增加 3,100 萬美元，約成長 7%，主要來自核心營收提升，並由其他營收增加所補強。

Core revenues increased by $25 million as a $28 million or 10% increase in recognized preneed revenue was slightly offset by a $3 million decline in at need revenue. The recognized preneed revenue growth came from a $20 million increase in property revenue and another $8 million in higher merchandise and services.

核心營收增加 2,500 萬美元，其中已認列的預售營收增加 2,800 萬美元（成長 10%），但被即時需求（at need）營收減少 300 萬美元略為抵銷。已認列的預售營收成長，來自不動產（property）營收增加 2,000 萬美元，以及商品與服務增加 800 萬美元。

Other revenue was higher by $6 million compared to the prior year quarter, primarily from an increase in endowment care trust fund income.

其他營收較去年同期增加 600 萬美元，主要來自永續維護信託基金（endowment care trust fund）收入增加。

Comparable preneed cemetery sales production grew an impressive $32 million or 10% in the quarter. Large sales drove $20 million of that increase with core sales contributing the remaining $12 million, supported by continued strong underlying sales velocity.

本季可比預售墓園銷售產出大幅增加 3,200 萬美元，成長 10%。其中大型銷售（large sales）貢獻 2,000 萬美元的增量，核心銷售貢獻其餘 1,200 萬美元，並持續受惠於強勁的基礎銷售速度（sales velocity）。

This performance reflects the strength of our sales organization, which continues to expand preneed production despite lower first quarter funeral volumes.

此一表現反映我們銷售組織的實力，即使第一季殯葬案件量較低，仍持續擴大預售產出。

Ongoing investment in sales force retention and growth, particularly in our community-based teams has broadened our reach beyond location generated leads.

持續投資於銷售團隊留任與擴編，特別是在我們以社區為基礎的團隊，使我們的觸及範圍擴大到不僅依賴據點所產生的名單（leads）。

Cemetery gross profit in the quarter -- profitability. This was partially offset by above-inflation growth in fixed cemetery maintenance costs. Even so, margins came in as expected, consistent with our 75% incremental margin framework and roughly 3% fixed cost inflation.

本季墓園毛利——獲利能力。其中一部分被高於通膨的墓園固定維護成本成長所抵銷。即便如此，毛利率仍符合預期，與我們 75% 的增量毛利率架構一致，且固定成本通膨約為 3%。

Now let's shift to a discussion about our outlook for 2026. As we look ahead, we are reaffirming our 2026 normalized earnings per share guidance range of $4.05 to $4.35.

現在讓我們把焦點轉向對 2026 年展望的討論。展望未來，我們重申 2026 年常態化每股盈餘（EPS）指引區間為 4.05 美元至 4.35 美元。

While the first quarter funeral volumes presented a near-term headwind, we expect the year-over-year rate of decline to moderate as the year progresses, resulting in a 1% to 3% decline for the year.

雖然第一季的喪葬服務量在短期內帶來逆風，我們預期隨著年度推進，同比下滑幅度將趨緩，全年降幅將落在 1% 至 3%。

When combined with strong momentum preneed cemetery sales, average revenue per funeral and continued disciplined expense management, we are confident in our ability to deliver within our stated earnings range.

結合強勁的預售（preneed）墓園銷售動能、每場葬禮的平均收入，以及持續嚴謹的費用管理，我們有信心在既定的獲利區間內達成表現。

In closing, we remain firmly focused on building long-term value for shareholders growing revenue, leveraging the strength of our scale and allocating capital with discipline to the highest and best use.

最後，我們仍堅定聚焦於為股東創造長期價值：推動營收成長、發揮規模優勢，並以紀律方式將資本配置至最高且最佳的用途。

As we move into a period of meaningful demographic tailwinds and we are exceptionally well positioned to expand our reach, serve more families and deliver sustained growth over time.

隨著我們進入具實質人口結構順風的階段，我們具備極佳的有利位置，可擴大觸及範圍、服務更多家庭，並在時間推移中帶來持續成長。

In closing, I'd like to recognize and thank our entire SCI team for their ongoing commitment to our customers, our communities and each other. Your dedication continues to be the foundation of our success.

在結語中，我想表揚並感謝整個 SCI 團隊持續對客戶、社區以及彼此的承諾。各位的投入仍是我們成功的基石。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Eric.

接下來，我把電話會議交給 Eric。

Thanks, Tom. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us today and as Tom just finished, I'm going to start that way and take a moment to really sincerely thank our more than 25,000 associates across the entire SCI network.

謝謝你，Tom。各位早安。感謝今天加入我們。延續 Tom 剛才的結語，我也想花點時間，真誠地感謝遍布整個 SCI 網路、超過 25,000 位同仁。

We are truly grateful for all of your dedication and most importantly, the compassion that you have for our client families, and we are very proud of the positive impact you continue to make in all the communities that we serve at SCI.

我們由衷感謝各位的投入，更重要的是，你們對客戶家庭展現的同理心；我們也為各位在 SCI 所服務的每個社區持續帶來的正面影響感到非常自豪。

So today, I'm going to start by reviewing our results and capital investments for the quarter. Then I'm going to take -- make a few comments on corporate G&A and our trust returns and I'll conclude with an update on our cash flow guidance for the full year of 2026 and then talk a little bit about the overall financial position.

今天我將先回顧本季的營運結果與資本投資。接著我會就公司一般及行政費用（Corporate G&A）與信託報酬做一些說明，最後更新我們對 2026 全年現金流指引，並簡要談談整體財務狀況。

So during the quarter, we generated very impressive adjusted operating cash flow of $335 million. This, by the way, was in line with our expectations and was an improvement of just under $20 million or 6% over the prior year.

本季我們創造了相當亮眼的調整後營運現金流 3.35 億美元。順帶一提，這符合我們的預期，較去年同期增加將近 2,000 萬美元（約 6%）。

So a little bit more color on that because some of this is timing. So adjusted operating cash flow was positively impacted by a $20 million source of working capital related to an additional payroll tax payment that was made in the first quarter of last year.

我再補充一些背景，因為其中部分屬於時點因素。調整後營運現金流受到營運資金來源 2,000 萬美元的正面影響，這與去年第一季額外支付的一筆薪資稅款有關。

So additionally, though, there were stronger preneed cash receipts and other working capital that provided an additional $7 million source.

此外，預售（preneed）現金收款更強勁，以及其他營運資金項目，合計再提供 700 萬美元的資金來源。

But partially offsetting these sources were lower adjusted operating income of $4 million and $4 million of higher cash interest, which is primarily due to higher average balances on our floating rate debt, partially offset by the lower floating rates.

但部分被以下因素抵銷：調整後營運利益減少 400 萬美元，以及現金利息增加 400 萬美元；後者主要是因我們浮動利率債務的平均餘額較高，雖然部分被較低的浮動利率所抵銷。

We believe this growth in adjusted operating cash flow, despite the softer volumes that we reserved in the first quarter really highlights the resiliency of our cash flow at SCI.

我們認為，即使第一季出現較疲弱的量能，調整後營運現金流仍能成長，這充分凸顯 SCI 現金流的韌性。

So shifting to capital investment. We invested $108 million of capital into our existing funeral homes and cemeteries and real estate business and real estate acquisitions and of course, construction of new operating locations. So I'm going to break that down a little bit for you.

接著談資本投資。我們投入 1.08 億美元資本於既有的殯儀館與墓園、房地產業務與房地產收購，以及新營運據點的建設。我將為各位稍作拆解。

We invested $66 million of maintenance capital back into our current businesses included in this maintenance spend, we invested $41 million into new cemetery development projects, $20 million into our current funeral home and cemetery locations, which improves the overall customer experience and about $5 million into our digital strategy and some other corporate investments.

我們投入 6,600 萬美元的維護性資本回到現有業務中；在這筆維護性支出中，我們投入 4,100 萬美元於新的墓園開發專案、2,000 萬美元於現有殯儀館與墓園據點以提升整體客戶體驗，約 500 萬美元投入於數位策略及其他公司層級投資。

We also invested $17 million of growth capital in the quarter towards the construction of new funeral homes as well as the purchase of some real estate for future new builds and expansion opportunities.

本季我們也投入 1,700 萬美元的成長型資本，用於新殯儀館的建設，以及購置部分房地產以支援未來新建與擴張機會。

Turning specifically to acquisitions.

接著專談併購。

We invested $24 million into business acquisitions in the quarter and in locations in several states, including Texas, Massachusetts, Alabama and North Carolina.

本季我們投入 2,400 萬美元於事業併購，據點分布於多個州，包括德州、麻薩諸塞州、阿拉巴馬州與北卡羅來納州。

We are excited about these high-quality funeral homes and cemeteries that are now joining our company, and we're very happy to welcome all of those associates to the SCI family.

我們對這些高品質的殯儀館與墓園加入公司感到振奮，也非常高興歡迎所有同仁加入 SCI 大家庭。

We have seen continued momentum in April and remain optimistic about the acquisition pipeline and believe we are on pace to achieve our $75 million to $125 million acquisition investment target for 2026.

我們在 4 月持續看到動能，並對併購案源管線保持樂觀；我們相信有望按計畫達成 2026 年 7,500 萬至 1.25 億美元的併購投資目標。

So now let's move on to capital distributions primarily to our shareholders. We returned $190 million of capital to shareholders in the quarter, through $143 million of share repurchases and $47 million of dividends.

接下來談資本回饋，主要是回饋給股東。本季我們透過 1.43 億美元的庫藏股回購與 4,700 萬美元的股利，合計向股東返還 1.90 億美元資本。

We repurchased just under 2 million shares during the quarter at an average price of about $80 per share, bringing the number of shares outstanding at our company to just over 130 million shares at the end of March.

本季我們以每股約 80 美元的平均價格回購略低於 200 萬股，使得 3 月底公司流通在外股數略高於 1.30 億股。

So shifting gears now, to talk about corporate G&A, which spend up about $44 million in the quarter was down 1 million over the prior year, but higher than our quarterly guidance range.

接著換個話題，談公司一般及行政費用（Corporate G&A）。本季支出約 4,400 萬美元，較去年同期減少 100 萬美元，但高於我們的單季指引區間。

This is primarily a result of higher accruals related to our long-term incentive compensation plans, which, by the way, was driven by outperformance in total shareholder return versus our peer group.

這主要是因與長期激勵薪酬計畫相關的應計費用較高；順帶一提，這是由於我們相較同業的股東總報酬（TSR）表現優於同儕所帶動。

We expect that corporate G&A expense going forward will average around the $40 million to $42 million per quarter. But as a reminder, this rate could be impacted by timing of these accruals related to the short- and long-term compensation plans, just like you saw this quarter.

我們預期未來公司一般及行政費用平均每季約 4,000 萬至 4,200 萬美元。但提醒各位，該水準可能會受到短期與長期薪酬計畫相關應計入帳時點的影響，就像本季所見。

And finally, before transitioning to our cash flow outlook, I wanted to update you on our trust returns.

最後，在轉入現金流展望之前，我想更新一下我們的信託報酬。

So as you saw in the release yesterday, we ended the quarter with a 0.7% decline in our combined trust fund returns.

如同各位在昨天的新聞稿中所見，我們本季結束時的合併信託基金報酬率下滑 0.7%。

However, importantly, in the month of April, we observed a market recovery with an estimated 4% to 5% increase in our combined trust fund returns, which really gives us confidence to say, bring us back in line with our full year expectation of about a 7% trust fund return for the full year.

不過重要的是，在 4 月份我們觀察到市場回升，估計合併信託基金報酬增加約 4% 至 5%，這讓我們更有信心表示：我們將回到與全年預期一致的水準，也就是全年約 7% 的信託基金報酬。

Now let's talk about our outlook as it relates to cash flow. So as we talked about in the press release, we are confirming our 2026 adjusted operating cash flow guidance range of $1.0 billion to $1.06 billion.

現在談談與現金流相關的展望。如同我們在新聞稿中提到的，我們確認 2026 年調整後營運現金流指引區間為 10.0 億至 10.6 億美元。

And as I really mentioned to you in February, we anticipate full year cash taxes to be about $120 million at a normalized cash tax rate of around 15% to 16%, as again, we are benefiting from an investment we made in renewable energy projects in the current year.

另外，如我在 2 月向各位提到的，我們預期全年現金稅約為 1.20 億美元，常態化現金稅率約 15% 至 16%；這同樣是因我們在本年度受惠於先前投資的再生能源專案。

As we look beyond 2026, we anticipate returning to a normalized cash tax rate of about 24% to 25%. That would be absent any additional tax planning strategies or any regulatory changes that we don't know about.

展望 2026 年之後，我們預期現金稅率將回到常態化約 24% 至 25%。前提是沒有我們尚未知悉的額外稅務規劃策略或任何法規變動。

From an effective tax rate perspective, consistent with the guidance that we've talked about before, we expect full year 2026 as ETR to trend the line with 2025 at 25% to 26%. So in closing, I'm now going to provide some commentary about our liquidity and financial position.

就有效稅率（ETR）而言，與我們先前談到的指引一致，我們預期 2026 全年 ETR 將與 2025 年相近，落在 25% 至 26%。最後，我將就我們的流動性與財務狀況提供一些說明。

We continue to benefit from a favourable and disciplined debt maturity profile, complemented by robust liquidity. We ended the quarter with liquidity of about $1.7 billion consisting of approximately $260 million of cash on hand and approximately $1.45 billion available on our long-term bank credit facility.

我們持續受惠於良好且具紀律的債務到期結構，並由充沛的流動性所支撐。本季結束時，我們的流動性約 17 億美元，其中包括約 2.60 億美元的手頭現金，以及長期銀行授信額度中約 14.5 億美元的可用額度。

We ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 3.68times net debt to EBITDA. This is very similar to where we ended last quarter. And again, at the lower end of our long-term leverage target range of 3.5times to 4times.

我們在本季結束時的槓桿比率為淨負債對 EBITDA 3.68 倍。這與我們上季結束時的水準非常接近。而且同樣地，位於我們長期槓桿目標區間 3.5 倍至 4 倍的較低端。

So in conclusion, our solid balance sheet, enhanced liquidity position consistent and predictable cash flows constrained, continue to bolster our capital deployment program, giving us significant flexibility to invest opportunistically for the long-term benefit of SCI, our associates and our shareholders. So with that operator, this really concludes my remarks and Tom's remarks.

總結來說，我們穩健的資產負債表、提升的流動性部位、一致且可預測的現金流（儘管受到限制），持續強化我們的資本部署計畫，讓我們具備相當大的彈性，得以把握機會投資，為 SCI、我們的同仁以及股東帶來長期利益。因此，交還給接線員，這也就結束了我以及 Tom 的發言。

I'm going to pass it back to you, and then we'll go ahead and open the call up for questions.

我把時間交還給你，接著我們將開放電話會議進行提問。

(Operator Instructions) Parker Snure, Raymond James.

（接線員指示）Parker Snure，Raymond James。

On the funeral volumes, it'd be great just to hear how volume growth progressed throughout the quarter in kind of January, February, March? And then what are you seeing in early April, early days in the second quarter?

關於喪葬服務量（funeral volumes），想請教本季各月份（1 月、2 月、3 月）的量成長走勢如何？另外，第二季初的 4 月上旬、目前看到的情況如何？

Sure, Parker. This is Tom. Thanks for the question. What we saw was out of the gate, really all three months were down. I think January and February were a little steeper and March was slightly better, but still down.

當然可以，Parker。我是 Tom。謝謝你的提問。我們看到的是，一開始三個月份其實都下滑。我認為 1 月和 2 月下滑幅度稍大，3 月略有改善，但仍然是下滑。

And what we're saying Parker and it's not unlike when we studied the five years before. What typically happens is the first quarter is the worst, the second quarter is still not great. and you tend to start trending the back half of the year and seeing that volume come back. That's what we've experienced in the previous 5 times.

而我們想說的是，Parker，這與我們研究前五年的情況並無不同。通常第一季最差，第二季仍不算好，而你會在下半年開始看到趨勢回升、量回來。這是我們過去 5 次所經歷的情況。

And I'd tell you, right now in April, we're seeing the same thing. April is still down. It's not as bad as the first quarter, but we're still kind of facing a little bit of a headwind. And again, we, I think, anticipate that, that would get better throughout the quarter and really see maybe get to see some positive comps in the back half of the year.

我也可以告訴你，就目前 4 月來看，我們看到同樣的情況。4 月仍然下滑。雖然沒有第一季那麼糟，但我們仍面臨一些逆風。同樣地，我們預期這會在本季期間逐步改善，並且在下半年或許能看到一些正向的可比表現。

Okay. And then in terms of the guidance range, I may have missed this. I know you said that you now expect comparable funeral volumes down 1% to 3%. But on the preneed cemetery side, I think that's going to be kind of helping to offset that. It was up 9.7% in the first quarter.

了解。另外就財測區間而言，我可能漏聽了這段。我知道你們說現在預期可比喪葬服務量下滑 1% 到 3%。但在預售（preneed）墓園端，我想這會在某種程度上幫助抵銷。第一季成長了 9.7%。

But just -- how are you guys thinking about that throughout the course of the year. The comps do get a little bit tougher, but just how you're thinking about preneed cemetery production within the full year guidance now? .

不過想請教——你們如何看待全年各期間的走勢？可比基期會變得稍微更具挑戰，但你們目前如何看待預售墓園產出在最新全年財測中的表現？.

Yeah. I think Parker this time, it's always hard to tell through 3 months. We're very pleased with the first quarter. But we still -- when we talked about guidance before, remember, I think I told you to steer you towards the low to mid-single digits. I think with the first quarter in the bank, we feel pretty good about mid-single-digit growth for the year, 10% high step in it.

是的。我想 Parker，僅看 3 個月總是很難判斷。我們對第一季的表現非常滿意。但我們仍然——回想我們先前談財測時，我記得我有引導你們偏向低到中個位數成長。在第一季已經入袋之後，我們對全年達到中個位數成長感覺相當不錯，10% 是偏高的門檻。

But we do still feel very good about our momentum. Jay's got the team really focused on KPIs. In the four of those. One of the channels is large sales, one of them is headcount, and so what we're seeing today, and I touched upon it a little bit on the call is that we're growing the headcount.

但我們仍然對動能非常有信心。Jay 讓團隊非常聚焦在 KPI 上。在這四項之中。其中一個通路是大額銷售（large sales），另一個是人力編制（headcount）；因此我們目前看到的——我在電話會議中也稍微提到——是我們正在增加人力。

Part of that is we're trying to retain more of our employees and that's being successful and then hire new ones, and we believe we've got better leads. Our next KPI is our lead to sale ratio. And so that's really focused on the quality of leads and our ability to follow those up.

其中一部分是我們正努力留任更多員工，而這方面也有成效；同時也在招募新員工，我們相信我們拿到更好的名單（leads）。下一個 KPI 是名單轉成交比率（lead to sale ratio）。因此這主要聚焦在名單品質，以及我們跟進這些名單的能力。

And then the third bucket before large sales is seminars. We found that seminars are a way that we can educate the consumer, get in front of them, and so Jay really pushed the initiative to say, let's expand the number of seminars we're doing, and we're seeing great success with that. And those are the types of things where you're out in the community, you're not getting your leads through the funeral home.

接著第三個類別（在大額銷售之前）是講座（seminars）。我們發現講座是一種能教育消費者、與他們面對面接觸的方式，因此 Jay 大力推動這項倡議，表示我們要擴大舉辦講座的數量，而我們也看到非常好的成效。而這類作法是你走入社區，而不是透過殯儀館取得名單。

And that's why I think we can say we grew velocity in a quarter, even though funeral volumes were down. And by the way, funeral volumes are great lead source.

這也是為什麼我認為我們可以說，即使喪葬服務量下滑，我們在本季仍提升了銷售速度（velocity）。順帶一提，喪葬服務量本身也是很好的名單來源。

But we're finding other ways to get out to the consumer and seeing real success there. So we feel great about the momentum.

但我們正在找到其他方式接觸消費者，並且在那方面看到實質的成功。因此我們對動能感到非常振奮。

You're right. The comps get a little tougher as we go along the year, but still very confident that we can get to that mid-single-digit growth for the year.

你說得對。隨著年度往後走，可比基期會稍微更具挑戰，

No, that's great. And then if I can just squeeze in one last one, kind of more of a math question on EPS seasonality. So -- if I look at the first quarter, $0.97. And then if I just kind of look at the last couple of years, 2Q is down somewhere in the range of $0.08 to $0.10.

不，這很棒。如果我可以再塞最後一題，算是關於 EPS 季節性的數學問題。所以——如果我看第一季是 0.97 美元。

So that would imply something like $0.88 in the second quarter that gets you to $1.85 for the first half. And if I look at the last three years, the first half seasonality is somewhere around 50%, maybe just below that. So that would kind of implies something in the high $3 of EPS, maybe $3.70 to $3.90.

那樣就意味著第二季大概是 0.88 美元，讓上半年合計到 1.85 美元。而如果我看過去三年，上半年季節性大約占全年 50% 左右，可能略低於 50%。所以那樣就大概意味著 EPS 在 3 美元後段，可能是 3.70 到 3.90 美元。

So I guess the question is, like what is different this year in terms of like the second half ramp to normal year that kind of gives you confidence in getting to the guidance range?

所以我想問的是，例如今年有什麼不同之處——就下半年回升到正常年度水準而言——讓你們有信心能達到財測區間？

Yes. I think the real difference is, of course, just this down volume. And so I'd say, if you can get that volume back, you're going to shift quite a bit of profitability to the back half of the year. So in your instance, it would probably assume where you get into those low 3s that you keep the volume at down 6% for the year. We believe because history tells us, and we believe again, that's going to trend back the other way.

是的。我認為真正的差異當然就是這個量的下滑。所以我會說，如果你能讓量回來，你就會把相當一部分獲利移到下半年。因此以你的例子來看，你推導出落在 3 美元初段，可能是假設全年量仍下滑 6%。我們相信，因為歷史告訴我們，而且我們也再次相信，這個趨勢會往相反方向回來。

So you're just going to push some of that funeral profitability that was in the first half of the year to the back half of the year.

所以你只是把原本會出現在上半年的一部分喪葬業務獲利，推遲到下半年。

And that's how we're looking at it. we're modelling a couple of different scenarios like we said, it's hard to be precise, but we think 1% to 3% is a fair estimate at this point in time. And obviously, at the end of the second quarter, we'll have better data to make that a little more finite for you.

這就是我們的看法。我們如同所說，正在建模幾種不同情境；要精準很難，但我們認為目前 1% 到 3% 是合理的估計。

Okay, great. Thank you so much.

好的，很棒。非常感謝。

Tom Sano, JP Morgan.

Tom Sano，JP Morgan。

Good morning, everyone.

各位早安。

Good morning, Tomo.

早安，Tomo。

Thank you for taking my questions. So regarding the funeral volumes, I believe the main reasons for the decline in the faster quarter was tough year-over-year comps due to last year's strong flow season. Was the strength seen across the entire industries? And do you believe it had any impact on SCI's market share?

謝謝讓我提問。關於喪葬服務量，我認為本季下滑的主要原因是，因去年流感季（flu season）表現強勁，導致年對年可比基期偏高、較具挑戰。這樣的強勁表現是否是整個產業普遍出現？你們認為這對 SCI 的市占率有任何影響嗎？

Yes, Tom. We do not think it's a market share. We don't have a lot of public competitors, but we do talk to a lot of our friends in the private world.

是的，Tom。我們不認為這是市占率的問題。我們沒有很多上市同業可供比較，但我們確實會和許多私人市場的朋友交流。

And we've got suppliers in different places. And so -- and then you add that with -- I mentioned CDC data, we've got January and February, and they're kind of right on where we see -- some of our other competitors actually have worst comps, some of our suppliers have worse comps.

而且我們在不同地區都有供應商。所以——再加上——我提到的 CDC 數據，我們拿到了一月和二月的資料，基本上與我們所看到的情況相當一致——我們的一些其他競爭對手其實有更差的比較基期（comp），我們的一些供應商也有更差的比較基期。

So we feel, number one, that it's not a market share issue, and therefore, we believe it will bounce back. And the other check that my sanity checks that I use, Tomo is typically, our SCI Direct business, I can't remember when we had down volumes in SCI Direct.

所以我們認為，第一，這不是市占率的問題，因此我們相信它會反彈。另外，我用來做理性檢核的其中一個指標，Tomo，通常是我們的 SCI Direct 業務，我想不起來 SCI Direct 什麼時候出現過量能下滑。

It's always a leader and we may be a drag in the core. The other thing is preneed going at need is typically a lot better than the lock in business, what we call the pure at need. And in both those checks for the first time in a long time, SCI Direct has down volumes in low single digits, but down volumes.

它一直是領先者，而核心業務可能會拖累。另一點是，預售（preneed）轉為即時需求（at need）通常比我們所說的「鎖定型」業務、也就是純即時需求（pure at need）要好得多。而在這兩個檢核指標上，這是很長一段時間以來第一次，SCI Direct 的量能出現低個位數下滑，但確實是下滑。

And again, that just tells me that this is real, this is a death right thing. Hard to predict all the reasons why. But it is a tough comparison. We did have a bigger flu season last year. And history tells us it's going to work back.

而且，再次強調，這告訴我這是真實的，這是一個「死亡率」相關的現象。很難預測所有原因。但這確實是一個艱難的比較基期。去年我們的流感季更嚴重。而歷史經驗告訴我們，之後會逐步回到正常水準。

And I tried to point out on the call that if you just give us flat volume, this would have been a 17% earnings per share growth quarter. That's how good we performed in other metrics. Unfortunately, we didn't get the volume. So it wasn't 70%. But we're optimistic that we're ready for that.

我也試著在電話會議上指出，如果你們只給我們持平的量能，本季每股盈餘成長本來會是 17%。這反映我們在其他指標上的表現有多好。不幸的是，我們沒有拿到那個量能。所以就不是 70%。但我們很樂觀，我們已經準備好了。

We're working hard, doing things to have better advantages in competing on the funeral side, competing on the sales side. So anyway, hopefully, that answers your question.

我們正在努力，採取各種措施，讓我們在殯葬服務端的競爭、以及銷售端的競爭上更具優勢。總之，希望這回答了你的問題。

Yes, very helpful. And just a follow up on the -- in the face of declining volumes, what specific actions or initiatives were implemented at the field level to address these challenges in terms of the cost control the labor retention and managing input costs, please?

是的，非常有幫助。再追問一下——在量能下滑的情況下，現場層級具體採取了哪些行動或倡議來因應這些挑戰，特別是在成本控制、留任人力以及管理投入成本方面，謝謝？

Yes. So a lot of them are just in place. We -- I think I've spoken before that the field has the ability when volumes are down to manage labor costs. How many people were bringing in part-time help versus full-time help. And so they're really good at leveraging that model without us having to say anything.

好的。其中很多其實本來就已經到位。我想我之前提過，當量能下滑時，現場有能力去管理人力成本。例如要引進多少兼職人力、相對於全職人力。所以他們非常擅長運用這個模式，而不需要我們特別交代。

So a lot of that's just built into the DNA, built into the systems that we utilize. And so they're very good at leveraging those costs, and we really don't have to say a thing. So I feel good about the team's ability to pivot. And when you get that volume back, it's going to be -- the incremental margins on these things are huge.

所以很多做法已經內建在我們的 DNA 裡，也內建在我們使用的系統裡。因此他們很擅長運用這些成本槓桿，我們真的不需要多說什麼。所以我對團隊轉向調整的能力很有信心。而當量能回來時——這些業務的增量毛利率會非常可觀。

And so I look out at the rest of the year and say, when that comes, we're going to have some nice comps to go back against the prior year quarter. So that's predominantly it.

所以我看今年剩下的時間會覺得，當那個量能回來時，我們相對於去年同期會有不錯的比較基期。大致上就是這樣。

Clearly, we'll talk about you can manage travel cost, you can do different things, but we're really focused on the long term in making sure that we've got high-quality service that we're taking care of our customers and taking care of our employees and the volumes will come. So that's our position.

當然，我們也會談到你可以管理差旅成本、你可以做不同的事情，但我們真正聚焦的是長期：確保我們提供高品質服務、照顧客戶、照顧員工，而量能終究會回來。這就是我們的立場。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Scott Snavergo, Oppenheimer.

Scott Snavergo，Oppenheimer。

Thanks very much. I have two preneed questions, one cemetery, one funeral. I'll start with cemetery. You guys outlined a bunch of initiatives, Tom, you did about what you're doing head down and seminars, and it sounds like a lot of good progress on that front. So a two-part question. what's the sustainability of it?

非常感謝。我有兩個預售（preneed）問題，一個關於墓園（cemetery），一個關於殯儀（funeral）。我先從墓園開始。你們提出了一系列倡議，Tom，你也談到你們在增加人頭數與舉辦說明會（seminars）方面的投入，聽起來這方面有不少進展。所以我有一個兩段式問題：這樣的成果可持續性如何？

And then historically, you guys have provided what large sale contribution is and maybe what non-large sales contribution is in the quarter. Can you share a little bit about that in the first quarter and how you see that shaping up over the balance of the year as well?

另外，過去你們通常會提供本季大型銷售（large sale）的貢獻，以及可能非大型銷售的貢獻。你能否分享一下第一季的情況，以及你如何看待今年剩餘期間的走勢？

Sure. Scott, the -- if you just start with the cemetery, I think I mentioned, we had $32 million of production growth, $20 million of which was year-over-year improvement in the large sales and again, defined as $100,000 sales or better.

當然可以。Scott，如果先從墓園談起，我想我提過，我們的產出（production）成長了 3,200 萬美元，其中 2,000 萬美元是大型銷售的年對年改善；大型銷售的定義同樣是單筆 10 萬美元或以上。

And then $12 million of it came from what we call the core business. And the preponderance of that was in velocity. So we didn't have -- I think our average revenue per contract was slightly up, but most of it came from velocity.

另外有 1,200 萬美元來自我們所說的核心業務（core business）。其中大部分來自成交速度（velocity）。所以我們並沒有——我想每份合約的平均收入略有上升，但主要貢獻來自成交速度。

So that's kind of the breakdown. I think if you're talking about large sales, I think we ended in like the low $40 million for the quarter, and that's a solid quarter for us, particularly with the new we used to use $80,000, that limit now it's $100,000. So that was a big win.

所以大致上就是這樣的拆解。如果你談大型銷售，我想本季大概落在 4,000 多萬美元的低段，這對我們來說是很扎實的一季，尤其是我們新的門檻——以前用的是 8 萬美元，現在門檻是 10 萬美元。所以這是一個很大的勝利。

But I think the bigger win, like I've said before, the large sales are going to come when they come. It's hard to -- sometimes they're going to push into a different quarter sometimes not. But what I'm really pleased about is I think we've now had 4 or 5 quarters in a row where we've seen contract velocity increase.

但我認為更大的勝利，如我之前說過，大型銷售該來的時候就會來。很難——有時候它們會遞延到不同季度，有時候不會。但我真正感到高興的是，我認為我們已經連續 4 或 5 個季度看到合約成交速度提升。

And again, put that back to what I mentioned before is Jay and the team focusing on the key metrics that are going to drive those contracts. And seminars is a key thing, head count is a key thing and really pushing the lead sources outside of the funeral home to be able to grow even when you have challenging volume environment.

而且，再把它連回我之前提到的：Jay 和團隊聚焦在能推動合約的關鍵指標。說明會是關鍵，人頭數是關鍵，並且大力推動從殯儀館以外的線索來源（lead sources），使我們即便在量能環境具挑戰時仍能成長。

The other thing I'll mention we talked about it earlier since you asked, the cremation cemetery strategy.

另外一點，既然你問到，我們先前也提過：火化墓園策略（cremation cemetery strategy）。

I think we talked to you guys a while back that it's our belief based upon some studies and surveys that we did with consumers that there's a real lack of understanding of what we have to offer to the cremation consumer on the cemetery side. So we were good at the funeral side, but we weren't getting the pin across at least consistently.

我想我們之前跟各位談過，根據我們對消費者做的一些研究與調查，我們相信在墓園端，火化消費者對於我們能提供什麼其實存在很大的理解落差。所以我們在殯儀端做得不錯，但至少在一致性上，我們沒有把訊息傳達到位。

So we worked really hard, and we actually piloted 10 markets in the first quarter. And I would tell you that it was very successful. And again, it's only 10 markets.

因此我們非常努力，並且在第一季於 10 個市場進行試點。我可以告訴你，成效非常好。當然，這目前也只有 10 個市場。

I don't want to get overly excited, but it's really focusing on communicating with the consumer through advertising, through in lobby presentations, different types of media and presentation materials. And what we're seeing was a real difference maker in those 10 markets versus what we saw in the other markets.

我不想過度興奮，但重點是透過廣告、透過大廳內（in lobby）的簡報、不同類型的媒體與簡報素材，來聚焦與消費者溝通。而我們看到的是，這 10 個市場相較於其他市場，確實帶來了很大的差異。

So that's just on its beginning and we're intending to roll out, I think, another 80 or so markets in July. So really, really happy about that, that we feel like that's a market that we haven't addressed as aggressively as we should have been, and we're on it now. So a lot of good momentum on the cemetery sales side and feel good about directionally where we're headed

所以這才剛開始，我們打算在 7 月再推廣到大約另外 80 個市場。所以我們對此非常、非常滿意；我們覺得這是一個我們過去沒有像應該那樣積極經營的市場，而我們現在正在全力投入。因此墓園銷售端有很多正向動能，我們也對方向性上將走向何處感到樂觀。

Great, thanks. Appreciate that color. The second question, the funeral -- is funeral at preneeds, excuse me, funeral preneed. I'm just curious, I mean, this is not a 1-quarter dynamic.

好的，謝謝。感謝你提供的補充說明。第二個問題，關於殯葬——是殯葬的預先需求，抱歉，是殯葬預售（preneed）。我只是好奇，我的意思是，這不是單一季度的動態。

This has been ongoing, but you're delivering very strong preneed funeral growth in an environment where volumes in at need funeral are challenged. So maybe there's a bit of overlap in what this answer is going to be, but how have you been doing that? Can you just speak to what's the strength behind the premium funeral? Thanks.

這一直在持續，但你們在「即時需求」（at-need）殯葬量承壓的環境下，仍交出非常強勁的殯葬預售成長。所以也許這個答案會和前面有些重疊，但你們是怎麼做到的？你能談談高端殯葬（premium funeral）背後的強勁動能是什麼嗎？謝謝。

Yes. I think a couple of things. First and foremost, you're exactly right, I'm going to say the same thing, particularly the seminars. The seminars are put on in markets they probably are not at one of our locations. They're probably at a restaurant, somewhere a hotel.

是的。我想有幾點。首先也是最重要的，你說得完全正確，我可能會講同樣的事情，特別是研討會（seminars）。研討會舉辦的市場，通常不是在我們的某個據點。它們可能在餐廳、或某個飯店之類的地方。

So the draw that you're getting for the attendees has nothing to do with your funeral home traffic. So over time, I think we're pushing more and more of these leads outside of our locations, and therefore, we're less sensitive to volumes as they walk through the door. So I think our focus on that particularly probably has driven a lot of it. The other thing that I would not point out to you is, we had a lot of change in our preneed funeral, right?

所以吸引參與者前來的誘因，與你們殯儀館的來客量無關。因此隨著時間推進，我認為我們把越來越多的這些潛在客戶線索（leads）推到據點之外，因而對「走進門」的量就沒那麼敏感。所以我認為我們對這一點的聚焦，尤其可能推動了很大一部分成長。另外一點我也要提醒你的是，我們的殯葬預售業務確實經歷了很多變化，對吧？

We had a new partner in our insurance core business, and we had SCI Direct last year that was transitioning from a trust product to an insurance product.

我們在保險核心業務上有了新的合作夥伴，而且去年 SCI Direct 也正從信託產品轉換為保險產品。

So just think of the forms, the explanation, the presentations, there's a lot of detail that goes into that, and it was a bit of a distraction, over, call it, a 12 to 18 month period.

所以你想想表單、說明、簡報，裡面有很多細節要處理，這在大約 12 到 18 個月期間算是一種分心因素。

And I think what I'm pointing out now is, hey, that's behind us. I mean, obviously, we'll get better and better at utilizing the new contracts, the new tools, the new payment plans, but we're really starting to see that stride take.

而我現在要指出的是，嘿，這些都已經過去了。我的意思是，當然，我們會越來越擅長運用新的合約、新的工具、新的付款方案，但我們真的開始看到步伐上來了。

And then again, I would point back to the lead sources are more outside the funeral home and we're able to generate better leads, have better closing rates. And so some of the same things we talk about on the cemetery side.

然後同樣地，我會再回到一點：線索來源更多是在殯儀館之外，我們能產生更好的線索、也有更好的成交率。所以這跟我們在墓園（cemetery）端談到的一些事情是相同的。

Understood. Thanks. Appreciate it. I'll turn it over.

了解。謝謝。很感謝。我把時間交回去。

Tobey Sommer, Truist.

Tobey Sommer，Truist。

Good morning. This is Tyler Barishsaw on for Toby. Just want to double click on the cremation in the cemetery. Point you just made, when you think about maybe run rate, when this is that full implementation, do you have a sense for how much this could contribute or margin opportunity maybe?

早安。我是 Tyler Barishsaw，代替 Toby 發言。我想再深入追問一下墓園端的火化（cremation）。就你剛剛提到的點，當你思考可能的運行水準（run rate），在全面落地（full implementation）之後，你是否對它可能帶來多少貢獻或毛利機會有概念？

Yes. I think where it's going to show up is in revenue growth and pretty high-margin products. We really don't -- and I hesitate to do that, Tyler, because like I said, 10 markets does not make an initiative.

是的。我認為它會體現在營收成長，以及相當高毛利的產品上。我們其實不——我有點猶豫要不要這樣說，Tyler，因為如我所說，10 個市場還不足以構成一項計畫（initiative）。

So feel free to ask me as we continue how successful it is. But I would just tell you, we're very excited because in each of these 10 markets, it exceeded the average of everybody else in some markets by quite a bit.

所以隨著我們持續推進，你可以再來問我它有多成功。但我可以告訴你，我們非常興奮，因為在這 10 個市場中，它都超過了其他所有市場的平均水準，有些市場甚至高出不少。

And I think it's just -- it's an obvious, we woke up one day and said, we're not -- we don't have a way to get in front of the consumer in a consistent way to educate them about it.

而我認為這就是——很明顯的，我們某天醒來發現，我們並沒有一個一致的方法能持續地站到消費者面前，去教育他們這件事。

And again, when we did this consumer survey research, it really was eye-opening to us, and we learned a lot about, hey, maybe we're focusing too much on funeral and burial, and we've got to have the tools and the resources to educate these consumers.

而且同樣地，當我們做了這個消費者調查研究時，對我們來說真的很有啟發，我們學到很多：嘿，也許我們太把重心放在殯葬與土葬（burial）上了，我們必須具備工具與資源來教育這些消費者。

So I don't have a number for you yet. I think it will just be a nice complementary growth to all the other things that we've got going as I mentioned before, with lead sources and growing the sales force numbers. So a lot of good momentum.

所以我現在還沒有一個數字可以給你。我認為它會成為一個很好的互補性成長，搭配我先前提到的其他所有事情，包括線索來源與擴大銷售人力規模。所以動能很不錯。

Makes sense. And then just thinking about the funeral segment, how should we think about margins for the year on a gross margin basis despite the funeral volume contraction?

合理。另外再想一下殯葬事業部（funeral segment），儘管殯葬量下滑，今年在毛利率（gross margin）層面，我們應該怎麼看待全年毛利？

Yes. I mean if you obviously, out of the gate, I think we talked before, if we got to flat funeral volume, we think we could grow margins, call it, 40 basis points to 60 basis points going forward.

是的。我的意思是，如果你——很明顯地，一開始我們之前談過，如果殯葬量能做到持平（flat），我們認為未來毛利率可以提升，大概 40 到 60 個基點（bps）。

And we talked about the sensitivity, right? So if you back into 80% gross margins on funerals lost, you can back into the number. So at this point, we'd be forecasting that margins are going to be slightly down for the year. Versus what we experienced in the prior year.

我們也談過敏感度，對吧？所以如果你用殯葬流失的 80% 毛利率去回推，你就能算出那個數字。所以在目前這個時間點，我們的預測是今年毛利率會小幅下滑。相較於我們前一年所經歷的水準。

Having said that, once again, comps are a rare thing, I like our comp first quarter 2027, right? I mean I think we might have a pretty good one.

話雖如此，再說一次，可比基期（comps）是很少見的事情，我喜歡我們 2027 年第一季的可比基期，對吧？我的意思是，我覺得那可能會是一個相當不錯的可比。

So it is what it is, but I think for this year, you'd anticipate that our gross margin percentage will be slightly down as compared to the prior year number. And then go back to that can we grow it at 40 bps to 60 bps, I think so. Give us flat to slightly up volume and we'll do that. And if you give us a little bit more volume, it will be a lot more.

所以情況就是如此，但我認為今年你會預期我們的毛利率百分比會較前一年略為下降。然後回到那個問題：我們能不能把它提高 40 到 60 個基點？我認為可以。只要給我們持平到小幅成長的量，我們就能做到。如果量再多一點，提升幅度會大很多。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Joanna Gajuk, Bank of America.

Joanna Gajuk，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

Oh, yes, hi. Good morning. Thanks so much for taking the question here. So, I guess maybe just follow-up on the seminar, because clearly that's where the outperformance was. And I'm sorry if I missed it. So, how do you kind of thinking about the full year now, versus your prior expectations for growing low single to mid-single digits? And I guess can you also break it for us, if you can, expectations for the large versus core sales performance for the year?

喔，是的，嗨。早安。非常感謝讓我在這裡提問。所以，我想也許再追問一下研討會，因為顯然超預期表現是在那裡。如果我漏聽了也抱歉。所以你們現在對全年展望是怎麼想的，相較於先前預期的低個位數到中個位數成長？另外，如果可以的話，你們能否幫我們拆分一下：今年大型銷售（large sales）與核心銷售（core sales）的表現預期？

Sure, Joanna. So I think on the cemetery, you're right, we guided to low to mid-single-digit I'd say, based on the performance we saw in the first quarter, we're confident in saying it's mi single digit. And that would be somewhere between 4% and call it, 7%, depending on how the year shake out. that's kind of where our head is. Then if you go to -- when you think about the breakout we obviously had quite a good comparison in the first quarter.

當然，Joanna。所以我想在墓園端，你說得對，我們原先指引是低到中個位數；以第一季看到的表現來看，我們有信心說是中個位數。大概會落在 4% 到 7% 之間，取決於今年後續的走勢。這大概是我們目前的想法。然後如果你看——當你思考拆分時，我們第一季顯然有一個相當不錯的可比基期。

It was an easier comp. If you go back to last year, we didn't have a great large sale quarter. So we beat it by quite a bit. But I think both -- we expect both channels to end up being nice growth trajectories. Obviously, we've got quite a great growth trajectory in the first quarter, and that's going to come down over time as we got tougher comps.

那是一個比較容易的可比。如果回看去年，我們的大型銷售季度表現並不強。所以我們這次超過了不少。但我認為兩個——我們預期兩個通路最後都會呈現不錯的成長軌跡。當然，我們第一季的成長軌跡非常好，而隨著可比變得更嚴苛，這個增速會隨時間下降。

But we still feel like we can grow both channels in the remaining nine months on a year-over-year basis. And again, large sales are harder to predict because they come when they come.

但我們仍然覺得，在接下來九個月，兩個通路都能在年對年基礎上成長。而且再說一次，大型銷售比較難預測，因為它們就是在該來的時候才會來。

And sometimes they slip from June to July or they slip from September to October. And that's okay because eventually, we'll get them. So we feel good about both channels and I think overall expected growth rate is in the mid-single digits.

有時候它們會從6月延到7月，或從9月延到10月。但這沒關係，因為最終我們都會把它們拿下。所以我們對兩個通路都感到樂觀，我認為整體預期成長率大約在中個位數。

Does that answer your question, Joanna?

這有回答到你的問題嗎，Joanna？

Oh, yes. Hi. So, yes, I have a follow-up, actually. I was talking about, I was muted, so take some. So, yes, I was asking, so, yes, with this growth now for the cemetery, three sets, more like mid-single digits.

喔，有。嗨。所以，是的，我其實有個追問。我剛剛在講的時候被靜音了，所以請稍等一下。所以，是的，我想問的是，現在墓園這邊的成長，三個面向來看，比較像是中個位數。

How should we think about your assumptions around the gross margin in that segment? It sounds like the funeral segment, why with the volumes being down, the gross margin will be lower. So should we expect better, I guess, margin here, given the kind of the elevated growth?

我們應該如何看待你們對該分部毛利率的假設？聽起來殯葬（funeral）分部因為量下滑，毛利率會比較低。那麼在墓園這邊，考量到成長相對較高，我們是否應該預期毛利率會更好？

Yeah, I mean, if we get the growth rates, we think, you probably should see gross margins grow anywhere from 60 basis points to, call it, 100 basis points, 120 basis points for the year.

是的，我的意思是，如果我們達到那些成長率，我們認為你們應該會看到毛利率全年提升大約60個基點到——大概——100個基點、120個基點。

If we can get. 4% revenue growth on the cemetery, we can grow at about, call it, 50 basis points, 60 basis points. So if we end up in the five or six, you'd see a little better.

如果墓園營收成長能做到4%，我們大概可以讓毛利率提升約50個基點、60個基點。所以如果最後落在5%或6%，你會看到更好一些。

So we got nine months to go, we'll see. But overall, we'd expect cemetery margins to go up for the year and like I said, funeral to be slightly down.

我們還有九個月要走，拭目以待。但整體而言，我們預期墓園毛利率全年會上升，而如我所說，殯葬（funeral）會小幅下滑。

And if I may, last question on the capital deployment and specifically the acquisitions. So are you seeing sort of more interest, less interest, any competitive dynamics around multiples and search?

如果可以的話，最後一題關於資本配置，特別是併購。你們看到的是興趣變多、變少，或是在倍數與尋找標的方面有任何競爭態勢的變化嗎？

And it sounds like you mentioned before that this volume decline, a funeral volume decline in Q1 was kind of broad day, but I think if I read it from you said something along the lines that some of your competitors are actually doing worse. So is it changing sort of your outlook in terms of consolidation opportunities? Thank you.

另外聽起來你們先前提到，第一季殯葬量下滑算是普遍現象；但我記得你說過類似這樣的話：你們有些競爭對手其實表現更差。那這是否會改變你們對整併機會的展望？謝謝。

Well, Joanna, this is Eric. I think we'll continue to be very excited about the pipeline. We have a lot in the pipeline right now. We closed about $25 million so far in the first quarter, a couple more in April as well. And it continues to build.

Joanna，我是Eric。我想我們會持續對併購案源（pipeline）感到非常興奮。我們目前案源很多。第一季到目前為止我們已完成約2,500萬美元的交易，4月也又完成了幾筆。而且案源還在持續累積。

It takes time to make sure that we have a win-win situation with the third, fourth, fifth generation families, but we continue to be excited about it, and I think it will be a good story, the rest of the year.

要確保與第三、第四、第五代家族達成雙贏需要時間，但我們仍然很期待，我認為今年剩下的時間會是個不錯的故事。

In terms of funeral volumes, we just have CDC data like you do. We obviously have heard our vendors and other vendors and such.

就殯葬量而言，我們跟你一樣只有CDC的數據。我們當然也聽到我們的供應商以及其他供應商等方面的回饋。

And it sounds like that maybe we're a little bit better than what some of the other figures that are out there, including the CDC probably a little bit better in January and February, which is out there in the public realm. So that's all we're saying. It's clear to us that this is not a SCI market share issue during the first quarter.

聽起來也許我們的表現比外界一些數字稍微好一點，包括CDC在1月與2月公布在公共領域的數據，我們可能也略好一些。所以我們只是這麼說。我們很清楚，第一季這不是SCI市占率的問題。

We've definitely seen it before, but ultimately, these volumes, I don't think short term like this is going to affect the M&A program to come full circle back to the original part of your question.

我們以前確實也看過這種情況，但最終，像這樣短期的量變化，我不認為會影響併購計畫——回到你問題最初的那一部分。

It's a long-term process with long-term relationships. We'll continue to work those long-term relationships, and we feel pretty good about what's ahead of us in terms of the pipeline.

這是一個建立在長期關係上的長期流程。我們會持續經營這些長期關係，而且就案源而言，我們對未來相當有信心。

Okay. If I may squeeze in a last one. And sorry, going back to your outlook for the year. So just to make sure, right, you kind of talk about the funeral volumes worse, and I guess that comes with lower margins, but the cemetery better and then potentially, if this gets closer to like 6%, 7%, the gross profit margin would be even better. Your guidance trend for, your EPS is pretty wide. So is there something to be said about orienting as to what's on and or the other out there range?

好的。如果可以我再塞最後一題。抱歉，回到你們對全年展望。所以確認一下：你提到殯葬量較差，我想這會帶來較低的毛利率；但墓園較好，而且如果更接近6%、7%，毛利率會更好。你們對EPS的指引區間很寬。那在這個區間內，有沒有什麼可以說明偏向哪一端、或是有哪些因素在驅動？

No, Joanna. I think Obviously, with funeral volumes the way they are, we didn't perform at a level we originally wanted to do. So it all kind of gets back to how much comes back in the back half of the year. And so we still feel comfortable about it. I think what you're saying is it is a large range.

沒有，Joanna。我想很明顯地，依照目前殯葬量的狀況，我們的表現沒有達到原本想要的水準。所以一切都回到下半年能回補多少。因此我們仍然對此感到有把握。我想你說得對，這確實是一個很大的區間。

Right now, with the funeral volumes the way they are, you're probably more likely to be in the lower half of the range versus the higher, but we're not there yet because again, if these volumes come back, if we continue the trends we're seeing in cemetery, we could push in the upper half of this too.

以目前殯葬量的狀況來看，你可能更有機會落在區間的下半部而不是上半部；但我們現在還不能下定論，因為如果這些量回來、如果墓園延續我們看到的趨勢，我們也可能推進到上半部。

So that's why we left it where it is. We honestly have a couple of different -- a variety of models and some of which, if we get some print volume back, we can do really well this year. If you don't, clearly, you're going to be in the lower end of that range.

所以這就是我們維持原指引不變的原因。老實說，我們有幾種不同——各式各樣的模型；其中一些模型如果殯葬量回來一些，我們今年就能做得非常好。如果沒有回來，很明顯你就會落在那個區間的低端。

All right. So you're still standing by the branch, right? And the midpoint kind of looks good. All right. Thank you so much. Thanks for all the questions.

了解。所以你們仍然維持那個區間（range），對吧？而中位數看起來也不錯。好。非常謝謝。謝謝回答我所有問題。

Okay.

好的。

A.J. Rice, UBS.

UBS的A.J. Rice。

Hi, everybody. Just a couple of things to tie it all up. Just you mentioned a couple -- been asked a couple of times about the large sales. I know you've got a lot of initiatives in the cemetery side, sales and marketing initiatives -- do you think that there are any of those that are particularly directed towards the large sales so that this level of performance might be a more sustainable thing? Or is it still going to be more quarter-to-quarter volatility depending on what comes in, in any given quarter?

各位好。我有幾點想把整體串起來。剛剛你們提到幾次——也被問了幾次——關於大額銷售（large sales）。我知道你們在墓園端有很多計畫、銷售與行銷的推動——你們認為其中是否有任何一項是特別針對大額銷售，讓這樣的表現更具可持續性？還是說仍會依每一季實際進來的案子而有較大的季對季波動？

Yes. I think, A.J., a couple of things to answer that. And overall, let me just say it's a positive. I think the large sale concept we now have in a lot more areas of the country. So we really -- obviously, Rose Hills and some of the California parks in Vancouver, we've had large sales for a long time.

是的。A.J.，我想用幾點來回答。整體而言，我先說這是正面的。我認為我們現在在全國更多地區導入了大額銷售的概念。所以我們確實——當然，像Rose Hills以及加州的一些園區、還有溫哥華，我們做大額銷售已經很久了。

Now we continue to, I think, build even more spectacular properties that are higher level. I think what we find is as we build bigger and better things, you're surprised by the people that will buy them.

現在我們持續——我想——打造更出色、等級更高的物件。我們發現，當我們打造更大、更好的產品時，你會對願意購買的人感到驚訝。

So the average ticket will go up, and that's one way to drive your sales and then the other is velocity. And 1 of the things we've done, particularly in the Asian communities in the Chinese and Vietnamese in particular, we take Ching Ming as an opportunity to present new inventory.

因此平均客單價會上升，這是一種推動銷售的方法；另一個則是銷售速度（velocity）。我們做的一件事，特別是在亞裔社群、尤其是華人與越南社群，我們把清明（Ching Ming）當作推出新庫存的機會。

I think we did Qingming in three markets, if you go back 10 years, and now, Jay, we probably do it in 30 markets across the country.

如果回到10年前，我想我們只在三個市場做清明活動；而現在，Jay，我們大概在全國30個市場都在做。

So I do think there's a likelihood to have more consistency in these numbers. And so the only thing I caution A.J., I think it's going to continue to grow, it's going to get better, is you could have a quarter where it's down $10 million this quarter and then you're up $15 million next quarter. So

所以我確實認為，這些數字更有可能會變得更一致。因此我唯一要提醒你的是，A.J.，我認為它會持續成長、會變得更好，但你可能會遇到某一季本季少了1,000萬美元、下一季又多了1,500萬美元的情況。所以

I never get that excited about large sales. It's a little bit like Eric is talking about visibility on acquisitions. We know the pipeline. We know the discussions that are happening.

我從來不會因為大額銷售就特別興奮。這有點像 Eric 在談併購的能見度。我們知道管線。我們知道正在進行的討論。

When someone's going to spend $5 million, $10 million, Jay knows about it and he's telling me about it. So we're talking about it, and these aren't sales that happen in a day. They've got attorneys evolved.

當有人要花500萬、1,000萬美元時，Jay 會知道，並且會告訴我。所以我們會討論，而且這些不是一天之內就會發生的銷售。他們有律師參與。

They've got -- I want to design a particular building. So we're seeing the customers that are out there interested in our creative inventory interested in personalizing it and so that's why we feel highly confident.

他們有——我想設計一棟特定的建築。所以我們看到外面有客戶對我們的創意庫存感興趣、也想要客製化，這就是為什麼我們非常有信心。

We've got more inventory on the ground to sell and we're getting better and better at it, and we're doing it in more and more places.

我們在地面上有更多庫存可以銷售，而且我們做得越來越好，也在越來越多地方推進。

It's not just in California in Vancouver anymore. We're getting those sales in Missouri and obviously, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee Nevada, obviously, Texas, too.

不再只是加州和溫哥華而已。我們在密蘇里也有這些銷售，當然還有佛羅里達、北卡羅來納、田納西、內華達，當然也包括德州。

So just seeing it in more locations, more pockets and excited about the future and the things that we can continue to do and in stressing the imagination and I'd love to have a $20 million private sale one day, right? I mean it sounds incredible, but it will happen. Somebody will get it.

所以只是看到它出現在更多地點、更多區域，對未來以及我們能持續做的事情感到興奮，也在激發想像力；而且有一天我也很想做成一筆2,000萬美元的私人銷售，對吧？我是說，聽起來很不可思議，但它會發生的。總會有人買單。

Yes. And I appreciate Eric's comments on the trust fund earnings and returns and that dipped in the first quarter but has rebounded early in the second. Is there anything -- I know that, that volatility in the trust fund returns tends to take a lot longer to show up in the results. Is there anything you're trying to signal with respect to the impact it may have had in the first quarter? Or positioning us for the second quarter to think about that? Or are you just making note of the fact that it's been involved.

是的。我也感謝 Eric 對信託基金收益與報酬的評論，第一季確實下滑，但第二季初已經反彈。有沒有什麼——我知道信託基金報酬的波動通常要更久才會反映在結果上。你們是否想提示第一季可能造成的影響？或是讓我們在看第二季時把這點納入考量？還是你們只是提一下它一直都有波動？

I mean more of the latter. It's a lot like predicting volume with what's going on in the world, A.J., right? I mean I think trust will be somewhere between $300 million and $350 million, call it, $325 million at the midpoint, that's a pretty wide range for me to say three months into it. But that's the volatility that we all know that we have out there in the markets. But we're mark to market every month. So we're pushing stuff through every month -- but the contracts have to mature out of that backlog that's mark-to-market is why it becomes a muted effect over a longer period of time.

我的意思比較偏後者。這很像在預測在全球局勢下的量能，A.J.，對吧？我的意思是，我認為信託基金大概會在3億到3.5億美元之間，就取中間值3.25億美元好了；以才過了三個月就這樣講，對我來說這個區間很寬。但這就是我們都知道市場上存在的波動。不過我們每個月都按市價評價（mark to market）。所以我們每個月都會把東西反映進去——但合約必須從那個按市價評價的遞延（backlog）中到期釋出，這也是為什麼它會在較長期間內呈現較為緩和的影響。

Right. No, that makes sense. And then just an interesting comment you had. And I'm just wondering how much of an impact that's having and is this just sort of an unusual thing in the quarter now? You said that you had above inflation, fixed cemetery maintenance cost, sort of what's going on there? Was that just sort of a 1 quarter phenomenon? Or is there some level of incremental spend you're having to do on cemetery maintenance is going to persist?

了解。不，這很合理。然後你有一個有趣的評論。我只是想知道這影響有多大，以及這是否只是本季比較不尋常的情況？你說你們的墓園維護成本是固定的、而且漲幅高於通膨，這裡到底發生了什麼？那只是單一季度的現象嗎？還是你們在墓園維護上必須增加的支出會持續存在？

Well, I think we've -- this is the category that's hardest. And again, it's very labour-intensive. You're talking about water, you're talking about fertilizers, you're talking about equipment. It's a big, big expense. Some of it's outsourced.

嗯，我想我們——這是最難的一個類別。而且再說一次，它非常勞力密集。你談的是用水、肥料、設備。這是一筆非常、非常大的費用。其中一部分是外包的。

Some of it's in-sourced. And it just tends to be the one that's hardest to control. And also, I think it's a reflection of how does your park look. And for us, because we've got great cemetery sales, we've got all this high-end inventory, we're spending money to make it special. And so I'm not surprised by it.

有些是內部自營。而它往往是最難控制的一項。另外，我認為這也反映在你的園區看起來如何。對我們來說，因為我們的墓園銷售表現很好，又有這些高端庫存，我們會花錢把它做得更特別。所以我對此並不意外。

It's just sometimes we'll manage to say cemetery maintenance could be 3% to 4%. But if it comes in at 5%, it's a little bit over, right? So that's the kind of thing, A.J., I wouldn't expect it to trend down or anything like that. But I think we're getting better at controllable buckets of that cost where it will look more like inflation that's in the marketplace versus slightly ahead. So it's -- we're getting there.

只是有時候我們會管理到墓園維護費用占比可能是3%到4%。但如果最後是5%，那就有點超出，對吧？所以這類事情，A.J.，我不會期待它會往下趨勢之類的。但我認為我們在那些可控的成本項目上會做得更好，讓它看起來更像市場上的通膨，而不是略高於通膨。所以——我們正在往那個方向前進。

Okay. All right. Well, thanks so much.

好的。好。非常感謝。

Thank you, AJ.

謝謝你，AJ。

Parker Snure, Raymond James.

Parker Snure，Raymond James。

Hey, yeah, just one more follow-up. Can you just remind us on the timing of Qingming and when that selling season kind of ends up flowing through your numbers?

嗨，是的，再追問一個。你能再提醒我們清明節的時間點，以及那個銷售旺季大概何時會反映到你們的數字上嗎？

From my understanding, it's kind of late first quarter, early second quarter. But just how much was Qingming attributable to some of the pre-need cemetery sales in the first quarter? And just how do you expect that overall season to kind of play out?

依我的理解，大概是第一季末、第二季初。但第一季的部分預售（pre-need）墓園銷售，有多少是由清明節帶動的？以及你們預期整體旺季會如何發展？

It's usually late March and early April, Parker. So it actually crosses over the quarter. And it depends on -- each market has events for the community, community-facing events. And it kind of depends on when they plan it to be honest with you, and where the end of the month lands. I don't think this was any out of the ordinary of a prior year or anything like that.

通常是三月下旬到四月上旬，Parker。所以它其實會跨季度。而且要看——每個市場都會為社區舉辦活動、面向社區的活動。老實說，這有點取決於他們把活動排在什麼時候，以及月底落在什麼時點。我不認為這次有什麼不同於往年的異常情況。

I don't think it was a huge, larger piece or a much smaller piece in the first quarter than the first quarter of 25%. So I think it's just kind of right on pace Tom's comment was more about that's a great opportunity to lay out your new larger sales, though, and your plans for that, which we utilized a lot across some of our larger cemeteries.

我不認為第一季占比會比25%那一季的第一季大很多或小很多。所以我認為就是大致按進度；Tom 的評論更多是說，這是一個很好的機會來展示你們新的、更大額的銷售，以及相關規劃，而我們在一些較大型的墓園也大量運用了這點。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，很棒。謝謝。

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

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。我現在想把會議交回給 SCI 管理層作結語。

Thank you, everybody, for the time today. We appreciate you. We look forward to talking to you with our second quarter results in July. Have a great week.

謝謝各位今天撥冗參與。我們很感謝各位。我們期待在七月公布第二季結果時再與各位交流。祝各位本週愉快。

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending to this presentation. You may now disconnect

謝謝。本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加本次簡報。您現在可以斷線。