Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) has reported a 24.05 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $4.13 million, or $0.22 a share in the quarter, compared with $5.43 million, or $0.31 a share for the same period last year. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $6.60 million, or $0.36 a share compared with $6.84 million or $0.39 a share, a year ago.
Revenue during the quarter went up marginally by 2.04 percent to $62.86 million from $61.61 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 194 basis points over the previous year period to 33.90 percent. Total expenses were 77.39 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 79.82 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 243 basis points in operating margin to 22.61 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $14.21 million, compared with $12.44 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $18.90 million compared with $17.85 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 110 basis points in the quarter to 30.07 percent from 28.97 percent in the last year period.
Mel Payne, chief executive officer, stated, "Consistent with our annual Good To Great theme of 'Carriage Services 2016: We Choose To Be Great', our 2016 performance was our eighth straight record annual performance with Total Revenue growth of 2.3% to $248.2 million, Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA growth of 3.6% to $73.7 million, Adjusted Diluted EPS growth of 9.5% to $1.62 and Adjusted Free Cash Flow growth of 7.8% to $47.0 million. Since we launched the Carriage Good To Great Journey at the end of 2011, our initial five year timeframe performance trends have been extraordinary and have produced a Total Shareholder Return of 417% including dividends."
For the fiscal year 2017, Carriage Services, Inc. expects revenue to be in the range of $263 million to $267 million. The company projects adjusted net income to be in the range of $30 million to $32 million. It projects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.73 to $1.77 on adjusted basis.
Operating cash flow remains almost stable
Carriage Services, Inc. has generated cash of $49.46 million from operating activities during the year, down 0.90 percent or $0.45 million, when compared with the last year.
Cash flow from investing activities was almost stable for the quarter at $45.28 million, when compared with the previous year period. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $12.46 million on net basis during the year, down 58.01 percent or $17.22 million from year ago.
The company has spent $1.43 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $4.30 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $3.29 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 514.21 percent or $2.75 million from $0.54 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital remains negative
Working capital of Carriage Services, Inc. was negative $11.31 million on Dec. 31, 2016 compared with negative $3.46 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 0.74 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 0.91 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Cash conversion cycle (CCC) was almost stable at 32 days for the quarter, when compared with the last year period. Days sales outstanding went up to 36 days for the quarter compared with 34 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding was almost stable at 7 days for the quarter, when compared with the last year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 11 days for the quarter from 9 for the same period last year.
Debt moves up marginally
Carriage Services, Inc. has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $339.90 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 4.47 percent or $14.55 million from $325.35 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 38.40 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 38.85 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.91 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 2.06 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 4.71 for the quarter from 4.31 for the same period last year.
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