Stewart Enterprises Q3 Profit Down - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Stewart Enterprises Inc. (STEI) reported that its third-quarter net earnings decreased to $8.28 million or $0.10 per share, from $9.64 million or $0.11 per share in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations was $8.0 million or $0.09 per share, down from $9.6 million or $0.11 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.12 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter declined to $127.06 million from $129.24 million in the prior year quarter. Four analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $131.26 million for the quarter.

Funeral revenue declined $0.2 million, or 0.3 percent, to $68.7 million for the third quarter of 2013. This decline was primarily due to a 0.4 percent decrease in same-store funeral services performed, coupled with a 0.7 percent decrease in same-store average revenue per funeral service. During the third quarter of 2013, the Company experienced a $0.7 million increase in revenue related to trust activities.

Thomas Kitchen, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The third quarter of 2013 proved to be a challenging period for the Company, with the pending merger with SCI and continued refinements to our sales initiatives..... Operating results were also impacted adversely by the timing of revenue recognition for cemetery construction projects and for cemetery property sales. As construction occurs and additional payments are received, these contracts will be recognized as revenue in the future. Additionally, margins for the quarter were negatively impacted due to expenses that exceeded the prior year quarter, particularly increased selling expenses for sales of preneed funerals, which are recognized currently while the related revenue is deferred to a future period."