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CARRIAGE SERVICES Carriage Services Announces Record First Quarter Results April 21 , 2021 HOUSTON , April 21 , 2021 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Carriage Services , Inc. ( NYSE : CSV ) today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31 , 2021. Mel Payne , Chairman and CEO , stated , " We had a record first quarter performance in four of five operating and financial reporting segments to start 2021 , as Total Revenue increased $ 19.1 million or 24.7 % to $ 96.6 million , Field EBITDA increased $ 15.7 million or 52.1 % to $ 45.8 million , Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA increased $ 11.8 million or 51.7 % to $ 34.7 million , Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased $ 14.5 million or 115.3 % to $ 27.1 million , and Adjusted Diluted EPS increased $ 0.46 or 131.4 % to $ 0.81 compared to $ 0.35 in 2020. Our Field Margins in all five segments continued to be extraordinarily high compared to 2020 , reflected by a Total Field EBITDA Margin of 47.4 % , up 860 basis points , Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin of 35.9 % , up 640 basis points , and Adjusted Free Cash Flow Margin of 28.1 % , up 1,180 basis points . Our credit profile continued to rapidly improve as reflected by a reduction in our Total Debt to EBITDA Ratio from 4.4 times at December 31 , 2020 ( Total Debt of $ 461.1 million / EBITDA of $ 104.3 million ) to 3.8 times ( Total Debt of $ 439.4 million / Rolling Four Quarter EBITDA of $ 116.1 million ) . We have achieved a reduction in our Total Debt to EBITDA Leverage Ratio of 2.2 times in only 15 months ( from 6.0 times at January 3 , 2020 to 3.8 times at March 31 , 2021 ) , a truly remarkable achievement whose story was fully told and explained in my recent 50 page 2020 Shareholder Letter with the cover theme , " A TALE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE TRANSFORMATION . " The balance of this 2021 first quarter earnings release will be equivalent to an extension of my 2020 Shareholder Letter , i.e. a journey through " highly transparent " high performance data sequentially shown on the following pages as follows : • First Quarter 2021 Comparative Performance Highlights ; • Five Quarter Trend Report ending March 31 , 2021 ; • Same Store Funeral Revenue Monthly Trends and Drivers Six Months Ending March 2021 ; • First Quarter 2021 versus 2020 Variable Overhead / Incentive Compensation Comparison ; and • Rolling Four Quarter Outlook ending March 31 , 2022 and Updated and Increased Two Year Scenario 2021/2022 . FIRST QUARTER 2021 COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS • Total Revenue of $ 96.6 million compared to $ 77.5 million , an increase of 24.7 % ; • Total Field EBITDA of $ 45.8 million compared to $ 30.1 million , an increase of 52.1 % ; • Total Field EBITDA Margin of 47.4 % compared to 38.8 % , an increase of 860 basis points ; • Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA of $ 34.7 million compared to $ 22.8 million , an increase of 51.7 % ; • • Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin of 35.9 % compared to 29.5 % , an increase of 640 basis points ; Adjusted Diluted EPS of $ 0.81 compared to $ 0.35 , an increase of 131.4 % ; Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $ 27.1 million compared to $ 12.6 million , an increase of 115.3 % ; • Adjusted Free Cash Flow Margin of 28.1 % compared to 16.3 % , an increase of 1,180 basis points ; • Total Debt reduction during the first quarter of $ 21.7 million ( 4.7 % ) to $ 439.4 million ; • Net Income of $ 12.9 million , an increase of $ 17.1 million equal to 408.1 % ; and • GAAP Diluted EPS of $ 0.71 , an increase of $ .94 per share equal to 408.7 % . FIVE QUARTER TREND REPORT We report our performance results publicly using the same highly transparent Non - GAAP " Trend Reports " that we use internally and which have been explained in previous shareholder letters , including Five Year and Five Quarter Trend Reports that reflect long and short term trends in our core operating , financial and overhead sectors over time . Shown below are highlights from our Five Quarter Trend Report that clearly reflect the accelerating transformative performance process that has occurred at Carriage over the last 15 months . FIVE QUARTER OPERATING AND FINANCIAL TREND REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ( 000's except for volume , averages & margins ) Funeral Same Store Contracts Average Revenue Per Contract ( 1 ) Funeral Same Store Burial Contracts Funeral Same Store Burial Rate Average Revenue Per Burial Contract Funeral Same Store Cremation Contracts Funeral Same Store Cremation Rate Average Revenue Per Cremation Contract Funeral Same Store Revenue Funeral Same Store EBITDA 1ST QTR 2020 9,058 2ND QTR 3RD QTR 2020 9,056 2020 4TH QTR 2020 1ST QTR 9,420 10,172 2021 11,028 $ 5,155 $ 4,891 $ 5,069 $ 5,158 $ 5,140 3,339 $ 36.9 % 9,069 $ 4,985 3,273 36.1 % 8,688 $ 5,199 3,370 3,777 4,038 $ 55.0 % 3,299 $ 57.4 % 3,075 $ 35.8 % 8,984 5,382 57.1 % 3,285 37.1 % 36.6 % $ 9,013 $ 8,987 $ 5,697 56.0 % 3,251 6,285 57.0 % $ 3,294 $ 46,696 $ 44,297 $ 47,750 $ 52,472 $ 56,683 $ 18,062 $ 18,726 $ 19,906 $ 23,115 $ 25,812