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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (713) 522-5141
The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant (assuming that the registrant’s only affiliates are its executive officers and directors) was $8,302,629,479 based upon a closing market price of $46.78 on June 30, 2019 of a share of common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange.
The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of February 14, 2020 was 180,778,030 (net of treasury shares).
Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement in connection with its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (Part III).
2 Service Corporation International
Combination Location (Combos) — Locations where a funeral service location is physically located within or adjoining an SCI owned cemetery location.
FORM 10-K 3
4 Service Corporation International
We are North America’s largest provider of deathcare products and services, with a network of funeral service locations and cemeteries unequaled in geographic scale. At December 31, 2019, we operated 1,471 funeral service locations and 482 cemeteries (including 290 funeral service/cemetery combination locations), which are geographically diversified across 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
We are well known for our Dignity Memorial® brand, North America's first transcontinental brand of deathcare products and services. Our other brands include Dignity Planning™, National Cremation Society®, Advantage® Funeral and Cremation Services, Funeraria del Angel™, Making Everlasting Memories®, Neptune Society™ and Trident Society™. Our funeral service and cemetery operations consist of funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other related businesses, which enable us to serve a wide array of customer needs. We sell cemetery property and funeral and cemetery merchandise and services at the time of need and on a preneed basis.
We were incorporated in Texas in July of 1962. Our original business plan was based on efficiencies of scale, specifically reducing overhead costs by sharing resources such as preparation services, back office administration support, transportation, and personnel among funeral service locations in a business “cluster.” After proving the plan’s effectiveness in Houston in the early 1960s, we set out to apply this operating strategy through the acquisition of deathcare businesses in other markets over the next three decades. Beginning in 1993, we expanded beyond North America, acquiring major deathcare companies in Australia, the United Kingdom, and France, plus smaller holdings in other European countries and South America.
During the mid to late 1990s, acquisitions of deathcare facilities became extremely competitive, resulting in increased prices for acquisitions and substantially reduced returns on invested capital. In 1999, we significantly reduced our level of acquisition activity and over the next several years implemented various initiatives to pay down debt, increase cash flow, reduce overhead costs, increase efficiency, and leverage our scale. We divested our international businesses and many North American funeral service locations and cemeteries that were either underperforming or did not fit within our long-term strategy. At the same time, we began to capitalize on the strength of our network by introducing to North America the first transcontinental brand of deathcare services and products — Dignity Memorial® (see www.dignitymemorial.com). Information contained on our website is not part of this report.
In late 2006, having arrived at a position of financial stability and improved operating efficiency, we acquired the then second largest company in the North American deathcare industry, Alderwoods Group. In early 2010, we acquired the then fifth largest company in the North American deathcare industry, Keystone North America. In June of 2011, we acquired 70% of the outstanding shares of The Neptune Society, Inc. (Neptune), which is the nation's largest direct cremation organization, now known as SCI Direct. Subsequently, in 2013 and 2014, we acquired the remaining 30% of the outstanding shares of Neptune. In December 2013, we purchased Stewart Enterprises, Inc. (Stewart), the then second largest operator of funeral service locations and cemeteries in North America. We continue to pursue strategic acquisitions, some of which can be meaningful, such as the fifteen funeral homes and seven cemeteries we acquired in June of 2018.
FORM 10-K 5
Our funeral service and cemetery operations consist of funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other related businesses. See Note 13 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, for financial information about our business segments and geographic areas.
We have the largest number of combination locations in North America. Funeral service/cemetery combination locations are businesses in which a funeral service location is physically located within or adjoining a cemetery that we own. Combination locations allow certain facility, personnel, and equipment costs to be shared between the funeral service location and cemetery locations. Such combination facilities typically can be more cost competitive and have higher gross margins than funeral and cemetery operations that are operated separately. Combination locations also create synergies between funeral and cemetery preneed sales force personnel and give families added convenience to purchase both funeral and cemetery merchandise and services at a single location.
We also sell cemetery property interment rights and funeral and cemetery merchandise and services whereby a customer contractually agrees to the terms of certain products and services to be delivered and performed in the future. We define these sales as preneed sales. As a result of such preneed sales, our preneed backlog of unfulfilled funeral and cemetery contracts was $12.0 billion and $11.1 billion at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
The following table at December 31, 2019 provides the number of our funeral service locations and cemeteries by country, and by state, territory, or province:
6 Service Corporation International
FORM 10-K 7
We believe we have satisfactory title to the properties owned and used in our business, subject to various liens, encumbrances, and easements that are incidental to ownership rights and uses and do not materially detract from the value of the property. At December 31, 2019, we owned approximately 87% of the real estate and buildings used at our facilities, and the remainder of the facilities were leased under both finance and operating leases. At December 31, 2019, our 482 cemeteries contained a total of approximately 35,500 acres, of which approximately 66% was developed.
Our corporate headquarters are located at 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019. The property consists of approximately 160,000 square feet of office space and 185,000 square feet of parking space on approximately seven acres. We also lease approximately 35,000 square feet of office space in Houston, Texas, which we utilize for corporate activities. We own a building in Jefferson, Louisiana with approximately 96,200 square feet of office space that we use, in part, for corporate activities.
We believe we have an unparalleled network of funeral service locations and cemeteries that offer high quality products and services at prices that are competitive with local competing funeral service locations, cemeteries, and retail locations. Within this network, the funeral service locations and cemeteries operate under various names as most operations were acquired as existing businesses. We have co-branded the majority of our operations under the name Dignity Memorial®. We believe our branding strategy gives us a strategic advantage and identity in the industry. While this branding process is intended to emphasize our seamless national network of funeral service locations and cemeteries, the original names associated with acquired operations, and their inherent goodwill and heritage, generally remain the same. For example, Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors is now Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors, a Dignity Memorial® provider.
8 Service Corporation International
We are the largest consolidated deathcare company in North America and believe we are well positioned for long-term profitable growth. Over the next several years, our industry will be largely shaped by the aging of the Baby Boomer generation in the deathcare space and we are poised to benefit from the aging of this North American population. In each stage of life, Baby Boomers have set new trends, transformed society and redefined norms, and we believe the impact will be the same for our industry. We have already begun to see the impact of the Baby Boomers through the growth in our preneed cemetery sales program. We anticipate seeing a similar impact on our preneed funeral results and ultimately our atneed results as these preneed contracts mature. In every aspect of our business, we are listening and responding to our customer’s changing needs and leveraging our scale to deliver unparalled experiences - both digitally and in person - to meet those changing needs.
Our three core strategies continue to grow the Company and enhance shareholder value and while we see a changing consumer, we believe these strategies are still the core of our foundation: 1) grow revenue, 2) leverage our unparalled scale, and 3) deploy capital.
We plan to grow revenue by remaining relevant to our customers as their preferences evolve through a combination of price, product, and service differentiation strategies. We also believe that growing our preneed sales will drive future revenue growth.
Remaining Relevant to the Customer. Remaining relevant to our customer is key to generating revenue growth in a changing customer environment. We are constantly evolving to meet the varying preferences and needs of our customers. Whether a customer chooses burial or cremation, a population of Baby Boomers are redefining the traditional funeral by transitioning away from mourning the death to a personalized celebration of life ceremony. In certain markets, we are responding to this trend by repurposing traditional casket selection rooms to event rooms designed for a celebration. We have replaced the casket selection process by offering a digital presentation of options that allows the customer to choose merchandise and services including unique celebration, catering, and celebrant services.
In our funeral business, we focus on memorialization merchandise and services that will be meaningful to both our burial and cremation customers. The trend towards cremation requires us to be much more flexible in providing products and services. We have developed cremation service packages, which may or may not include a celebratory memorialization.
In our cemetery business, we continue to grow revenue by responding to the customer’s desire for personalized and unique options by expanding our tiered product and cemetery property options. Over the past several years, we have substantially increased our property options to offer many unique choices. From high-end family estates, which capture incredible views, to nicely landscaped hedge estates, we continue to develop property selections that resonate with our customers. For cemetery merchandise, we have developed innovative products such as recurring floral placements, customized cemetery property offerings, and specialized graveside service options. We continue to embrace cremation opportunities for customers in our cemetery segment by offering an increased variety of cremation property options, including niches and scattering gardens.
As we evolve to meet ever-changing customer preferences, we will continue to cater to the religious, ethnic, and cultural traditions important to many of our customers.
Growing Preneed Sales. Our preneed sales program drives current and future revenue growth. We believe Baby Boomers have been impacting our cemetery preneed sales for several years and are beginning to positively impact the growth of our preneed funeral sales programs. Our sales organization is supported by a highly trained sales force of approximately 4,000 counselors, who provide customers informed guidance about various service and merchandise options tailored to fit the needs of today’s consumers. Utilizing our scale our counselors are reaching out to consumers through multiple lead channels, which drive future revenue growth. We sponsor community events and seminars to help educate and provide guidance around preplanning both funeral and cemetery services and merchandise. In 2019, we adopted a more sophisticated direct mail approach and we continue to increase our digital presence through search engine optimization and other marketing channels. We believe we have a unique competitive advantage to continue growing preneed sales benefiting from our size and scale. Our preneed program provides us with an opportunity to develop greater brand awareness, gives consumers peace of mind about their end of life arrangements, and secures future market share.
FORM 10-K 9
As the largest deathcare company in North America, we are able to leverage our scale by developing our sales organization and optimizing the use of our network through the use of technology and for the benefit of our preneed backlog. Our large scale enables us to achieve cost efficiencies through the maximization of purchasing power and utilizing economies of scale through our supply chain channel.
Developing Our Sales Organization. Over the last several years, we have continued to invest significantly in the development of our sales organization with best in class tools and technologies. These investments include a customer relationship management system, Salesforce, which drives improvements in productivity and sales production by leveraging data analytics, rigorous lead tracking and effective follow up campaigns. We continue to diversify our sales force to understand and cater to the religious, ethnic, and cultural traditions important to our customers. Our premier combination locations and other large and recognizable cemeteries and funeral homes attract high-quality sales talent. Our scale allows us to operate and expand our sales organization in a manner that our competitors can not replicate.
Optimizing Our Network and Deploying Customer-Facing Technology. We continue to drive operating discipline and leverage our scale through standardizing processes and capitalizing on new technologies to improve the customer experience. Our advancements in technology are changing the way we present our product and service offerings to customers. Our atneed point of sale system, HMIS+, uses a digital platform enabled with high resolution video and photographs to create a seamless presentation of our products and service offerings. Our newly implemented and mobile preneed sales system, Beacon, provides customers with a full digital presentation experience in their home or other place of their choosing.
In 2018, we completed a redesign of almost 2,000 Dignity Memorial® location websites. Featuring a modern and user-friendly design, these location-specific websites have been optimized for mobile use and updated with enhanced search engine optimization capability. In addition to the contemporary and sophisticated design, client families now enjoy new features such as a streamlined obituary completion process, social media sharing capabilities, and the ability to create and share personalized content in memory of their loved one. In 2019, our websites experienced significant growth in number of visits, which reached nearly 130 million visits.
During 2019, we took significant steps to improve the quality of customer feedback and elevate our online reputation. We engaged a third party to increase the response rate from customers for online reviews and we have seen a significant increase in the number of reviews over the past year. Online reviews provide visibility of customer engagement down to the location level and increase our response time to address customer concerns. We collaborated with a leading technology partner to deliver the J.D. Power surveys digitally, which has increased the quantity and quality of customer feedback and reduced the time it takes to receive customer feedback. In late 2019, we established a social media presence for a number of our funeral and cemetery businesses. These digital efforts have resulted in favorable customer satisfaction ratings and increased digital sales leads.
Growing Our Preneed Backlog. Our preneed backlog, which includes both insurance and trust-funded merchandise and service products, allows us the opportunity to grow future revenue in a more stable and efficient manner than selling at the time of need. The scale of our multi-billion dollar trust portfolios allows us to leverage access to preeminent money managers with favorable fee structures generating above average returns. Our blended funding approach between insurance and trust-funded merchandise and service products allows us to combine the positive cash flow and predictability of the insurance product with the potential upside of future returns from our trusted merchandise and service products. This blended approach results in our ability to grow our preneed backlog in a cash flow neutral manner. Additionally, we are experiencing contracts coming out of the backlog today to be serviced with growth rates that are superior to inflationary at-need pricing.
We continue maximizing capital deployment opportunities in a disciplined and balanced manner to the highest relative return opportunity. Our strong liquidity, favorable debt maturity profile, and robust cash flow generation enables us to continue our long-standing commitment to use capital deployment to opportunistically grow our business and enhance shareholder value. Our priorities for capital deployment are: 1) investing in acquisitions and building new funeral service locations, 2) paying dividends, 3) repurchasing shares, and 4) managing debt.
Investing in Acquisitions and Building New Funeral Service Locations. We manage our footprint by focusing on strategic acquisitions and building new funeral service locations where the expected returns are attractive and exceed our weighted average cost of capital. We target businesses with favorable customer dynamics and/or where we can achieve additional economies of scale. In 2019, we increased our growth capital spend on new funeral service locations to grow our footprint into new communities as well as expansions of existing locations to remain relevant with our customers. For our cemetery businesses, we plan to pursue strategic acquisitions to create more opportunities to serve Baby Boomers through our tiered cemetery options. During 2019, we acquired land that will be developed for future cemetery use in some of our largest
markets to remain relevant with our customer. This investment in our future will allow us to continue to create cemetery offerings that appeal to varying preferences in those markets for many years to come.
Paying Dividends. Our quarterly dividend rate has steadily grown from $0.025 per common share in 2005 to $0.18 per common share at the end of 2019. We target a payout ratio of 30% to 40% of after tax earnings excluding special items and intend to grow our cash dividend commensurate with the growth in our business.
Repurchasing Shares. Absent opportunities for strategic acquisitions, we expect to continue to repurchase shares of our common stock in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions, debt covenants, and normal trading restrictions. The volume and timing of our purchases is determined as we evaluate the opportunity to capture value for our shareholders. Since 2010, we have reduced the number of shares outstanding by 25%. In August 2019, our Board of Directors increased our repurchase authorization to $400.0 million. The remaining dollar value of shares authorized to be purchased under the share repurchase program was $312.0 million at December 31, 2019. Subsequent to December 31, 2019, we repurchased 475,476 shares for $22.2 million at an average cost per share of $46.69.
Managing Debt. We continue to focus on maintaining optimal levels of liquidity and financial flexibility. Our flexible capital strategy allows us to make open market debt repurchases when it is opportunistic to do so to manage our debt maturity profile. During 2019, we had an opportunity to reduce our debt by repurchasing $46.5 million of certain senior notes through open market repurchases. We viewed these transactions as strategic and attractive from a valuation perspective.
At December 31, 2019, we employed 16,320 individuals on a full-time basis and 8,274 individuals on a part-time basis. Of the full-time associates, 14,029 were employed in the funeral and cemetery operations and 2,291 were employed in corporate or other overhead activities and services. All eligible associates in the United States who so elect are covered by our group health and life insurance plans. Associates covered by a collective bargaining agreement are typically covered by union health plans and therefore do not participate in our health insurance plan. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, there were 9,528 and 9,362 associates, respectively, who had elected to participate in our group health insurance plans. Eligible associates in the United States are covered by retirement plans of SCI or various subsidiaries, while international associates are covered by other SCI (or SCI subsidiary) defined contribution or government-mandated benefit plans. Approximately 2.5% of our associates are represented by unions. Although labor disputes occur from time to time, relations with associates are generally considered favorable.
Federal, state, and local legislative bodies and regulatory agencies (including Canadian legislative bodies and agencies) frequently propose new laws and regulations, some of which could have a material effect on our operations and on the deathcare industry in general. We cannot accurately predict the outcome of any proposed legislation or regulation or the effect that any such legislation or regulation might have on us.
We make available free of charge, on or through our website, our annual, quarterly, and current reports and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing such reports with the Securities
FORM 10-K 11
and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our website is http://www.sci-corp.com and our telephone number is (713) 522-5141. We also post announcements, updates, events and investor information and presentations on our website in addition to copies of all recent news releases. We may use the Investors section of our website to communicate with investors. It is possible that the financial and other information posted there could be deemed material information. Each of our Board of Directors’ standing committee charters, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Ethics for Board Members, and our Code of Conduct for Officers and Employees are available, free of charge, through our website or, upon request, in print. We will post on our internet website all waivers to or amendments of our Code of Conduct for Officers and Employees, which are required to be disclosed by applicable law and rules of the New York Stock Exchange listing standards. Information contained on our website is not part of this report. The SEC also maintains an internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically.
12 Service Corporation International
In connection with our preneed merchandise and service sales and our cemetery property sales, most affiliated trust funds own investments in equity securities, fixed income securities, commingled funds, money market funds, and mutual funds. The fair value of these investments and our earnings and investment gains and losses on these securities and funds are affected by financial market conditions that are beyond our control. Additionally, we may not choose the optimal mix of securities for any particular market condition.
The following table summarizes our investment returns (realized and unrealized), excluding certain fees, on our trust funds:
Generally, earnings or gains and losses on our trust investments are recognized and we withdraw cash when the underlying merchandise is delivered, service is performed, or upon contract cancellation. Our cemetery perpetual care trusts recognize earnings, and in certain states, capital gains and losses or fixed percentage distributions. We withdraw allowable cash when we incur qualifying cemetery maintenance costs.
If the investments in our trust funds experience significant declines in 2020 or subsequent years, there could be insufficient funds in the trusts to cover the costs of delivering merchandise and services or maintaining cemeteries in the future. We may be required to cover any such shortfall with cash flows from operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. For more information related to our trust investments, see Note 3 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
If the fair value of these trusts, plus any other amount due to us upon delivery of the associated contracts, were to decline below the estimated costs to deliver the underlying products and services, we would record a charge to earnings to record a liability for the expected losses on the delivery of the associated contracts. As of December 31, 2019, no such charge was required in any reported period.
In certain states and provinces, we have withdrawn allowable distributable earnings, including unrealized gains, prior to the maturity or cancellation of the related contract. Additionally, some states have laws that either require replenishment of investment losses under certain circumstances or impose various restrictions on withdrawals of future earnings when trust fund values drop below certain prescribed amounts. In the event of market declines that result in a severe decrease in trust fund value, we may be required to replenish amounts in the respective trusts in some future period. As of December 31, 2019, we had unrealized losses of $12.0 million in the various trusts within these states. See Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements, Contractual Obligations, and Commercial and Contingent Commitments in Part II, Item 7.
FORM 10-K 13
Our strategic plan is focused on growing our revenue, leveraging our scale, and deploying our capital. Many of the factors that impact our ability to execute our strategic plan, such as the number of deaths and general economic conditions, are beyond our control. Changes in operating conditions, such as supply disruptions and labor disputes, could negatively impact our operations. Our inability to leverage scale to drive cost savings, productivity improvements, preneed production, or earnings growth anticipated by management could affect our financial performance. Our inability to identify acquisition candidates and to complete acquisitions, divestitures, or strategic alliances as planned or to successfully integrate acquired businesses and realize expected synergies and strategic benefits could impact our financial performance. Our inability to deploy capital to maximize shareholder value could impact our financial performance. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to execute any or all of our strategic plan. Failure to execute any or all of our strategic plan could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our Bank Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain leverage and interest coverage ratios. These covenants and coverage ratios may require us to take actions to reduce our indebtedness or act in a manner contrary to our strategic plan and business objectives. In addition, events beyond our control, including changes in general economic and business conditions, may affect our ability to satisfy these covenants. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default of our indebtedness. If we breach certain affirmative covenants or any negative covenants contained in our Bank Credit Facility, then, immediately upon notice from the administrative agent, an event of default will have occurred and the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding thereunder, together with accrued interest, immediately due and payable. If we breach any of the other affirmative covenants contained in our Bank Credit Facility, and such breach continues unremedied for 30 days after receipt of notice thereof, then an event of default will have occurred and the lenders party thereto could elect to declare all amounts outstanding thereunder, together with accrued interest, immediately due and payable. Any such declaration would also result in an event of default under our Senior Indenture governing our various senior notes. For additional information, see Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources in Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 6 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
We have entered into arrangements with certain surety companies whereby such companies agree to issue surety bonds on our behalf as financial assurance or as required by existing state and local regulations. The surety bonds are used for various business purposes; however, the majority of the surety bonds issued and outstanding have been issued to support our preneed funeral and cemetery activities. In the event all of the surety companies canceled or did not renew our surety bonds, which generally have twelve-month renewal periods, we would be required to either obtain replacement coverage or fund approximately $153.8 million into state-mandated trust accounts as of December 31, 2019. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain replacement coverage at a similar cost or at all.
14 Service Corporation International
Where permitted by state law, customers may arrange their preneed contract by purchasing a life insurance or annuity policy from third-party insurance companies. The customer/policy holder assigns the policy benefits to us as payment for their preneed contract at the time of need. If the financial condition of the third-party insurance companies were to deteriorate materially because of market conditions or otherwise, there could be an adverse effect on our ability to collect all or part of the proceeds of the life insurance policy, including the annual increase in the death benefit, if we fulfill the preneed contract at the time of need. Failure to collect such proceeds could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
As discussed in Note 9 of Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, we are subject to a variety of claims and lawsuits in the ordinary course of our business. Adverse outcomes in some or all of the pending cases may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us, as litigation and other claims are subject to inherent uncertainties. Any such adverse outcomes, in pending cases or other lawsuits that may arise in the future, could have a material adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
FORM 10-K 15
In addition to an annual review, we assess the impairment of goodwill and/or other intangible assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may be greater than fair value. Factors that could trigger an interim impairment review include, but are not limited to, a significant decline in our stock price, significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results, and significant negative industry or economic trends. If any of these factors occur, we may have a triggering event, which could result in an impairment of our goodwill and/or other intangible assets. If economic conditions worsen causing deterioration in our operating revenue, operating margins, and cash flows, we may have a triggering event that could result in an impairment of our goodwill and/or other intangible assets. Our cemetery segment, which has a goodwill balance of $328.9 million as of December 31, 2019, is more sensitive to market conditions and goodwill impairments because it is more reliant on preneed sales, which are impacted by customer discretionary spending. For additional information, see Critical Accounting Policies, Recent Accounting Pronouncements, and Accounting Changes in Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
In the ordinary course of our business, we and our vendors receive and retain certain personal information, in both physical and electronic formats, about our customers, their loved ones, our associates, and our vendors, and there is an expectation that we will adequately protect that information. In addition, our online operations at our websites depend upon the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks, including information permitting electronic payments. The U.S. regulatory environment surrounding information security and privacy is increasingly demanding. New laws and regulations governing data privacy, security, cybersecurity and the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, including recent California legislation, pose increasingly complex compliance challenges and potentially elevate our costs. Any failure by us to comply with these laws and regulations, including as a result of a security or privacy breach, could result in significant penalties and liabilities for us. A significant theft, loss or fraudulent use of the personally identifiable information we maintain or failure of our vendors to use or maintain such data in accordance with contractual provisions could result in significant costs, fines, litigation. Additionally, if we acquire a company that has violated or is not in compliance with applicable data protection laws, we may incur significant liabilities and penalties as a result.
We maintain substantial security measures and data backup systems to protect, store, and prevent unauthorized access to such information. Nevertheless, it is possible that computer hackers and others (through cyberattacks, which are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated, or by other means) might defeat our security measures in the future and obtain the personal information of customers, their loved ones, our associates, and our vendors that we hold. Further, our associates, contractors, or third parties with whom we do business may attempt to circumvent our security measures to misappropriate such information and may purposefully or inadvertently cause a breach, corruption, or data loss involving such information. A breach of our security measures or failure in our backup systems could adversely affect our reputation with our customers and their loved ones, our associates, and our vendors; as well as our operations, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows; and could result in litigation against us or the imposition of penalties. Moreover, a security breach could require that we expend significant additional resources to upgrade further the security measures that we employ to guard such important personal information against cyberattacks and other attempts to access such information and could result in a disruption of our operations.
16 Service Corporation International
A portion of our cash flows from operations will be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, including indebtedness we may incur in the future, and may not be available for other purposes, including to finance our working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and general corporate costs or other purposes.
In addition to our high level of indebtedness, we also have significant rental and other obligations under our operating and finance leases for funeral service locations, cemetery operating and maintenance equipment, and transportation equipment. These obligations could further increase the risks described above.
We rely extensively on information technology systems, some of which are managed or provided by third-party service providers, to analyze, process, store, manage, and protect transactions and data. In managing our business, we also rely heavily on the integrity of, security of, and consistent access to this data for information such as sales, merchandise ordering, inventory replenishment, and order fulfillment. For these information technology systems and processes to operate effectively, we or our service providers must periodically maintain and update them. Our systems and the third-party systems on which we rely are subject to damage or interruption from a number of causes, including power outages; computer and telecommunications failures; computer viruses; security breaches; cyber-attacks, including the use of ransomware; catastrophic events such as fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes; acts of war or terrorism; and design or usage errors by our associates, contractors, or third-party service providers. Although we and our third-party service providers seek to maintain our respective systems effectively and to successfully address the risk of compromise of the integrity, security, and consistent operations of these systems, such efforts may not be successful. As a result, we or our service providers could experience errors, interruptions, delays, or cessations of service in key portions of our information technology infrastructure, which could significantly disrupt our operations and be costly, time consuming, and resource-intensive to remedy.
In the ordinary course, our businesses have sold preneed funeral and cemetery contracts for decades. To the extent these contracts will not be funded with the assignment of the proceeds of life insurance policies, depending on applicable state laws, we could be responsible for escheatment of the portion of the funds paid that relate to contracts which we are unlikely to fulfill. For additional information, see Unclaimed Property Audit in Note 9 in Item 1 of Part 1 of this Form 10-K. The application of unclaimed property laws could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, cash flows, and financial results.
FORM 10-K 17
If the number of deaths in our markets declines, the number of funeral services and interments performed by us could decrease and our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected. Changes in the number of deaths may vary from quarter to quarter and across local markets, and those variations are not predictable. Variations in the death rate and seasonality of deaths throughout each year may also cause revenue to fluctuate between quarters or years.
There is a continuing upward trend in the number of cremations performed in North America as an alternative to traditional funeral service dispositions. In our operations during 2019, 56.8% of the comparable services we performed were cremation cases compared to 55.1% and 53.5% performed in 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our average revenue for cremations is lower than that for traditional burials. If we are unable to continue to expand our cremation memorialization products and services, and cremations remain or increase as a significant percentage of our services, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
The majority of our operations are managed in groups called “markets”. Markets are geographical groups of funeral service locations and cemeteries that share common resources such as operating personnel, preparation services, clerical staff, motor vehicles, and preneed sales personnel. We must incur many of these costs regardless of the number of services or interments performed. Because we cannot immediately decrease these costs when we experience lower sales volumes, a sales decline may cause our margin percentages to decline at a greater rate than the decline in revenue.
Our operations are subject to regulation, supervision, and licensing requirements under numerous foreign, federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and regulations, including extensive regulations concerning trust funds, preneed sales of funeral and cemetery merchandise and services, and various other aspects of our business. For example, the funeral industry is regulated at the federal level by the FTC, which requires funeral service locations to take actions designed to protect consumers. State law regulates preneed sales and imposes licensing requirements. Accordingly, we are subject to audits of preneed sales practices and state trust funds. Our facilities are also subject to stringent health, safety and environmental regulations. In particular, cremation and embalming facilities are subject to stringent health and environmental regulations, compliance with which is burdensome, and there are associated risks of costly and burdensome investigations from regulatory authorities or incidental non-compliance with such regulations. Our pay practices, including wage and hour overtime pay, are subject to federal and state regulations. Violations of applicable laws could result in fines or sanctions against us.
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In addition, from time to time, governments and agencies propose to amend or add regulations or reinterpret existing regulations, which could increase costs and decrease cash flows. For example, foreign, federal, state, local, and other regulatory agencies have considered and may enact additional legislation or regulations that could affect the deathcare industry. These include regulations that require more liberal refund and cancellation policies for preneed sales of products and services, limit or eliminate our ability to use surety bonding, require the escheatment of trust funds, increase trust requirements, require the deposit of funds or collateral to offset unrealized losses of trusts, and/or prohibit the common ownership of funeral service locations and cemeteries in the same market. Similarly, more stringent permitting or other environmental regulations, if adopted, could increase our costs. If adopted by the regulatory authorities of the jurisdictions in which we operate, these and other possible proposals could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Compliance with laws, regulations, industry standards, and customs concerning burial procedures and the handling and care of human remains is critical to the continued success of our business and any operations we may acquire. Litigation and regulatory proceedings regarding these issues could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Cemetery burial practice claims could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.Most of our cemeteries have been operating for decades and, therefore, may have used practices and procedures that are outdated in comparison to today's standards. When cemetery disputes occur, we may be subjected to litigation and liability for improper burial practices, including (1) burial practices of a different era that are judged today in hindsight as being outdated and (2) alleged violations of our practices and procedures by one or more of our associates. In addition, since most of our cemeteries were acquired through various acquisitions, we may be subject to litigation and liability based upon actions or events that occurred before we acquired or managed the cemeteries. Claims or litigation based upon our cemetery burial practices could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Information regarding legal proceedings is set forth in Note 9 of Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
FORM 10-K 19
The following table sets forth as of February 18, 2020, the name and age of each executive officer of the Company, the office held, and the year first elected an officer.
Mr. Ryan was elected Chairman of the Board of SCI effective in January 2016 and, previously, he had been appointed Chief Executive Officer in February 2005 and President in 2019. He joined the Company in 1996 and served in a variety of financial management roles until November 2000, when he was asked to serve as Chief Executive Officer of European Operations based in Paris, France. In July 2002, Mr. Ryan returned to the United States where he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of SCI. Before joining SCI, Mr. Ryan was a certified public accountant with Coopers & Lybrand LLP for eight years. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Ryan serves as a member of the University of Texas McCombs Business School Advisory Council. Mr. Ryan is a member of the Board of Trust Managers of Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) and the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK).
Mr. Waring, Senior Vice President, is responsible for North American Operations. He joined SCI in 1996 as Area Vice President of Operations when SCI acquired his family's funeral business. He was appointed President of the Northeast Region in 1999 and President of the Pacific Region in September 2001. In September 2002, Mr. Waring was appointed Vice President, Western Operations, a position he held until May 2004 when he was appointed Vice President, Major Market Operations. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2006. In May 2015, Mr. Waring's responsibilities were expanded to include all operations in North America. Mr. Waring holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stetson University, a degree in mortuary science from Mount Ida College, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Mr. Waring serves on the Board of Directors of BankFive and the Board of Trustees of Tabor Academy. He is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team for the Houston chapter of the American Heart Association.
Mr. Tanzberger was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in June 2006 and also served as Treasurer from July 2007 to February 2017. Mr. Tanzberger joined the Company in August 1996 and held various management positions prior to being promoted to Corporate Controller in August 2002. Before joining SCI, Mr. Tanzberger served as Assistant Corporate Controller at Kirby Marine Transportation Corp., an inland waterway barge and tanker company. He was also a certified public accountant with Coopers and Lybrand LLP. Mr. Tanzberger holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame. He serves on the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Trustees for the United Way of Greater Houston and the National Funeral Directors Association Funeral Service Foundation.
Mr. Sangalis joined the Company in 2007 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. In 2012, his responsibilities were expanded to include Human Resources. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Law and Administration for Team Inc., a leading provider of specialty industrial maintenance and construction services. Prior to that, Mr. Sangalis served as Managing Director and General Counsel of Main Street Equity Ventures II, a private equity investment firm, and as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Waste Management, Inc., the leading provider of waste management services in North America. Mr. Sangalis holds a bachelor's degree in finance from Indiana University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota. He earned his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he graduated Cum Laude.
Ms. Nash was named Senior Vice President of Operations Services in 2010 and is currently responsible for a variety of support functions, including information technology, supply chain, and program management. Prior to that she was Vice President of Process Improvement and Technology, where she led the redefinition of our field and home office processes and systems. Before joining SCI, Ms. Nash served in various senior management accounting and financial positions with
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Pennzoil Corp. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration in accounting from Texas A&M University. Ms. Nash serves on the Board of Directors of Genesys Works.
Mr. Faulk was named Senior Vice President of Revenue and Business Development in 2018. He joined SCI in March 2010 as Vice President, Business Development, to oversee the Company's strategic growth, including mergers and acquisitions, real estate and construction. His promotion in 2018 expanded his role to include setting direction for the company’s pricing and cemetery development functions. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Faulk worked for Bain & Company, Inc. where he helped Fortune 500 Companies and specialty retailers identify profit growth opportunities and achieve strong operating results. He holds a master's degree in business administration from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia.
Mr. Tidwell joined SCI as Vice President, Main Street Market Operations, in March 2010 and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and Merchandising in 2012. As a co-founder of Keystone North America, Inc., Mr. Tidwell served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from May 2007 until it was acquired by SCI in March 2010. In his role, Mr. Tidwell worked closely with Keystone's Senior Leadership Team to develop and implement organic growth strategies as well as external growth and acquisition strategies. He began his career as a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Nashville, Tennessee, and has been actively involved in the funeral, and cemetery profession for over thirty-seven years. He holds an associate of arts degree from John A. Gupton College and has attended Executive Management and Leadership programs at the Harvard Business School, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management, and the Center for Creative Leadership.
Mrs. Moore joined the Company in August 2002 as Manager of Financial Reporting. She was promoted to Director of Financial Reporting in 2004 and Managing Director and Assistant Controller in June 2006. In February 2010, she was promoted to Vice President and Corporate Controller and oversees trust, general accounting, internal and external reporting, customer service, and strategic planning and analysis. Prior to joining the Company, Mrs. Moore was a certified public accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration in accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
FORM 10-K 21
Our common stock has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since May 14, 1974. On December 31, 2019, there were 3,552 holders of record of our common stock. In calculating the number of stockholders, we consider clearing agencies and security position listings as one stockholder for each agency or listing. At December 31, 2019, we had 181,184,963 shares outstanding, net of 3,915,826 treasury shares.
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SCI.
Stock Performance Graph. The following graph assumes the total return on $100 invested on December 31, 2014, in SCI Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a peer group selected by the Company (the “Peer Group”).The Peer Group comprises Carriage Services, Inc., Hillenbrand Inc., and Matthews International Corp. Total return data assumes reinvestment of dividends.
Under our share repurchase program, during the year ended December 31, 2019, we repurchased 2,908,850 shares at an aggregate cost of $129.6 million, which is an average cost per share of $44.55. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we repurchased 7,347,838 shares at an aggregate cost of $277.6 million, which is an average cost per share of $37.78.
In August 2019, our Board of Directors increased our repurchase authorization for up to $400.0 million. The remaining dollar value of shares authorized to be purchased under the share repurchase program was $312.0 million at December 31, 2019. As discussed in Item 1A, our Bank Credit Facility contains covenants that may restrict our ability to repurchase our common stock.
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The following table summarizes our share repurchases during the three months ended December 31, 2019:
October 1, 2019 — October 31, 2019 (1)
(1) 9,478 shares purchased in October 2019 in connection with the surrender of shares by an associate to satisfy certain tax withholding obligations under compensation plans. These repurchases were not part of our publicly announced program and do not affect our share repurchase program.
Subsequent to December 31, 2019, we repurchased 475,476 shares for $22.2 million at an average cost per share of $46.69.
The data set forth below should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes to these consolidated financial statements. This historical information is not necessarily indicative of future results. The table below contains selected consolidated financial data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2015 through December 31, 2019.
Long-term debt (less current maturities), including finance leases
FORM 10-K 23
We are North America’s largest provider of deathcare products and services, with a network of funeral service locations and cemeteries unequaled in geographic scale and reach. At December 31, 2019, we operated 1,471 funeral service locations and 482 cemeteries (including 290 funeral service/cemetery combination locations), which are geographically diversified across 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Our funeral and cemetery operations consist of funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other related businesses, which enable us to serve a wide array of customer needs. We sell cemetery property and funeral and cemetery merchandise and services at the time of need and on a preneed basis.
Our financial position is enhanced by our $12.0 billion backlog of future revenue from both trust and insurance-funded preneed sales at December 31, 2019. Preneed selling provides us with a strategic opportunity to gain future market share. We also believe it adds to the stability and predictability of our revenue and cash flows. While revenue on the majority of preneed merchandise and service sales is deferred until the time of need, sales of preneed cemetery property provide opportunities for full current revenue recognition to the extent that the property is developed and available for use.
We have adequate liquidity and a favorable debt maturity profile, which allow us to return capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.
Factors affecting our operating results include: demographic trends in terms of population growth and average age, which impact death rates and number of deaths; establishing and maintaining leading market share positions supported by strong local heritage and relationships; effectively responding to increasing cremation trends by selling complementary services and merchandise; controlling salary and merchandise costs; and exercising pricing leverage related to our atneed revenue. The average revenue per funeral contract is influenced by the mix of traditional and cremation services because our average revenue for cremations is lower than that for traditional burials. To further enhance revenue opportunities, we continue to focus on our cremation customer’s preferences and remaining relevant by developing additional memorialization merchandise and services that specifically appeal to cremation customers. We believe the presentation of these additional merchandise and services through our customer-facing technology enhances our customer’s experience by reducing administrative burdens and allowing them to visualize the product offerings and services, which will help drive increases in the average revenue for a cremation in future periods.
For further discussion of our key operating metrics, see our "Cash Flow" and “Results of Operations” sections below. For a discussion of our results of operations and liquidity and capital resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, see Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 20, 2019.
We rely on cash flow from operations as a significant source of liquidity. Our cash flow from operating activities provided $628.8 million in 2019. In addition, as of December 31, 2019, we have $671.0 million in excess borrowing capacity under our Bank Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2019, we have $69.8 million in long-term debt current maturities, which primarily consist of current amounts due on the term loan and finance leases.
Our Bank Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain leverage and interest coverage ratios. As of December 31, 2019, we were in compliance with all of our debt covenants. Our financial covenant requirements and actual ratios as of December 31, 2019 are as follows:
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We believe that our unencumbered cash on hand, future operating cash flows, and the available capacity under our bank credit agreement will give us adequate liquidity to meet our short-term needs as well as our long-term financial obligations. Due to cash balances residing in Canada and minimum operating cash requirements, a portion of our cash on hand is encumbered.
Investing in Acquisitions and Building New Funeral Service Locations. We manage our footprint by focusing on strategic acquisitions and building new funeral service locations where the expected returns are attractive and exceed our weighted average cost of capital by a meaningful margin. We target businesses with favorable customer dynamics and/or where we can achieve additional economies of scale. We continue to pursue strategic acquisitions and build new funeral service locations in areas that provide us with the potential for scale. In 2019, we increased our growth capital spend on new funeral service locations and expansions of existing locations to expand our footprint into desirable markets and to remain relevant with our customers. For our cemetery businesses, we plan to pursue strategic acquisitions to create more opportunities to serve Baby Boomers through our tiered cemetery options. During 2019, we acquired land that will be developed for future cemetery use in some of our largest markets to remain relevant with our customer. This investment in our future will allow us to continue to create cemetery offerings that appeal to varying preferences in those markets for many years to come.
Paying Dividends. Our quarterly dividend rate has steadily grown from $0.025 per common share in 2005 to $0.18 per common share at the end of 2019. We target a payout ratio of 30% to 40% of after tax earnings excluding special items and intend to grow our cash dividend commensurate with the growth in our business. While we intend to pay regular quarterly cash dividends for the foreseeable future, all future dividends are subject to limitations in our debt covenants and final determination by our Board of Directors each quarter upon review of our financial performance.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $628.8 million, and $615.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, and 2018, respectively.
IRS tax settlement (1)
See discussion regarding the IRS tax settlement in Note 5 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements.
Excluding the above items, cash flow from operations increased $25.0 million for 2019 versus 2018. The 2019 increase over 2018 comprises:
a $96.0 million increase in cash receipts from customers, and
a $15.4 million increase in General Agency (GA) and other receipts; partially offset by
a $26.7 million increase in net trust deposits,
a $22.7 million increase in employee compensation,
a $17.7 million increase in vendor and other payments.
a $10.8 million increase in cash interest payments, and
a $8.5 million increase in cash tax payments,
Cash flows from investing activities used $278.5 million, and $414.6 million, in 2019, and 2018, respectively. The $136.1 million decrease from 2019 over 2018 is primarily due to the following:
a $120.6 million decrease in cash spent on business acquisitions,
a $39.8 million increase in cash receipts from divestitures and asset sales
a $14.9 million decrease primarily for the purchase of corporate land, and
a $0.9 million decrease in payments for Company-owned life insurance policies, net of proceeds, partially offset by
a $32.8 million increase in cash spent on real estate acquisitions for cemetery development,
a $4.4 million increase in capital expenditures, primarily due to construction of new funeral homes, and
a $2.9 million decrease in proceeds from sale of other investments.
Financing activities used $319.1 million in 2019 compared to using $329.2 million in 2018. The $10.1 million decrease from 2019 over 2018 is primarily due to:
a $162.3 million increase in debt payments, net of proceeds, and
a $7.6 million increase in payments of dividends; partially offset by
a $148.0 million decrease in purchase of Company common stock,
a $16.4 million increase in proceeds from exercises of stock options, and
a $15.6 million change in bank overdrafts and acquisition related financing.
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The following table details our known future cash payments (on an undiscounted basis) related to various contractual obligations as of December 31, 2019.
Debt maturities (including finance leases)(1) (2) (3)
Firm purchase agreement(8)
Excludes non-cash net premiums and original issuance discounts recorded on the debt. The unamortized balance of the net premiums and original issuance discounts at December 31, 2019 is $5.6 million.
Excludes non-cash debt issuance costs on the debt. The unamortized balance of debt issuance costs at December 31, 2019 is $34.9 million.
Approximately 69% of our total debt is fixed rate debt for which the interest obligation was calculated at the stated rate. Future interest obligations on our floating rate debt are based on the current forward rate curve of the underlying index. See Note 6 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information related to our future interest obligations.
Our operating leases primarily include funeral service real estate and office equipment for funeral service locations, cemetery locations, and administrative offices. See Note 8 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional details related to our leases.
We have entered into employment and management, consulting, and non-competition agreements that require us to make cash payments over the contractual period. The agreements have been primarily entered into with certain officers and associates and former owners of businesses acquired. Agreements with contractual periods less than one year are excluded. See Note 9 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional details related to these agreements.
See Note 12 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for discussion of our pension plans.
We have entered into a purchase commitment for certain merchandise for resale. The agreement is through 2021 and includes annual minimum volume purchase commitments.
The following table details our known potential or possible future cash payments (on an undiscounted basis) related to various commercial and contingent obligations as of December 31, 2019.
We have recorded a liability for unrecognized tax benefits and related interest and penalties of $2.0 million as of December 31, 2019. See Note 5 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data for additional information related to our uncertain tax positions.
FORM 10-K 27
We are occasionally required to post letters of credit, issued by a financial institution, to secure certain insurance programs or other obligations. Letters of credit generally authorize the financial institution to make a payment to the beneficiary upon the satisfaction of a certain event or the failure to satisfy an obligation. The letters of credit are generally posted for one-year terms and are usually automatically renewed upon maturity until such time as we have satisfied the commitment secured by the letter of credit. We are obligated to reimburse the issuer only if the beneficiary collects on the letter of credit. We believe it is unlikely we will be required to fund a claim under our outstanding letters of credit. As of December 31, 2019, $34.0 million of our letters of credit were supported by our Bank Credit Facility, which expires in May 2024.
Not included in the above table are potential funding obligations related to our merchandise and service trusts. In certain states and provinces, we have withdrawn allowable distributable earnings including unrealized gains prior to the maturity or cancellation of the related contract. Additionally, some states have laws that either require replenishment of investment losses under certain circumstances or impose various restrictions when trust fund values drop below certain prescribed amounts. In the event that our trust investments do not recover from market declines, we may be required to deposit portions or all of these amounts into the respective trusts in some future period. As of December 31, 2019, we had unrealized losses of $12.0 million in the various trusts within these states.
In support of our operations, we have entered into arrangements with certain surety companies whereby such companies agree to issue surety bonds on our behalf as financial assurance and/or as required by existing state and local regulations. The surety bonds are used for various business purposes; however, the majority of the surety bonds issued and outstanding have been used to support our preneed sales activities. The obligations underlying these surety bonds are recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as Deferred revenue, net. The breakdown of surety bonds between funeral and cemetery preneed arrangements, as well as surety bonds for other activities, is described below.
When selling preneed contracts, we may post surety bonds where allowed by state law. We post the surety bonds in lieu of trusting a certain amount of funds received from the customer. The $262.5 million in bonds supporting preneed funeral and cemetery obligations differs from the $153.8 million potential funding obligation disclosed in our “Commercial and Contingent Obligations” table above because the amount of the bond posted is generally determined by the total amount of the preneed contract that would otherwise be required to be trusted, in accordance with applicable state law, at the time we enter into the contract. We would only be required to fund the trust for the portion of the preneed contract for which we have received payment from the customer, less any applicable retainage, in accordance with state law. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, we had $24.2 million, $23.4 million, and $22.6 million, respectively, of cash receipts from sales attributable to bonded contracts. These amounts do not consider reductions associated with taxes, obtaining costs, or other costs.
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In addition to selling our products and services to client families at the time of need, we enter into price-guaranteed preneed contracts, which provide for future funeral or cemetery merchandise and services. Because preneed funeral and cemetery merchandise or services will generally not be provided until sometime in the future, most states and provinces require that all or a portion of the funds collected from customers on preneed contracts be deposited into merchandise and service trusts until the merchandise is delivered or the service is performed. In certain situations, as described above, where permitted by state or provincial laws, we may post a surety bond as financial assurance for a certain amount of the preneed contract in lieu of placing funds into trust accounts. Alternatively, we may sell a life insurance or annuity policy from third-party insurance companies.
Insurance-Funded Preneed Contracts: Where permitted by state or provincial law, we may sell a life insurance or annuity policy from third-party insurance companies, for which we earn a commission as general sales agent for the insurance company. These general agency commissions (GA revenue) are based on a percentage per contract sold and are recognized as funeral revenue when the insurance purchase transaction between the preneed purchaser and third-party insurance provider is completed. All selling costs incurred pursuant to the sale of insurance-funded preneed contracts are expensed as incurred. We do not reflect the unfulfilled insurance-funded preneed contract amounts in our Consolidated Balance Sheet. The proceeds of the life insurance policies or annuity contracts will be reflected in funeral revenue as we perform these funerals.
The table below details our results of insurance-funded preneed production and maturities.
Sales production (number of contracts) (1)
Amounts are not included in our Consolidated Balance Sheet
Trust-Funded Preneed Contracts: The funds collected from customers and required by state or provincial law are deposited into trusts. We retain any funds above the amounts required to be deposited into trust accounts and use them for working capital purposes, generally to offset the selling and administrative costs of our preneed programs. Although this represents cash flow to us, the associated revenues are deferred until the merchandise is delivered or services are performed (typically at maturity). The funds in trust are then invested by professional money managers with oversight by independent trustees in accordance with state and provincial laws.
FORM 10-K 29
The tables below detail our results of preneed production and maturities, excluding insurance contracts, for years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.
Backlog of Preneed Contracts: The following table reflects our backlog of trust-funded deferred preneed contract revenue, including amounts related to Deferred receipts held in trust at December 31, 2019 and 2018. Additionally, the table reflects our backlog of unfulfilled insurance-funded contracts (which are not included in our Consolidated Balance Sheet) at December 31, 2019 and 2018. The backlog amounts presented include amounts due from customers for undelivered performance obligations on cancelable preneed contracts to arrive at our total backlog of deferred revenue. The table does not include the backlog associated with businesses that are held for sale.
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The table also reflects our preneed receivables and trust investments associated with the backlog of deferred preneed contract revenue including the amounts due from customers for undelivered performance obligations on cancelable preneed contracts. We believe that the table below is meaningful because it sets forth the aggregate amount of future revenue we expect to recognize as a result of preneed sales, as well as the amount of funds associated with this revenue. Because the future revenue exceeds the assets, future revenue will exceed the cash distributions actually received from the associated trusts and future collections from the customer.
Amounts due from customers for unfulfilled performance obligations on cancelable preneed contracts (1)
Backlog of trust-funded deferred revenue, net of estimated allowance for cancellation
Insurance policies associated with insurance-funded deferred revenue (2)
Total assets associated with backlog of preneed revenue
Prior to adoption of "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" on January 1, 2018, amounts due from customers for unfulfilled performance obligations on cancelable preneed contracts were included in Preneed receivables, net and trust investments.
The fair value of our trust investments was based on a combination of quoted market prices, observable inputs such as interest rates or yield curves and appraisals. As of December 31, 2019, the difference between the backlog and asset market amounts represents $0.23 billion related to contracts for which we have posted surety bonds as financial assurance in lieu of trusting, $0.07 billion collected from customers that were not required to be deposited into trusts, and $0.22 billion in allowable cash distributions from trust assets. As of December 31, 2019, the fair value of the total backlog comprised $3.17 billion related to cemetery contracts and $8.82 billion related to funeral contracts. As of December 31, 2019, the fair value of the assets associated with the backlog of trust-funded deferred revenue comprised $2.93 billion related to cemetery contracts and $2.17 billion related to funeral contracts.
In addition to selling our products and services to client families at the time of need, we enter into price-guaranteed preneed funeral and cemetery contracts, which provide for future funeral or cemetery merchandise and services. Since preneed funeral and cemetery merchandise or services will generally not be provided until sometime in the future, most states and provinces require that all or a portion of the funds collected from customers on preneed funeral and cemetery contracts be paid into trusts and/or escrow accounts until the merchandise is delivered or the service is performed. Investment earnings associated with the trust investments are expected to mitigate the inflationary costs of providing the preneed funeral and cemetery merchandise and services in the future at the prices that were guaranteed at the time of sale.Also, we are required by state and provincial law to pay a portion of the proceeds from the preneed or atneed sale of cemetery property interment rights into perpetual care trusts. For these investments, the original corpus generally remains in the trust in perpetuity and the earnings or elected distributions are withdrawn as allowed to defray the expense to maintain the cemetery property. While many states require that net capital gains or losses be retained and added to the corpus, certain states allow the net realized capital gains and losses to be included in the earnings that are distributed. Additionally, some states allow a total return distribution that may contain elements of income, capital appreciation, and principal.
Historically, the cemetery perpetual care trusts' investment objectives, in accordance with state and provincial regulations, have emphasized providing a steady stream of current investment income with some capital appreciation in order to provide for the maintenance and beautification of cemetery properties. However, during 2016, SCI worked with several state legislatures to adjust laws and regulations to allow for a fixed distribution rate from cemetery perpetual care trusts' assets regardless of the level of ordinary income, similar to university endowments. As a result, beginning in 2017, a significant portion of our cemetery perpetual care trust assets were liquidated and reinvested in a more growth-oriented asset allocation with investment objectives similar to the funeral and cemetery merchandise and service trusts. As of December 31, 2019, the asset allocation is almost evenly split between income and growth orientations. We expect this asset allocation shift to enhance asset growth and provide further protection to our customers. Additionally, we expect more states to adopt total return distribution legislation in the coming years.
As of December 31, 2019 approximately 88% of our trusts were under the control and custody of three large financial institutions. The U.S. trustees primarily use four managed limited liability companies (LLCs), one for each merchandise and service trust type and two for the cemetery perpetual care trust type, each with an independent trustee as custodian. Each financial institution acting as trustee manages its allocation of trust assets in accordance with the investment policy through the purchase of the appropriate LLCs' units. For those accounts not eligible for participation in the LLCs or where a particular state's regulations contain other investment restrictions, the trustee utilizes institutional mutual funds that comply with our investment policy or with such state restrictions. The U.S. trusts include a modest allocation to alternative investments. These alternative investments are held in vehicles structured as LLCs and are managed by certain trustees. The trusts that are eligible to allocate a portion of their investments to alternative investments purchase units of the respective alternative investment LLCs.
Each financial institution, acting as trustee, manages its allocation of trust assets in compliance with the investment policy primarily through the purchase of one of four managed LLCs, matched to their trust type and each with a different, independent trustee acting as custodian. The managed LLCs use the following structures for investments:
Fixed income investments are intended to preserve principal, provide a source of current income, and reduce overall portfolio volatility. The majority of the fixed income allocation for the trusts is invested in institutional share class mutual funds. Where the trusts have direct investments in individual fixed income securities, these are primarily in government and corporate instruments.
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Equity investments have historically provided long-term capital appreciation in excess of inflation. The trusts have direct investments in individual equity securities primarily in domestic equity portfolios that include large, mid, and small capitalization companies of different investment styles (i.e., growth and value). The majority of the equity allocation is managed by institutional investment managers that specialize in an objective-specific area of expertise. Our equity securities are exposed to market risk; however, we believe these securities are well-diversified. As of December 31, 2019, the largest single equity position represented less than 1% of the total securities portfolio.
Private equity fund investments serve to provide high rates of return with reduced volatility and lower correlation. These investments are typically long term in duration. These investments are diversified by strategy, sector, manager, and vintage year. The investments consist of numerous limited partnerships, including but not limited to private equity, real estate, energy, infrastructure, transportation, distressed debt, and mezzanine financing. The trustees that have oversight of their respective alternative LLCs work closely with the investment advisor in making all investment decisions.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index increased 31.5% and the Barclay’s Aggregate Index increased 8.7%. This compares to the SCI trusts that increased 19.2% during the same year-end period, which have a diversified allocation of approximately 55% equities, 30% fixed income securities, 10% alternative and other investments with remaining 5% available in cash.
Results of Operations — Years Ended December 31, 2019 and 2018
In 2019, we reported consolidated net income attributable to common stockholders of $369.6 million ($1.99 per diluted share) compared to net income attributable to common stockholders in 2018 of $447.2 million ($2.39 per diluted share). These results were impacted by certain significant items including:
Pre-tax gains on divestitures and impairment charges, net
Pre-tax losses on early extinguishment of debt, net
See Note 5 in Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, for additional information related to change in uncertain tax reserves and other.
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In addition to the above items, the 2019 growth can be attributed to higher expenses in the prior year for our long-term incentive compensation plan that is tied to increases in total shareholder return. Increased interest expense related to refinancing activities were offset by the favorable impact from a lower share count in 2019. We also had a favorable tax rate compared to the prior year.
Consolidated funeral gross profit