StoneMor Partners L.P. Q4 Loss Narrows; Revenue Rises (STON)

On Friday, cemetery operator StoneMor Partners L.P. (STON) reported that its net loss for the fourth quarter narrowed from last year, aided by a 6.4% rise in revenue.STON’s Earnings in Brief

STON reported a Q4 net loss of $3.5 million, compared to a loss of $3.9 million a year ago. Revenue was $63.1 million, up from $59.3 million last year. For FY2013, the company reported a net loss of $19.0 million, compared to a loss of $3.0 million in 2012.  The large loss in 2013 was primarily due to costs related to the early retirement of senior notes. Revenue for the year rose to $246.6 million in 2013, from $242.6 million in 2012.

CEO Commentary

Lawrence Miller, President and CEO of STON commented: “StoneMor closed the year with a solid fourth quarter, showing improvement over the fourth quarter of 2012 in nearly every category,” s

“GAAP revenues and operating income in the fourth quarter of 2013 both improved over the fourth quarter of last year, while such non-GAAP financial measures as production based revenue and adjusted operating profits showed very strong growth, up 17.4% and 73.1% respectively. Driving much of this performance has been the ongoing contributions from acquisitions made in 2012 and 2013. The contributions from acquisitions also helped power a 75.9% increase in our distributable cash flow (non-GAAP) compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

STON’s Dividend

STON paid its last 60 cent quarterly dividend on February 14. We expect the company to announce its next dividend in April.

 Stock Performance 

StoneMor Partners shares were mostly flat during premarket trading Friday. The stock is down 3.8% YTD.