Service Corp (NYSE: SCI) reported Q1 EPS of $0.47, $0.06 better than the analyst estimate of $0.41. Revenue for the quarter came in at $798.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $791.84 million.

• Diluted earnings per share were $0.43 in the first quarter of 2019 compared to $0.43 in the first quarter of 2018. The first quarter of 2019 was impacted by $8.0 million in unusual legal expenses and the first quarter of 2018 was negatively impacted by a $10.1 million loss on early extinguishment of debt. Diluted earnings per share excluding special items were $0.47 for the first quarter of 2019 and 2018. Comparable cemetery revenue growth and effective management of costs, coupled with a lower tax rate, helped to offset reduced funeral segment profits from the impact of the strong flu season that occurred in the prior year.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $184.9 million in the first quarter of 2019 compared to $211.5 million in the first quarter of 2018. The first quarter of 2018 was impacted by a tax refund received related to an IRS tax settlement that occurred in 2017. Net cash provided by operating activities excluding special items was $184.9 million in the first quarter of 2019 compared to $205.9 million in the first quarter of 2018. This decrease was primarily due to a reduction in funeral operating profit coupled with increased uses of working capital during the quarter.
• During the first quarter, we returned $47.4 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends and invested $26.3 million of capital into accretive acquisitions and the construction of new funeral service locations.

Tom Ryan, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the first quarter of 2019:

"We are encouraged as we start off 2019 on par with prior year earnings per share results as we faced a challenging funeral profit comparison driven by a strong flu season in the prior year quarter. Increases in both our cemetery and funeral preneed sales programs, effective management of our fixed costs, and a lower tax rate helped to offset the funeral revenue deficit. I want to thank our 24,000 associates for their hard work and dedication. Their continued commitment to delivering extraordinary service to client families is what sets us apart from others in the industry. Our outlook is positive as we look forward to the remainder of 2019. We will continue to build on this first quarter momentum and believe we are well positioned to achieve results within the guidance ranges we communicated to you in February. Lastly, we continue to believe in our long term growth strategy of growing revenues, leveraging our unparalled scale and deploying our capital wisely to enhance shareholder value."

GUIDANCE:

Service Corp sees FY2019 EPS of $1.84-$2.02, versus the consensus of $1.92.

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