Profile: Stewart Enterprises, Inc. (STEI.O)

Stewart Enterprises, Inc., incorporated in 1970, is a provider of funeral, and cemetery products and services in the death care industry in the United States. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides a range of funeral merchandise and services, along with cemetery property, merchandise and services, both at the time of need and on a preneed basis. As of October 31, 2009, its operations included 218 funeral homes and 140 cemeteries in 24 states within the United States and in Puerto Rico. Stewart Enterprises, Inc. operates most of its funeral homes and cemeteries in clusters. Clusters are groups of funeral homes and cemeteries located close enough to one another that their operations can be integrated. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2009 (fiscal 2009), the Company acquired a cemetery.

Funeral Operations

The Company’s funeral homes offer a range of funeral services and products. Its services and products include family consultation, removal and preparation of remains, the use of funeral home facilities for visitation, worship and funeral services, transportation services, flowers, and caskets. In addition to traditional funeral services, all of its funeral homes offer cremation products and services. Most of its funeral homes have a non-denominational chapel on the premises, which allows family visitation and religious services to take place at the same location. The Company also earns commissions on the sale of insurance-funded preneed funeral contracts that will be funded by life insurance or annuity contracts issued by third-party insurers when the Company acts as an agent on the sale of the policies. Funeral operations accounted for 57% of its revenues during fiscal 2009.

Cemetery Operations

The Company’s cemetery operations sell cemetery property and related merchandise, including lots, lawn crypts, family and community mausoleums, monuments, markers and burial vaults, and also provide burial site openings and closings and inscriptions. It also provides cremation memorialization options, including columbariums, cremation niches and cremation gardens. Cemetery property and merchandise sales are made both at the time of need and on a preneed basis. It also maintains cemetery grounds under cemetery perpetual care contracts and local laws. Cemetery operations accounted for approximately 43% of its revenues for fiscal year 2009.

Combination Funeral Home and Cemetery Operations

Approximately 46% of the Company’s cemeteries have a funeral home onsite that is operated in conjunction with the cemetery, which the Company refers to as a combination operation. In addition to the Company’s combination operations, approximately 38% of its cemeteries are located within the same market as, and operated in conjunction with, one or more of its nearby funeral homes.