CEO of Carriage Services Shares Insights from a Life Defined by Taking Risks

WALL, N.J., Aug. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Melvin C. Payne co-founded the Houston-based Carriage Services (NYSE: CSV) in 1991, and he's been its CEO ever since, growing the company to one of the leading operators and consolidators of funeral homes and cemeteries in the United States. He recently shared some key insights about the company in an exclusive interview with Funeral Service Insider, a leading industry trade publication.

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The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker CSV, was trading at just $1.50 per share in November 2000 and only $1.10 in March 2009 when the market crashed. Just a few months ago, its share price crept above $20 per share before settling down in the $16 to $17 per share range.

As of May 15, 2014, the company operated 167 funeral homes, 32 cemeteries and employed 2,100 people. It achieved its fifth consecutive record year of financial performance in 2013 and serves more than 33,700 families annually.

In his interview with the Funeral Service Insider, a leading independent newsletter for funeral professionals, Payne shares why he started the company more than 20 years ago and how he now views Carriage as a high performance culture company that just happens to be in the death-care industry. In the article, you'll learn how:

• Carriage Services is on a "Good To Great Journey" to become a company "Built To Last," using equity market value as a metric;
• Counterinsurgency and entrepreneurial leadership lessons from Payne's military service in Vietnam seeded his decentralization ideas and concepts for the high performance cultural framework of Carriage;
• The company's high performance cultural framework is one of partnership, entrepreneurial leadership and empowerment at all levels;
• The consolidation model of a highly fragmented industry has been turned upside down by Carriage, resulting in the highest cash earning power EBITDA margins in the industry;
• Acquisition candidates are screened for cultural and vision fit before being analyzed for earnings accretion.

 "At more than 10 pages long, our interview with Mr. Payne provides some great insights to the shareholders of Carriage Services, potential investors, company employees, funeral professionals and anyone interested in learning great lessons about a lifetime of taking calculated risks and demanding excellence in all things from all people all the time, including himself," said Thomas A. Parmalee, the editor of Funeral Service Insider.

The special report costs $49 and is only available through Funeral Service Insider. Purchase the exclusive interview online or order it by phone by calling  800-500-4585.

Funeral Service Insider, which is published by Kates-Boylston Publications, is an independent newsletter for funeral, cemetery and cremation professionals, featuring news and guidance about private and public companies in the death-care profession. Learn more at www.funeralserviceinsider.com

Media Contact: Thomas Parmalee, Funeral Service Insider, 732-730-2586, [email protected]

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SOURCE Funeral Service Insider