You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: This is Debbie Young, director of investor relations for SCI.
With that out of the way, let me pass it on now to our chairman and CEO, Tom Ryan.
We hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy.
Then I'll offer some commentary on our 2021 outlook, with the understanding that there remains substantial uncertainty surrounding these effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could change guidance significantly.
However, before I begin, I would like to say a few words about this past year.
2020 has certainly been one of the most uncertain and challenging periods that any of us can remember.
As I reflect back on the last 10 months, I can say with certainty that our results are a testament to our team's incredible hard work and to the resilience of our underlying business.
I'm extremely proud of our entire SCI team for going above and beyond the call of duty in 2020.
In this difficult period, we stayed relentlessly focused on what we do best, helping our client families gain closure and healing through the process of grieving, remembrance and celebration.
The health, safety, and well-being of our SCI family was a top priority.
And not only were we able to avoid any layoffs, mandatory furloughs or reductions in pay as a result of the impact of COVID-19, we were able to recognize the incredible efforts of our frontline associates with hero bonuses and provide special bonuses for every associate that does not participate in our annual incentive plan.
In 2020, our services were needed more than ever, and I am proud that we were able to perform significantly increased number of services without any disruptions to our business, which highlights the power of our scale.
One thing that became clear throughout 2020 is that our fundamental business has not changed.
We did not see a wholesale shift in the consumer preferences, and our cremation remains stable.
Although we were greatly restricted in our ability to have large gatherings in 2020, we heard loud and clear from our consumers that they still have a desire to memorialize and to celebrate the lives of their loved ones.
Virtual arrangements, live streaming of services, outdoor services, drive-through visitations, radio transmitted graveside services, and many more unique memorialization and celebration of life ideas are now a normal part of what we do.
The success and acceleration of these enhanced service offerings have highlighted the importance of innovation in our industry.
We will continue to invest in technologies that enhance how we interact with consumers digitally, providing a better customer experience -- contact to the arrangement conference and beyond while also enhancing efficiencies in our operations.
As the year unfolded, actions we took in response to in-person meetings limitations yielded noncustomer-facing efficiencies.
We more effectively utilize our labor force using the virtual training, our customer relationship management system and other technology tools instead of incurring travel-related costs.
We also drove down our lead cost per sale by accelerating the growth of digital leads and making significant improvements to our direct mill program to drive record growth.
All of the many learnings from this year will make us a better company going forward.
As a result, we're positioned to enter the post pandemic world as a more agile and efficient company.
Now let's shift and provide you with some color about the core.
experienced in late November and December.
Just to give you a little color on the cadence of the quarter, our same-store funeral volumes were up 7% in October, then grew to 13% in November and an unprecedented 31% in December, which is the highest monthly growth rate we experienced all year.
And as a result of this surge late in the quarter, we finished the fourth quarter with adjusted earnings per share of $1.13 compared to $0.60 in the prior year, well above the range we provided to you in October.
Both funeral and cemetery segments had margin improvement of over 600 basis points, driven by double-digit top line percentage growth applied against a more efficient cost structure.
We also benefited from a lower share count and a lower tax rate.
Let's now take a look at funeral operations in the quarter.
Total comparable funeral revenues grew approximately $49 million or 10% during the quarter.
Both core and nonfuneral home channels performed very well and were slightly offset by lower general agency revenues caused by a decline in insurance funded preneed funeral sales production.
Core revenues grew $53 million, driven by a 17% increase in the number of cases, partially offset by a 3.4% decline in the funeral sales average.
The predominant reason for the increase in services performed was due to the direct impact of COVID-19, and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in non-COVID related deaths such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, drug overdose and suicide, perhaps a consequence of a lack of access to healthcare during 2020.
Words cannot convey the level of our appreciation and respect I have for our frontline team.
The tremendous care you provided record numbers of our client families during such a stressful time can only be described as heroic.
The decline in the funeral sales average of 3.4% was due to the local jurisdictions reimposing restrictions on gatherings, given the surge in deaths of November and December.
This resulted in a decline in a number of cases with the service.
The cremation mix shift was a moderate 120 basis points and had a minimal impact on the quarter-over-quarter funeral average decline.
Preneed funeral sales production for the quarter was down 1.6% versus the prior year, which is just a significant improvement of our results posted in earlier quarters this year.
While we saw record growth in production from our digital and direct mail leads, we continued to be hampered by a decline in preplanning seminars due to local restrictions and consumer reluctance on in-person gatherings in restaurants.
From a profit perspective, funeral gross profit increase of $45 million, and the gross profit percentage increased 640 basis points to 27.5%, realizing a 92% incremental margin on our revenue growth.
Growth in our high incremental margin core business more than offset slight declines in our lower-margin revenue streams.
We also continue to benefit by the efficient management of labor hours with fewer and smaller services as well as the reductions in noncustomer-facing costs and certain marketing and promotional expenses.
Now shifting to cemetery.
Comparable cemetery revenue increased $64 million or 18% in the fourth quarter.
Atneed cemetery revenue accounted for $25 million of the growth, driven by more burials performed due to some effects of COVID-19.
Recognized preneed revenues accounted for $35 million of growth, mainly due to higher preneed cemetery sales production during the quarter.
Preneed cemetery sales production grew $40 million or 16% in the fourth quarter, driven by increased lead sources associated with the higher atneed services and burials performed.
The preponderance of the growth, $25 million or about 60%, was from a 12% increase in velocity with a number of contracts sold.
The remaining growth of about $15 million was primarily due to large sales activity.
We continue to see this more productive and efficient sales force with better utilization of our customer relationship management system and improved conversion rates from our direct mail and digital lead campaigns.
Consumer reception to having a preplanning discussion remains very high.
I want to take a moment to recognize the tremendous efforts of our sales team.
For the full year 2020, they wrote more than $1 billion in cemetery preneed sales production.
This is our new company record, so hats off to the entire sales organization.
Cemetery gross profits in the quarter grew by approximately $49 million, and the gross profit percentage increased 680 basis points to 39%.
Growth in revenues and strategic cost reductions combined to drive margins beyond normalized incremental levels.
For the full year 2020, we reported an adjusted earnings per share of $2.91, a 53% increase over 2019 in a one-of-a-kind year.
Obviously, the speed and efficacy of the vaccine rollout could have a significant impact on the spread of the virus, hospitalizations and, ultimately, on the number of deaths.
This, combined with the willingness of the consumer to transact on a preneed basis may have a material effect on our 2021 results.
There is no doubt that in 2020, we serviced deaths that were pulled forward from a future year.
While we know that the timing of the pull forward is impossible to accurately predict, we have developed models are based on data from the IHME and the CBC, which incorporate historical trends and current COVID-related deaths by age group as well as by comorbidity factors in determining what future years are impacted by accelerated deaths and by how much.
Based on all these assumptions, we also believe adjusted earnings per share in 2021 will likely range between $2.50 and $2.90 per share.
We have provided a wider than normal range based on the uncertainties surrounding the impact of COVID-19.
Let's take a deeper dive into our assumptions for the 2021 earnings per share guidance.
We are modeling funeral volume to be down versus 2020, but mid single-digit percentage is higher than the 2019 levels due to the expected impact on funeral volumes in the first few months of 2021 associated with COVID-19.
We anticipate double-digit year-over-year percentage increases through March.
Then while we expect the continued impact from COVID-19 deaths, we predict comparable volumes to trend lower for the rest of the year as compared to the very active final nine months of 2020.
We expect the funeral average to be down low single-digit percentages in January and February and begin to see favorable trends as we compare back to the early months of the COVID outbreak in 2020.
While we anticipate growth year over year, we still believe we will struggle to get back to 2019 levels as we now believe that many people will continue to be reluctant to gather in large groups.
We expect preneed funeral sales production to begin to rebound in the back half of the year and for the full year to grow in the mid- to high single-digit percentage range.
Cemetery atneed revenues should see significant year-over-year growth in the first quarter, followed by a comparable decline in the last three quarters as we face a significant hurdle from the 2020 results.
For this year, we expect cemetery atneed revenue to be down versus 2020 but still show significant growth over 2019 pre-COVID levels.
Cemetery preneed sales production grew an unprecedented rate in the back half of 2020, and we believe that momentum will carry over into the first half of 2021.
We expect double-digit percentage growth for the first four months of the year before confronting challenging year-over-year comparisons beginning in May.
For the full year, we anticipate preneed cemetery sales production are to be down in the mid single-digit percentage range versus 2020 but still be delivering solid growth as compared to our 2019 levels.
So in closing, in spite of experiencing the most challenging environment, our team continued to deliver.
We rose to meet challenges never faced by our company before, and you have been an extraordinary example of commitment, professionalism and agility.
It's an honor to work with such great people.
As we look ahead, I'm extremely optimistic about our future.
While we do not anticipate the impact from COVID to completely go away, it is our belief that we should see a more muted effect on our results for 2022.
Therefore, we expect a decline in case volume and atneed cemetery revenues and, therefore, on the associated earnings and cash flow from the pull-forward effects of 2020 and 2021.
However, this knowledge that we gained from this awful COVID experience is anticipated to produce a more competitive and profitable operating platform in the years to come.
Therefore, we predict an impressive earnings-per-share growth for 2023 approaching $3 per share, resulting from a combination of enhanced market share and a leaner infrastructure, leveraging technology and a more efficient sales structure.
As the pull forward impact wanes and the baby boomers begin to enter their late 70s, we expect a further acceleration of earnings growth.
With our eyes on the longer term, we are now also continuing to invest in technology and new service offerings that allow us to remain relevant with our consumers, enhance digital clients experience and more efficiently and effectively serve our customers.
And like I've done many times over the past few quarters, I'm going to start by providing you with an update on the strength of our financial position that has supported us through these very volatile times.
I will then move on to address our cash flow results during the fourth quarter as well as the full year of 2020, followed by capital deployment activities for the year.
And then I'll end by providing some details of our outlook for 2021.
But I think more importantly than any of that, before we begin, when we are reporting our 2019 earnings almost exactly a year ago today, I don't think any of us could have anticipated what we would be facing in 2020.
During the year, our frontline associates helped our communities deal with this rapidly moving virus with unparalleled poise and dignity, particularly earlier on in the year when there was more speculation than there were facts available about coronavirus.
But even to this day, teams across our network are coming together and sacrificing their personal time, being away from home, all to support their colleagues and their broader communities as well who are managing in current COVID hotspots.
Now I'll shift to the financial update.
So while we entered the pandemic, anchored by a strong financial position and a favorable debt profile, we continue to be very well positioned with a significant amount of liquidity of roughly $670 million at the end of the year, consisting approximately $230 million of cash on hand plus $440 million available on our long-term bank credit facility.
On the higher EBITDA resulting from the strong Q4 results we're talking about today, our leverage remains low at 3.19x at the end of the year.
And as we look beyond the impacts of this pandemic, we still intend to manage leverage in a range of 3.5 to four times net debt to EBITDA.
So let's move to cash flow, which has been resilient for us throughout 2020.
Cash flow in the fourth quarter marked a much stronger-than-expected finish to the year, supported by the earnings outperformance that Tom just mentioned, associated with the surge of COVID-related deaths particularly in late November and in December.
We generated operating cash flow of $245 million during the quarter, representing an increase of $88 million or 56% over the prior year.
This increase is primarily related to the growth in cash earnings in the quarter as well as the decrease in cash interest payments of about $28 million, predominantly as a result of recent debt refinancing transactions.
Also remember, we continue to benefit from the deferral of our payroll tax payments as allowed under the CARES Act, which benefited the quarter by about $13 million and for the full year by about $41 million.
These positive inflows were partially offset by $25 million of higher cash tax payments on the higher earnings as well as a net use of preneed working capital, which we have seen all year on the growth in cemetery preneed property sales sold on an installment basis.
And as we step back and look at the full year, we have generated over $800 million in operating cash flow, representing an increase of $170 million over the prior year.
So let's talk about how we deployed this free cash flow.
During the quarter, we had a very robust capital program, deploying nearly $325 million of capital to reinvest in and grow our businesses as well as return value to our shareholders.
So regarding the breakdown, we invested $56 million in our businesses through maintenance and the cemetery development capital spend, which was about $2 million more than the prior year quarter but in line with our expectations.
Full-year spend was approximately $185 million, which represents a 9% decline from the prior year as we curtailed or deferred certain expenditures during the very early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which we expect to make up in 2021, as I'll address later in my remarks.
During the quarter, we deployed about $35 million toward acquisitions, which was a nice pickup in activity at the end of the year.
For the full-year 2020, we deployed just over $100 million in both acquisitions and growth capex for construction of new funeral homes.
Then finally, in the quarter, we returned nearly $225 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
With our strong liquidity and cash flow as a backdrop, along with our favorable leverage profile, we took the opportunity to deploy a very healthy amount of capital to share repurchases in 2020.
In the fourth quarter, we bought back about 2% of our outstanding shares, bringing the full year reduction in outstanding shares to about 6%.
Now let's shift to our outlook for 2021 and in terms of cash flow and capital deployment.
Tom just gave you some color on the ever-evolving pandemic, making it challenging to forecast with great precision where our results will land in 2021.
There are a few items that I'd like to highlight when thinking about cash flow from ops in 2021.
We will incur three full quarters of what I would consider regular payroll taxes of about $40 million, which we're able to defer in 2020 as allowed under the CARES Act.
Additionally, we will also be required to pay half or about $20 million of our deferred payroll taxes in the third quarter of 2021, and the remainder will be due in 2022.
These two items then collectively create a $60 million impact to cash flow in 2021 when you compare it to 2020 associated with payroll taxes.
Federal cash tax payments and state tax payments together are also anticipated to be about $25 million higher than 2020 at about $160 million in '21.
This increase is mostly related to the timing of cash tax payments associated with our stronger-than-expected Q4 2020 financial results that will be paid in early 2021.
And from an effective tax rate standpoint, we continue to model in the range of 24% to 25% in '21.
So moving on to some thoughts about capital deployment as we move forward.
Our expectation for maintenance and cemetery development capital spending in '21 is $235 million to $255 million, which is about $40 million higher than our pre-COVID level spend as we proceed with certain projects deferred from last year.
In addition to these recurring capital expenditures of $245 million at the midpoint, we also expect to deploy $50 million to $100 million toward acquisitions and roughly $50 million to $60 million in new funeral home construction opportunities, which, together, drive low to mid-teen aftertax internal rates of return, well in excess of our cost of capital.
And so with those remarks in closing, 2020 was by far the most difficult backdrop we faced in a very long time.
Fortunately, we went into it with a superior balance sheet, and it stayed strong for the duration.
Despite everything that has occurred, 2020 has been an extremely successful year for us, while managing through many unforeseen and unexpected challenges.

user
service corporation international q4 adj shr $1.13.
q4 adjusted earnings per share $1.13.
sees 2021 diluted earnings per share excluding special items $2.50 - $2.90.

assistant