SNFCA

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Security National Financial Corporation's second quarter 2026 earnings call. We thank you for joining us today to review our financial and operational results for the period ended June 30th, 2026. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions, interest rates, regulatory developments, competitive pressures, and other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect future events or circumstances, except as required by law. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Quist. Scott?

Thank you. Welcome, everyone. I am pleased to report that our second quarter earnings after tax increased 7.3% over 2025, and that our first half earnings increased 8.1% over 2025. This improved profitability for both the quarter and the first half of the year illustrates the very solid operational and sales progress we have made in all of our business segments. It is not lost on me that our top-line revenue decreased 6.3% for the quarter and 5% for the half. We are working aggressively, and in my view, successfully, to address those revenue issues. But our first goal was improved profitability, and we achieved that goal. Our Mortgage segment can be considered the star for the first half of 2026, delivering two very solid quarters of improved performance.

The Mortgage segment improved Q1 year-over-year profitability by $1.4 million, and then followed that great performance in Q2 with a $1.6 million improvement, for a total $3 million profit improvement for the first half of 2026. Revenue did decrease 9% for the first half, which is never our goal, but that decrease highlights the tremendous operational improvements that were accomplished. Obviously, there is a nexus between revenue and profitability. But in this market, if we must choose one or the other, meaning revenue growth or improved profitability, at this juncture, I much prefer the improved profitability. I will say that is not always my preference. Well, I always do want to improve profitability, but sometimes it's the time to grow revenue and sometimes it's the time to grow profitability. A shout-out is owed to the entire company for this improved performance.

Suffice it to say that all aspects have been worked again, and reworked over the last several years, including management structures, margins, marketing, commissions, products, pricing, back office, secondary operations, underwriting, and closing and funding to achieve greater efficiencies. Much work remains to be done, but after all the hard work of our team, it is gratifying to see this segment profitable in Q2 and within striking distance of profitability for the year. Our Cemetery and Mortuary segment also delivered stellar results, increasing revenue by 21% for the quarter and by 13% for the first half, with a corresponding profit improvement of 69% for the quarter and 29% for the first half. As is many times the case, there is much movement going on under the hood in achieving those impressive results. First, the overall backdrop.

While it is difficult to precisely quantify at this time, I believe most would agree that the death rate in the U.S. dropped in 2026 to its lowest level in recent years. The improved mortality experienced in our Life Insurance segment decreased case counts in our funeral funding operation, and reviews of our publicly traded peers all reinforce that conclusion. Thus, looking within this segment at our mortuary-only results, while revenue did increase by some 3% for the first half, profitability actually decreased some 9%. We believe that we have generally increased our market share, but it has been a struggle because of this year's declining death rate. However, demonstrating the benefit of diversified income streams, our cemetery-only results showed an 11% revenue improvement with a 17% profitability improvement, basically as a result of improved pre-need cemetery sales.

Our cemetery pre-need sales results show that we are controlling that which we can control, which is leading to overall profit improvement. Many thanks are owed to the considerable effort that has gone into rebuilding our pre-need cemetery sales force. In addition to the improved pre-need sales results, we had a $1 million favorable investment tailwind in the second quarter, which reversed the unfavorable investment results we experienced in the first quarter. All in, we achieved a nearly 23% segment net profit margin in the first half, which in my view is admirable. Our Life Insurance segment also made very significant positive progress, despite its top-line revenue decrease of 5.5% for the first half and a profitability decrease of 13%. I don't believe those numbers are illustrative of the significant progress which has been accomplished in nearly all facets of our business.

Regarding the revenue decrease, there are two major components, which are premium revenue, which is the smaller component of the decrease, and our investment income revenue. While there are numerous inputs into the reported premium amount, which makes generalizing somewhat hazardous, to me, the premium revenue decline is primarily due to fewer single premium products being sold in 2026, which in my view is our least profitable product. Our modal pay product sales have actually increased year to date. But those effects won't be realized in our financial statements for several periods. As I have noted in prior releases, we have been spending significant time and resources in improving our sales functions. Which efforts, in my view, have been very successful even being measured at this very initial stage. Illustrative of that initial success, first-year premium sales are now up versus 2025.

We have much work to do, but we have built and are building excellent offerings for the marketplace to include a much improved onboarding process for new sales personnel, ease of application for both the agent and the customer, quicker real-time underwriting decisions, better lead generation and management, more predictable commission and advanced structures, and better quality measuring metrics, all resulting in significant first-year traction. The larger factor in this segment's revenue decline, and probably also the larger factor in its profitability decline, is its investment income. Specifically, we had lower builder profit splits in 2026, vis-à-vis 2025, and also decreased interest income.

We have made specific strategic decisions to increase our land holdings, which in my view will lead to greater profits in the future, albeit at the cost of current profitability, since we recognize no profit on land until it is either sold or a home on it has started construction. Many of our land holdings have a 12- to 24-month or even longer time horizon. So increasing land holdings does suppress both revenue and profit in the current period in favor of greater profitability in the future. Regarding the decrease in interest income, this result reflects the impact of loan payoffs, increased rate competition, and lower loan origination volumes during Q1. Construction-related loan originations, however, rebounded strongly during Q2. Utah new home starts were down significantly in 2025, which trend appears to be continuing in 2026, which led to the decreased construction loans.

Primarily due to lower loan production, our cash position has increased by some $61 million since December 31st, 2025, which does earn bank interest, but at a rate below that of our lending activities. Despite those declines, I don't believe we've ever had better processes or more talented and capable people in responsible positions than we do today. In summary, I believe we have improved capacity, more talented people, greater wherewithal, and better sales offerings of both product and processes than we have ever had. In a nutshell, when viewed as a whole, SNFC increased profitability in the quarter by 7.3%, and for the first half by 8.1%, despite a decline in revenue. Many thanks to our hardworking teams for achieving those impressive operational results.

Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Garrett Sill. I am the Chief Financial Officer of Security National Financial Corporation. This was a good quarter for the company, and I too want to thank all our employees for their efforts and dedication in making Security National a great company. In addition to what Scott shared, I want to highlight a few additional items regarding our consolidated financial statements. First, on our balance sheet, total assets grew to $1.61 billion as of June 30th, 2026, an increase of $47.5 million or 3% compared to year-end. We also saw a 60% increase in cash and cash equivalents, while our combined investment portfolio decreased $13 million or 1.2% to just over $1 billion.

As we continue to look for opportunities to deploy the elevated cash balances we discussed in our last call and this call. Total liabilities increased $24.8 million or 2.2% to $1.18 billion. Stockholders equity increased $22.7 million or 5.5% to $433 million, and as a result, our debt-to-equity ratio improved to 2.72x from 2.81x at year-end, reflecting a continued strengthening of our capital position. Moving to our statement of earnings, net earnings for the second quarter were approximately $9 million, an increase of nearly $2 million or 28.3%, compared to net earnings of $7 million in the first quarter of 2026. On a year-over-year basis, net earnings for the six months ended June 30th, 2026 increased 8.1% compared to the same period in 2025, which Scott addressed in his remarks.

I'd also note that combined commissions and personnel expense, our two largest cost categories, decreased $4.8 million or 13.5% for the quarter and $8 million or 11.8% year to date compared to the same periods in 2025, reflecting continued efficiency efforts across our segments. As a reminder, all 2025 figures referenced today have been revised to reflect our adoption of LDTI. These quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons are being made on a consistent basis. Speaking of LDTI, I'd like to draw your attention to our statement of comprehensive income, which showed a notable divergence between our quarterly and year-to-date results this quarter. For the six months ended June 30th, 2026, comprehensive income totaled $22.4 million, an increase of 86.6% compared to the $12 million for the same period last year.

This year-to-date improvement was driven primarily by the interest rate remeasurement of our future policy benefits under LDTI, which swung from a $12 million, excuse me, a $10.2 million charge to other comprehensive income in the first half of 2025 to a $12.9 million benefit in the first half of 2026. A favorable swing of approximately $23 million tied to the discount rate movements. I would note, however, that on a standalone quarterly basis, comprehensive income for the second quarter 2026 was $7.3 million, down 18.2% from $8.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. While our year-to-date comprehensive income trend is strongly positive, the quarter trend moved in the opposite direction this quarter. A good reminder of how sensitive this measure is to discount rate movements from period to period, and why we continue to encourage you to review both the quarterly and year-to-date statement of comprehensive income.

Turning to credit quality, our fixed maturity security portfolio remains high in quality with 98.4% rated investment grades as of June 30th, 2026, essentially unchanged from 98.5% at year-end. Only 1.6% of our total bond portfolio or approximately $6 million, was held in non-investment grade categories consistent with year-end. On the mortgage loan side, loans more than 90 days past due increased to $15.8 million as of June 30th, 2026 from $6.5 million at year-end. Our allowance for credit losses on mortgage loan portfolio remains appropriately reserved, and we are monitoring this trend closely. In closing, the second quarter of 2026 was a good quarter for the company as we again saw growth in total assets, stockholders' equity and net earnings, both sequentially and year-over-year. Regarding our internal controls or financial reporting, we continue to test, improve, and remediate where needed.

As has been noted, we continue to focus on growing top line while also improving overall profitability. Next, we will hear from Andrew Quist, President, Chief Executive Officer of SecurityNational Mortgage Company. Thank you.

Thank you, Garrett, and good afternoon, fellow shareholders. I am Andrew Quist, President and CEO of SecurityNational Mortgage Company. In the second quarter of 2026, SecurityNational Mortgage Company had a pre-tax net income of $71,000, compared to a pre-tax net loss of $1,671,000 in the second quarter of 2025. This was a year-over-year increase of $1,742,000, or 104% from last year's results. While the net income result is modest, I was particularly proud of our first profitable quarter since Q3 of 2025. Furthermore, the over $3 million improvement year to date is noteworthy. This is evidence that the tireless work and effort of our employees have put in reshaping SecurityNational Mortgage Company over the past several years is paying off. Continuing our recent trend, this improvement in net income and profitability came on reduced year-over-year origination volumes.

In the second quarter of 2026, we originated $548 million of loan volume, compared to $617 million in the second quarter of 2025, an 11% year-over-year decrease. On a sequential quarter basis, origination volumes were up 12%. Based on the Mortgage Bankers Association's reported total industry origination volumes for the second quarter, SNMC's market share increased to 10 basis points, up from 9 basis points in Q1. The sequential quarter increase in origination volume outpaced the overall industry origination volume increase, as indicated by our increased market share. While the year-over-year decline continues to be impacted by the company separating from a large group of loan originators in the third quarter of last year, this separation has negatively impacted origination volumes, it has contributed significantly to our profitability. As interest rates rose steadily through much of the second quarter, SNMC's purchase transaction volume remained strong.

While refinance volume and percentage of overall volume declined from multi-year highs in Q1, both refinance volume and refinance percentage of overall volume were up over Q2 in 2025. 17% refinance percentage in Q2 2026 versus 14% refinance percentage in Q2 2025. I believe this shows tangible proof that our increased focus on repeat borrowers over the past nine months has been effective. In 2026, our percentage of borrowers who are repeat borrowers is higher than it has been in the past three-plus years. This percentage should continue to increase as we strengthen our skill set in serving past borrowers of SNMC with their future lending needs, whatever they may be. A corollary of this activity is offering our past borrowers home equity lines of credit, helping them tap the historic equity in today's housing market.

We have averaged one HELOC transaction a day in the second quarter, up from virtually zero as recently as the fourth quarter in 2025. In summary, in the second quarter of 2026, Security National Mortgage Company had pre-tax net income of $71,000, despite lower origination volumes year-over-year. This was the first profitable quarter for SNMC since Q3 of 2025. I believe a quick survey of other publicly traded retail independent mortgage banks' second quarter results will further demonstrate the strength of our profitable quarter. I'd like to conclude by thanking our loan officers and employees for their wonderful work improving Security National in this challenging environment. The progress is exciting, and I couldn't be more proud. Thank you. I'll now turn the time over to Adam Quist.

Thank you, Andrew, and congratulations on the profitable quarter and the improvement. As Andrew mentioned, my name is Adam Quist, and I'm the President and CEO of the Security National Life Insurance Company. My remarks today will focus on how our life companies have performed year to date with some additional context on the second quarter itself. For the six months ended June 30th, 2026, our Life segment generated total revenues of approximately $98.4 million compared to $104 million a year ago, or a decrease of about 5%. Net earnings before taxes were $16.1 million compared to $18.6 million, a decrease of approximately 13%. For the second quarter alone, revenues were approximately $49.5 million versus $53.4 million, and net earnings before taxes were $8.5 million versus $10.6 million. Those are real decreases, and decreases are, of course, not our goal.

In my opinion, when evaluating our company's performance, it is also worth retaining the context that 2025 was our best operational year in our company's history, and year to date, 2026 is our second-best operating year in our company's history. I believe our team is executing well, making deliberate choices, and building towards a stronger future. I now want to discuss the main factors driving those top-line numbers. As Scott mentioned, the pressure on our top line this year is concentrated in two identifiable places, namely a decrease in single premiums and lower net investment income, primarily associated with home builder profit share. Let me start with the smaller of the two factors, premiums. For the six months, insurance premiums and other considerations were approximately $57.6 million compared to $60 million a year ago, a decrease of about 4%.

In the second quarter, premiums were $28.7 million versus $30.2 million, a decrease of roughly 5%. The largest single factor of the year-to-date decline is our single premium business. Single premium is our least profitable product, and as we have discussed before, we are currently emphasizing growing our modal pay sales, which we believe is the business that builds more durable value over time. Our renewal premium base, the truest measure of the health of our in-force book, grew year to date up about 1.5% on our individual whole life block. This means our existing policyholders are staying with us, persistency remains solid, and the foundation of our business is strong.

Looking at our year-to-date new sales results, our first-year modal pay premium production, or in other words, the multi-pay new business we are writing this year, is now running ahead of where it was at this point last year. It is important to keep in mind, however, that because modal premiums feather into our financial statements gradually over time as the policyholders make their monthly premium payments, it will take time for this increase in modal pay sales to show up in our reported premium revenues. This increase reflects the early-stage success of the sales leadership changes we have made and the investments in our distribution platforms we have been making over the last two years. Now let me turn to the largest factor affecting both our revenue and net income, our net investment income.

For the six months, net investment income was $33.4 million compared to $38.6 million, a decrease of about $5.2 million or 14%. In the second quarter, it was $15.7 million versus $20 million, down roughly 21%. There are two distinct pieces at play here, and I want to separate them clearly because they behave differently. The largest single factor is a decline in home builder profit share income, which on a net basis was down about $2.8 million year to date and about $2.5 million in the second quarter alone. The second factor is interest and fee income associated with our residential construction lending, which was down about $1 million on the quarter and about $1.1 million year to date.

However, I should point out that construction loan origination activity picked up meaningfully during the second quarter after a slower start to the year, which we view as an encouraging sign heading into the second half, even though it has not yet fully worked its way through to our outstanding balances and reported interest income. We have deliberately grown our investment in land and residential subdivision development to approximately $122 million as of June 30th, up from about $98 million at year-end. That capital is not yet generating reported investment income under GAAP, since that only happens once a lot is sold or a construction loan is originated. But we view it as a leading indicator of future builder profit-sharing income. We believe this capital is deployed in projects that will result in greater profitability in future periods, even if it is not showing up on our current numbers.

Gains on our equities and other assets were $3.7 million year to date compared to $1.2 million a year ago. An approximate $2.5 million increase, which was driven mainly by a $1.9 million increase in unrealized gains in our equity portfolio relative to 2025. These are market-driven and can move in either direction, but they have partially offset the headwinds I just described in our builder profit share income and speak to the quality of the portfolio we hold and the benefits of having a diversified investment strategy. We also saw a year-over-year increase in realized gains on real estate of about $850,000 as a result of construction starts or lot sales. Turning to expenses, I am pleased with the discipline our team continues to show.

Total selling, general, and administrative expenses for the segment were down about 3.3% year to date to $25.9 million from $26.8 million and down 3.4% in the second quarter alone. Personnel expense increased modestly, up about 2.8% year to date and 3.2% in the second quarter. That increase is intentional and reflects our continued investment in sales leadership talent, the same investment that is driving the modal pay sales trend I mentioned earlier. I am encouraged that our overall expense base is stable even as we continue to invest in the people and systems that will grow this business. Policyholder benefits and claims were also lower, down about 4% year to date and roughly 5% in the second quarter, reflecting continued favorable claims experience. That is a credit to our underwriting and claims teams and reflects mortality and surrender experience that remains close to pre-COVID trends.

All told, total benefits and expenses for the segment were down about 3.7% year to date. In closing, year to date, our revenue and earnings are lower because we shifted deliberately away from our least profitable premium product and saw a sharp, though partially offset, decline in builder profit sharing income. I believe our company's foundation is strong. Our team is making deliberate decisions, exercising discipline, strengthening our sales force, and making investments that position ourselves for better performance in the future. While I recognize that our year-to-date numbers are down from 2025, we are still experiencing our second-best operational year in the company's history, a testament to the great work of our team. I remain confident in the direction of our life companies and in the team executing our strategy. I look forward to sharing our continued progress with you on future calls. Thank you for your continued support.

I will now turn the time over to Steve Kehl to discuss our Funeral Home and Cemetery division.

Thank you, Adam. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Steve Kehl, Chief Operating Officer of Security National's Funeral Homes and Cemeteries. Today, I will walk you through our second quarter results as Scott has touched on several first-half comparisons in his remarks. For the second quarter, earnings before tax increased 69.5% to $3 million from $1.8 million a year ago. Revenue increased 20.7% to $9.8 million from the $8.1 million a year ago. As Scott noted, as looking under the hood, I want to be clear at the outset about what is driving what. That growth in our earnings before tax came from investments. Excluding our investment results, our revenue increased 5.5% in the second quarter of 2026 from $7.4 million to $7.8 million, and operating earnings before tax decreased 4.8% to $963,000 from just over $1 million. Our operating businesses grew revenue and improved on several key indicators.

At the same time, we absorbed deliberate investments in both talent and technology. Those investments carry costs today, and they are intended to support growth and efficiency going forward. As we review our funeral homes, revenue increased 7.4% to $3.5 million from $3.3 million, while earnings before tax decreased 3.2% to $375,000. Earnings before tax declined because costs outpaced revenue. Total operating costs increased 8.8% against revenue growth of 7.4%. I want to be direct about that cost increase. It was led by compensation, and that was a decision, not a surprise. We have invested in talent in this segment, and that investment is already showing up in our customer service experience feedback. Three metrics matter most to us in this segment, and all three moved in the right direction. Families served increased 1.1%. Average revenue per call increased $323, or 6.2%, to $5,549.

The share of cremation families choosing a memorial or funeral service rose to 41.9%. That last measure is one we are pushing hardest on because we know a cremation with a service is a better experience for the family and a better economic outcome for us. However, even at an impressive 49.9%, we have room to improve. The work from here is to leverage what we have already invested in, our people, our training, and our technology across a growing revenue base and to convert that into stronger margins as we continue to navigate a headwind of declining death rates. In cemeteries, revenue increased 4% to $4.3 million from $4.1 million, while earnings before tax decreased 5.8% to $588,000. Earnings before tax declined because costs, once again, outpaced revenue. Cost of goods sold increased 3.1% as we face ongoing wholesale margin pressures and operating expenses increased 6.7%.

The main driver within our revenue growth was from our net pre-need land sales increasing 6.1% to $2.34 million. Within the quarter, we continued to focus on our prospecting metrics, community seminars, and providing events within our memorial parks. Also important to note that our interment activity within our memorial parks was also positive. Placements increased 5.1% to 348. Even more impressive within that figure, I felt it was important to note that traditional interments in the quarter increased 12.1% to 268. So we saw increase in both volume and a richer mix. Our priorities in cemeteries are consistent. We will continue to focus on building family relationships, generating steady pre-need production, sharpening our sales execution, recruiting talent, maintain our properties well, and keep adding capacity through garden developments. As noted, our investment revenue increased 169.5% to $2 million from $758,000 a year ago.

The increase was driven primarily by higher unrealized gains within our portfolio. We are pleased with that contribution, but we are also clear-eyed about it. Unrealized gains can move in either direction. That is why we evaluate our operating businesses separately from short-term changes in investment valuations and why I have intentionally separated the two for you today. Stepping back, this quarter showed both progress and opportunity. Reported earnings benefited significantly from investment performance while operating profitability came in slightly below the prior year. Underneath that, families served, revenue per call, cremation with service, cemetery pre-need land production, and interment activity all improved. Our job now is to control what we can control and convert those operating improvements into earnings growth. In closing, I want to thank our funeral home, cemetery, grounds, and operational support teams. The results that I just described are their work.

It is an honor to work alongside such talented professionals. We are realistic about what lies ahead, encouraged by the underlying business, and confident that consistent execution creates long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for your time and your continued confidence. I will now turn the time back over to Heather Street, our Vice President of Human Resources.

Thank you, Steve. Before we conclude today's call, we would like to open the floor for questions. As a reminder, to ask a question, please use the Zoom platform to raise your hand to unmute, or you may submit questions through the Zoom Q&A panel. Include your name and organization, and we will take as many as time permits. Not seeing any questions. Are there any further questions either in the chat or if you would like to unmute? All right. As we have no questions, we will note the end of our Q&A. Thank you again for your participation. We value engagement and thoughtful input. For more information about the meeting, our latest financial reports, or any other investor materials, we invite you to visit the investor relations section of our website at www.securitynational.com. We appreciate your continued support of Security National Financial Corporation. This concludes our second quarter 2026 earnings call.

We look forward to speaking with you again soon. Thank you, and have a great day.

We thank you for joining us today to review our financial and operational results for the period ended March 31st, 2026. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions, interest rates, regulatory developments, competitive pressures, and other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect future events or circumstances, except as required by law. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Quist. Scott?

Thank you, Heather. To have an increase of over 9% on after-tax earnings despite a top line decrease is a testament to the operational efficiencies our teams have been implementing over the last several years. Of course, we are working diligently to increase our top lines. That is a very stated objective of all our units. Nevertheless, improved profitability is the ultimate goal. We did improve profitability. Our mortgage segment had an outstanding quarter despite the fact that we were still not profitable, improving over 65% from Q1 of 2025. We were cautiously optimistic that we would be profitable in Q1 of 2026. Our teams had worked diligently to improve revenue and to rationalize costs in arguably the weakest quarter of the year.

Our secondary investor pricing in March declined for what was indicated when we locked loans to what was realized when the loans were sold. That unexpected decline represented nearly 50 basis points of revenue, or profit in this case, or nearly $200 million in volume, so it was significant. Obviously, we're reevaluating our processes, but it's fair to say that we had followed our customary policies and procedures and were surprised at the ultimate investor pricing. Even with that unfortunate secondary result, I believe congratulations are due for an outstanding 65% quarter-over-quarter improvement. Our Cemetery and Mortuary Group did improve their top line by 4.4% in Q1 but had a decrease in net income. That decrease, I think, deserves some explanation.

On an ongoing operational basis, meaning before investment results, our operating income actually improved some 16% in Q1 2025 over Q-- excuse me, in Q1 2026 over Q1 2025. This was accomplished primarily by a 35% improvement in preneed cemetery sales. The hard work that has been put in over the last year is showing up in sales, which argues for an even brighter future. Congratulations to our sales team for a fabulous result, in my opinion. The culprit leading to our decrease in net income, again, as opposed to operational income, was our investment income with the largest factor there being an increase in unrealized losses in our common stock portfolio. Our cemetery and mortuary segment, because of consistently profitable operations, has a very considerable investment portfolio which we intend to use as conditions warrant in financing future growth to include acquisitions.

Our life Insurance segment from the table, excuse me, had a 4% decrease in its top line. As has been noted in several press releases, we have been and are continuing to reorganize and improve our sales forces, which has necessitated reorganizations, terminations, and turmoil. I believe I am seeing the turnaround in all our marketing channels, progress continues to be somewhat considered and deliberate. I will note that the majority of the top-line decrease is in our least profitable products. In fact, our underwriting profit, as measured using Statutory Accounting Principles, significantly increased due to our improved premium margins. That has been a very deliberate strategy over the last period of time. If I were to point to a single factor leading to our net income decrease, it would be a decline in our builder profit splits.

Phrased another way, similar to our Cemetery and Mortuary segment, a decrease in net investment income. That characterization is somewhat nuanced. We also increased our land holdings by some $37 million, which has the effect of decreasing, all of the things being equal, our investment income since profit on land holdings, at least in the current period, I should say, since profit on land holdings is only recognized either when the land is sold or when vertical construction begins.

I think it important to keep in mind our net portfolio yield for Q1, as near as I can tell, is still about 100 basis points above industry averages. It is important to maintain perspective in the face of decreased investment income. To summarize, our top line revenue did decrease some 4%, but our profitability did increase over 9%. I think all of our teams did a great job implementing efficiency. Make no mistake, top line growth continues to be a primary objective, but improved profitability is the primary objective, which objective we achieved. Thank you.

Thank you, Scott. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Garrett Sill, and I am the Chief Financial Officer of Security National Financial Corporation. This was a good quarter for the company, and I want to highlight a few items regarding our consolidated financial statements. First, on our balance sheet, most of our assets remained relatively flat compared to our year-end reporting. However, we did see a combined $32 million decrease in our bond and mortgage loan portfolios. I would note that the decrease in the mortgage portfolios was across all products, in commercial, residential, and construction lending. This decrease was offset by a $20 million increase in real estate investments. Just by way of clarification, Scott referenced $37 million increase in real estate investments. That was a quarter-over-quarter number.

The $20 million is comparing year-end 2025 with Q1 and March 31st, 2026. Our cash balances also increased significantly in Q1, and we've been active in deploying that cash in Q2. Our total liabilities also remained relatively flat with a $9 million decrease in our future policy benefits, which was offset by increased bank debt of $10 million. This increase in bank debt was a result of increased borrowings on warehouse lines of credit, mortgage loan fundings. Our equity also increased $15 million or 3.7% when compared to year-end. I'll discuss in a few minutes, a few items related to our equity. Moving to our statement of earnings, revenues were down 3.6% as we saw decreases in insurance premiums, mortgage fee income and net investment income.

This decrease in revenues was offset by a 5.6% decrease in total expenses as we saw decreases in nearly every category. The net result, as has been discussed, was an increased net earnings quarter-over-quarter of nearly $600,000 or 9.2%. As mentioned in our last call, accelerated filing status and the implementation of ASU 2018-12, better known as Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts, or LDTI, brought with it some significant changes and challenges to the company. I want to acknowledge and thank our finance, actuary, and information and technology groups for their work on SOX 404(b) compliance and the implementation of LDTI. It has been a significant lift for them in addition to all their other duties and responsibilities.

Regarding the reporting of our adoption of LDTI, I would encourage you to review the Statement of Comprehensive Income on Page 6 of our 10-Q, as it provides the details behind our $15 million increase in equity when our net earnings were only $7 million. This additional $8 million in equity is a result of a $4 million decrease in the fair value of our bond portfolio, which was offset by a decrease in reserves of $14 million and a tax effect of $2 million. This movement in fair values is a result of a decrease in interest rates as compared to year-end. Going forward, our Statement of Comprehensive Income will be an important statement to review to better understand the movement in the company's equities.

I would also draw your attention to Page 12, which contains a reconciliation of our restated Q1 2025 earnings, comprehensive income, and equity. Throughout 2026, we will continue to restate our 2025 quarterly earnings for comparison purposes. For Q1 2025, earnings were restated nearly $2 million. This is primarily a result of our deferred acquisition costs, or DAC, being amortized over the life of the policy instead of the premium paying period. This result was lower DAC amortization, which resulted in an increase in earnings. In closing, Q1 2026 was a good quarter for the company as we saw growth in total assets, stockholders' equity, and net earnings. We still have significant amount of work to do as we continue to test, improve, and remediate our internal controls over the financial reporting. The future does look bright. Next, we'll hear from Andrew Quist. Thank you.

Thank you, Garrett, and good afternoon, fellow shareholders. I'm Andrew Quist, President and CEO of Security National Mortgage Company. In the first quarter of 2026, Security National Mortgage Company had a pre-tax net loss of $698,000 compared to a pre-tax net loss of $1,995,000 in the first quarter of 2025. This was a decrease to our loss of $1,297,000, or a 65% reduction.

The first quarter is historically the most difficult quarter in the mortgage industry. Nevertheless, I was disappointed we lost money in the quarter. At the same time, a 65% improvement in our net loss on the back of a 74% improvement in the fourth quarter is progress worth noting and something I do believe our employees should be congratulated on. As in the fourth quarter, this improvement in net income came on reduced origination volumes. In the first quarter of 2026, we originated $489 million of loan volume compared to $518 million in the first quarter of 2025, a 6% year-over-year decrease. On a sequential quarter basis, origination volumes were down 9%.

Based on the Mortgage Bankers Association reported total industry origination volumes for Q1, SNMC's market share held steady at 9 basis points, the same as in the fourth quarter. The sequential quarter reduction in origination volume was roughly in line with overall industry origination volumes. While the year-over-year decline continues to be impacted by the company separating from a large group of loan originators in the third quarter of last year. As primarily a purchase transaction-based lender, a key concern for Security National in the first quarter was declining home sales. According to the National Association of Realtors, January, February, and March each had lower existing home sales than the same month a year earlier. Affordability and uncertainty continue to weigh heavily on home buyers. We are working hard to counteract these market forces. Last earnings call, I referenced our refinance volumes.

In the most recent quarter, Security National increased to 24% refinance volume from 19% refinance volume in the fourth quarter. This marks another three-year high in that metric. The first quarter also showed noticeable increases in HELOC and reverse mortgage lending activity. Our team continues to focus and improve on assisting our past borrowers with their next financing needs, regardless of what that might be. This broadening of our loan product lending has had the intended result of blunting the impact of fewer home sales. The corollary of broadening our loan product lending is improved productivity. In the first quarter, our average loans per loan officer per month increased 23% over the first quarter in 2025. In a quarter with declining home sales, this is a result I'm particularly proud of.

Security National has helped our loan officers increase their transaction volume while at the same time more fully serving our borrowers' needs. In summary, in the first quarter of 2026, Security National reduced its pre-tax net loss by 65% despite lower origination volumes. This reduction was driven by improved productivity paired with expanded refinance and broadened loan product activity. I'd like to conclude by thanking our loan officers and our employees for their tireless work improving Security National in this challenging environment. The progress being made is tangible. Thank you. I'll now turn the time over to Adam Quist.

Thank you, Andrew. As Andrew said, my name is Adam Quist, and I'm President and CEO of the Security National Life Insurance Companies. My remarks will focus on the performance of our life companies in Q1 2026. Coming off the strongest operational year in our company's history, Q1 2026 showed a modest step back in GAAP revenue and earnings relative to Q1 2025. I want to explain what drove those results and why they are largely expected as a short-term result of long-term strategic decisions. At the outset, I also wanted to highlight that, as Scott mentioned, from a statutory accounting standpoint, our underwriting profit improved from Q1 2025.

Turning to and focusing on our GAAP results, our total life segment revenues were approximately $48.9 million, down about 3% from $50.6 million in Q1 2025. Segment net earnings were $5.9 million compared to $6.2 million a year ago, a decrease of roughly 5%. Two factors account for substantially all of that variance. First, a decline in insurance premiums, which is concentrated in our lowest margin products. Second, a decrease in net investment income driven primarily by our lower profit share distributions from our home builder partners. Insurance premiums were approximately $28.9 million, down about 3% from $29.8 million in Q1 2025.

Importantly, as mentioned, approximately 60% of that decrease is attributable to a decline in single premium business, which as mentioned, is one of our least profitable product lines. The remainder reflects the effects of the ongoing reorganization of our sales force leadership. Over the past two years, we have made significant changes to and investments in our sales leadership talent and sales distribution infrastructure. Building any high-performing sales organization does not happen without some turmoil, and that near-term disruption is visible in our top line. I want to emphasize that we have improved our premium margins, which is showing up in our results. Our renewal premiums remain stable, which reflects the durability of our policyholder base. Our goal is not to have stable premiums. Our goal is to grow premiums.

I am encouraged by what I see across our marketing channels, and I'm confident in the sales leadership and infrastructure investments we have made and are building the right foundation. Our net investment income was $17.7 million, down about 5% from $18.6 million in Q1 2025. There are several moving pieces, but the single largest driver was a decline in profit share distributions from our home builder partners. There is also a related dynamic worth noting. Our investment in land increased by approximately $37 million compared to Q1 2025. That is a meaningful capital commitment, and it carries a near-term opportunity cost because under GAAP, income from land held for investment is not recognized until the lot is sold or a construction loan is taken out.

We have more capital deployed in land than a year ago, and that capital has not yet or is not yet generating reportable net income. Land holdings may be considered a leading indicator. More land investment today may mean more builder profits ahead, but it is nevertheless a net drag currently, and of course, we are subject to macroeconomic housing trends. Even with these headwinds, we believe our net portfolio yield remains approximately 100 basis points above industry averages. We remain confident in our investment strategy over the long term. Despite adding significant talent and continuing to invest in our infrastructure, our overall life insurance segment expenses are up less than 3% year-over-year. That discipline reflects real operational efficiency gains across the organization. Our policyholder benefits and claims also declined by approximately $900,000 or 3.6% to $24.5 million.

In conclusion, Q1 2026 presented real headwinds, a modestly lower top-line premium revenue, which was driven primarily by lower margin premium single-premium business and our sales force transition. It was also driven by lower investment income driven by reduced builder profit share distributions and our growing land portfolio. These dynamics are understood and anticipated. Nevertheless, our goal and expectation is to grow both our top line and bottom line. Beneath those headline numbers, our premium margins improved, our total expenses grew less than 3% despite meaningful talent additions. Our claims declined. We believe our investment portfolio continues to yield well above industry benchmarks. I am confident in the direction of our life companies and in the talent of our team. I look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. I will now turn the time over to Steve Kiel, the COO of our Cemeteries and Mortuaries division.

Thank you, Adam. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Steve Kiel, Chief Operating Officer of Security National Funeral Homes & Cemeteries. I'd like to briefly walk you through our first quarter performance and highlight the key factors that shaped the quarter. For the first quarter of 2026, earnings before tax decreased 4% to $2.149 million, compared with $2.238 million a year ago. Revenue increased 4.4% to $8.473 million from $8.119 million, led by strong Cemetery performance and steady results across the broader business. Importantly, operating earnings before tax, excluding investment results, increased 15.7% to $1.523 million from $1.317 million in the first quarter of 2025.

That improvement reflects solid execution in the business and gives us confidence in the underlying trajectory of the segment. Let me review with you our Funeral Home performance. First quarter earnings before tax decreased 9.5% to $555,000, compared to $613,000 a year ago. Revenue was essentially flat at $3.671 million, compared with $3.673 million in the first quarter of 2025. It's important to note that families served declined 6.7% year-over-year. However, the average funeral sales were able to increase 6.6%. We also saw a 22.5% increase in the percentage of our families choosing cremation with a memorial or funeral service.

Those results reflect stronger service mix, excellent sales discipline, and continued progress as we align our offerings with the changing customer preferences. Over the past year, we have invested heavily in training and operational development to improve our arrangement conference effectiveness, strengthen our sales education, and elevate our service quality across our funeral homes. That work is producing measurable improvement. We believe it positions the funeral home segment for stronger long-term performance. Now turning to our Cemeteries. First quarter earnings before tax increased 37.6% to $996,000 from $704,000 a year ago. Revenue increased 18.5% to $4.209 million from $3.553 million in the first quarter of 2025.

That growth, as noted, was driven primarily by strong net pre-need land sales, which increased 35.1% during the quarter. It's important to note that the number of pre-need land contracts written also increased 15.8%, reflecting effective execution by our sales team and continued momentum with our overall pre-need strategy. We continue to invest heavily in recruiting top-tier talent, deploying consistent training programs, and offering educational community seminars. At the same time, our cemetery placements during the first quarter 2026 declined 5.9% from prior year period, and this remains an area of focus for us. To address that, we are continuing to emphasize family education around permanent placement remembrance while improving the customer experience through stronger arrangement presentations, targeted outreach, enhanced cemetery tours, and ongoing developmental team training. Let me turn now to investment income.

First quarter investment income decreased 33.5% to $591,000 from $889,000 a year ago. The key point is that the change was driven by investment results rather than operating performance. As noted in the press release, unrealized losses on common stock positions were the largest factor affecting net investment income this quarter. We continue to manage capital with a long-term perspective and remain committed to investing in internal growth opportunities, including cemetery garden expansions, as well as external growth opportunities through acquisitions that we expect to support future returns. Before I close, I want to take a moment to thank our funeral home, cemetery grounds, and operational support teams. Their commitment, professionalism, and care make these results possible and continue to strengthen the experience we provide to those families that we have the privilege to serve.

Overall, we're encouraged by the quarter, confident in the direction of the business, and focused on discipline execution. Thank you for your time, your confidence, and your continued partnership. I now turn the time back over to Heather Street, our Human Resources Director.

Thank you, Steve. Before we conclude today's call, we'd like to open the floor for questions. As a reminder, to ask a question, please use the Zoom platform to raise your hand to unmute, or you may submit questions through the Zoom Q&A panel. Include your name and organization. We'll take as many as time permits. From Alex Cardenas, question in regards to the roughly 50 basis point shortfall between locked loan rates and actual investor pricing on about $200 billion in volume for March. What specific changes are you making in your hedging strategy or in your lock-sell timing process to prevent this from recurring? A following, if allowed, do you expect the conflict with Iran to impact volume going forward?

Thank you for the question, Alex. Yeah, that was a difficult one in March. The bottom line is, there's not a lot we can do when the investor simply reduces their pricing from the time of lock to the time of purchase. We're able to get our expected margins or our locked margins that are built into our pricing in that instance. Any additional pickup is hard to account for in a hedging strategy. One of the things that we are doing is simply looking at that change day over day and gathering information on the cumulative impact of that change so that we can make changes in our built-in margins. Because that's the only way that we're going to be able to capture that. It's simply something that we have to be more vigilant for.

As far as the conflict with Iran, it's difficult to tell how that's going to impact volume going forward. Obviously, it has introduced a element of increasing interest rates, which of course impacts volume. I think the bigger issue is the volatility that it's introduced. Anytime that there is volatility, potential home buyers typically don't like that. I think what we'll have to do to blunt that impact is simply be prepared for when those rate drops occur, 'cause there will be pockets of declining rates, to take advantage of those opportunities the market gives us. We have to be prepared for those events and not wait for those events to occur to prepare for them, if that makes sense.

Thank you, Andrew, and thank you, Alex. Do we have any further questions? Thank you again for your questions and participation. We value the engagement and thoughtful input of our shareholders and analysts. As we've come to the end of our time, we'll note the end of our Q&A. Before we officially close, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that our annual shareholder meeting will be held on June 26th, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time at 433 Ascension Way, first floor, Salt Lake City, Utah.

For those unable to attend in person, the meeting will also be available via Zoom. For more information about the meeting, our latest financial reports, or any other investor materials, we invite you to visit the investor relations section at our website at www.securitynational.com. We appreciate your continued support of Security National Financial Corporation. This concludes our first quarter 2026 earnings call. We look forward to speaking with you again soon. Thank you and have a great day.