Invocare (IVC) - slow and steady funeral business

[RRR]

Looks to have been a bit of a rollercoaster for you RRR. Last time i looked there was alot of cut price budget competition piling in and stuffing things up for IVC. Looks to have adapted or altered its strategy going by the price recovery happening though?

2018 was a bad year for IVC - 2nd consecutive year of decreasing death rates and it coincided with the renovation of funeral centers (which resulted in closure of funeral centers for 4-6 months on average), renovation now 35% complete. Their market share has actually gone up - but there is definitely competition at the budget end of the funeral business spectrum. IVC used to be in the big cities, but now they are expanding into the hinterlands (regions they call it).

In terms of share price - $18 end of 2017 to just above $10 in 2018. I chose to invest more in the downtrend and also participated in the recent share purchase plan..Let us see what happens. Update in May during annual meeting is keenly awaited and will determine the share price direction..