Suncoke energy partners, l.p. reports fourth quarter 2013 results
Lisle, ill.--(business wire)--suncoke energy partners, l.p. (nyse: sxcp) today reported fourth quarter 2013 net income attributable to sxcp of $17.3 million, or $0.53 per unit. full year 2013 net income attributable to sxcp was $58.6 million, or $1.81 per unit. prior year net income of $15.3 million for the quarter and $56.8 million for the year is not comparable as these results are before the initial public offering of a 65 percent interest in our sponsor's, suncoke energy, inc. (nyse: sxc), haverhill and middletown cokemaking facilities. “sxcp's first year as a publicly traded master limited partnership was outstanding," said fritz henderson, chairman and chief executive officer of sxcp. "full year adjusted ebitda was over $155 million and proforma distributable cash flow reached $78 million on the strength of our cokemaking operations and coal logistics acquisitions. as a result, we were able to raise cash distributions per unit three times in 2013 for a total 15 percent increase over our minimum quarterly distribution.” henderson continued, "in 2014, we look forward to working with our sponsor to evaluate the potential dropdown of additional cokemaking assets. in addition, we will continue to sustain high-level performance in our existing assets and pursue opportunities to expand our presence in the steel value chain. as we make progress on these priorities, we expect they will help drive potential future increases in cash distributions." three months ended december 31, (1) (2) revenues declined 7.3 percent in fourth quarter 2013 to $172.7 million and 7.2 percent to $687.3 million for full year 2013 versus the same respective prior year periods. the decline in both periods was primarily due to the pass-through of lower coal prices in our cokemaking business, partly offset by revenues generated by our new coal logistics segment, which was formed upon our acquisitions of lakeshore coal handling (lake terminal) corporation and kanawha river terminals, llc (krt). full year 2013 revenues also benefited from higher coke sales volumes. operating income rose 27 percent to $31.5 million in fourth quarter 2013 and 34 percent to $122.8 million for full year 2013 versus the same respective prior year periods. adjusted ebitda increased 22 percent to $41.0 million in fourth quarter 2013 and 22 percent to $155.2 million for full year 2013. the increase in operating income and adjusted ebitda for both periods reflects higher operating cost recovery at our middletown cokemaking facility as a result of the transition to a budgeted operating cost per ton from the fixed operating cost per ton that was in effect only in the first year of operation at this facility and the benefit of our new coal logistics segment. fourth quarter 2013 and full year 2013 net income attributable to sxcp of $17.3 million and $58.6 million is not comparable to prior year, which includes 100 percent of the operating results of sxc's haverhill and middletown facilities. segment information domestic coke domestic coke business generated $38.2 million in adjusted ebitda in fourth quarter 2013, up $4.6 million as compared to fourth quarter 2012, on flat coke sales volumes. full year 2013 adjusted ebitda was $157.3 million on coke sales volumes of 1,793 thousand tons, up $29.9 million and 35 thousand tons, respectively, from the same prior year period. coal logistics the coal logistics segment was formed as a result of our acquisitions of lake terminal in third quarter 2013 and krt in fourth quarter 2013. in fourth quarter 2013, the coal logistics segment handled 3,649 thousand tons of coal, contributing $4.0 million to adjusted ebitda. for full year 2013, the segment handled 3,785 thousand tons of coal, contributing $4.7 million to adjusted ebitda. corporate and other corporate and other costs were $1.2 million in fourth quarter 2013 and $6.8 million for full year 2013. cash distributions on january 27, 2014, the board of directors of sxcp's general partner declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.4750 per limited partnership unit, an increase of 10 percent over the previous quarterly cash distribution rate of $0.4325. this cash distribution will be paid on february 28, 2014 to unit holders of record as of february 14, 2014. related communications we will host an investor conference call today at 10:00 a.m. eastern time (9:00 a.m. central time). this conference call will be webcast live and archived for replay on the investor relations section of www.sxcpartners.com. participants can listen in by dialing 1-800-471-6718 (domestic) or 1-630-691-2735 (international) and referencing confirmation 36415300. please log in or dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start time to ensure a connection. a replay of the call will be available for two weeks by calling 1-888-843-7419 (domestic) or 1-630-652-3042 (international) and referencing confirmation 3641 5300#. upcoming events our senior management team will host a joint investor day with sxc on tuesday, march 11, 2014 at the new york stock exchange. registration for investor day will open the week of february 3, 2014. presentations will be webcast live and archived for replay for a limited time in the investor relations section of the company's website at www.sxcpartners.com. in addition, we plan to participate in the bb&t commercial and industrial conference in miami, fl on march 27, 2014. suncoke energy partners predecessor financial results for periods prior to the january 24, 2013 closing of sxcp's initial public offering represent the financial results of sxcp's predecessor, which was comprised of 100 percent of the cokemaking operations and related assets of sxc's haverhill and middletown facilities. these financial results include all revenues, costs, assets and liabilities attributed to the predecessor after the elimination of all significant intercompany accounts and transactions. upon the closing of the ipo, sxc contributed a 65 percent interest in the predecessor to sxcp. our financial reporting reflects sxc's 35 percent ownership interest in these facilities as a noncontrolling interest. notice this statement is intended to serve as qualified notice to nominees as provided for under treasury regulation section 1.1446-4(b)(4) and (d) given by a publicly traded partnership for the nominee to be treated as a withholding agent. please note that sxcp's quarterly cash distributions are treated as partnership distributions for federal income tax purposes and that 100 percent of these distributions to foreign investors are attributable to income that is effectively connected with a united states trade or business. accordingly, all of sxcp's distributions to a nominee on behalf of foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest marginal tax rate for individuals or corporations, as applicable. nominees, and not sxcp, are treated as the withholding agents responsible for withholding on the distributions received by them on behalf of foreign investors. about suncoke energy partners, l.p. suncoke energy partners, l.p. (nyse: sxcp) is a publicly-traded master limited partnership that manufactures coke used in the blast furnace production of steel and provides coal handling services to the coke, steel and power industries. our advanced, heat recovery cokemaking process produces consistently high-quality coke, captures waste heat to generate steam or electricity, and reduces environmental impacts. our coal handling terminals have the collective capacity to blend and transload more than 30 million tons of coal annually and are strategically located to enable material delivery to u.s. ports in the gulf coast, east coast and great lakes. our general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of suncoke energy, inc. (nyse: sxc), the largest independent producer of coke in the americas, with 50 years of cokemaking experience and an international reputation for leadership, innovation and environmental stewardship in our industry. definitions adjusted ebitda represents earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization (“ebitda”) adjusted for sales discounts and the interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization attributable to our equity method investment. ebitda reflects sales discounts included as a reduction in sales and other operating revenue. the sales discounts represent the sharing with customers of a portion of nonconventional fuel tax credits, which reduce our income tax expense. however, we believe our adjusted ebitda would be inappropriately penalized if these discounts were treated as a reduction of ebitda since they represent sharing of a tax benefit that is not included in ebitda. accordingly, in computing adjusted ebitda, we have added back these sales discounts. our adjusted ebitda also includes ebitda attributable to our equity method investment. ebitda and adjusted ebitda do not represent and should not be considered alternatives to net income or operating income under gaap and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures in other businesses. management believes adjusted ebitda is an important measure of the operating performance of the company's net assets and provides useful information to investors because it highlights trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on gaap measures and because it eliminates items that have less bearing on our operating performance. adjusted ebitda is a measure of operating performance that is not defined by gaap, does not represent and should not be considered a substitute for net income as determined in accordance with gaap. calculations of adjusted ebitda may not be comparable to those reported by other companies. ebitda represents earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization. adjusted ebitda attributable to sxc/sxcp equals adjusted ebitda less adjusted ebitda attributable to noncontrolling interests. adjusted ebitda/ton represents adjusted ebitda divided by tons sold. distributable cash flow equals adjusted ebitda less net cash paid for interest expense, on-going capital expenditures, accruals for replacement capital expenditures, and cash distributions to noncontrolling interests; plus amounts received under the omnibus agreement and acquisition expenses deemed to be expansion capital under our partnership agreement. distributable cash flow is a non-gaap supplemental financial measure that management and external users of the partnership's financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies use to assess: the partnership's operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships, without regard to historical cost basis; the ability of the partnership's assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to the partnership's unitholders; the partnership's ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various investment opportunities. the partnership's operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships, without regard to historical cost basis; the ability of the partnership's assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to the partnership's unitholders; the partnership's ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various investment opportunities. the partnership believes that distributable cash flow provides useful information to investors in assessing the partnership's financial condition and results of operations. distributable cash flow should not be considered an alternative to net income, operating income, cash flows from operating activities, or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (gaap). distributable cash flow has important limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes some, but not all, items that affect net income and net cash provided by operating activities and used in investing activities. additionally, because distributable cash flow may be defined differently by other companies in the industry, the partnership's definition of distributable cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility. ongoing capital expenditures (“capex”) are capital expenditures made to maintain the existing operating capacity of our assets and/or to extend their useful lives. ongoing capex also includes new equipment that improves the efficiency, reliability or effectiveness of existing assets. ongoing capex does not include normal repairs and maintenance, which are expensed as incurred, or significant capital expenditures. for purposes of calculating distributable cash flow, the portion of ongoing capex attributable to sxcp is used. replacement capital expenditures (“capex”) represents an annual accrual necessary to fund sxcp’s share of the estimated costs to replace or rebuild our facilities at the end of their working lives. this accrual is estimated based on the average quarterly anticipated replacement capital that we expect to incur over the long term to replace our major capital assets at the end of their working lives. the replacement capex accrual estimate will be subject to review and prospective change by sxcp’s general partner at least annually and whenever an event occurs that causes a material adjustment of replacement capex, provided such change is approved by our conflicts committee. forward looking statements some of the statements included in this press release constitute “forward looking statements.” forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by the use of such words as “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “may,” “will,” “should” or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are beyond the control of the company) that could cause actual results to differ materially. such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to domestic and international economic, political, business, operational, competitive, regulatory and/or market factors affecting the company, as well as uncertainties related to: pending or future litigation, legislation, or regulatory actions; liability for remedial actions or assessments under existing or future environmental regulations; gains and losses related to acquisition, disposition or impairment of assets; recapitalizations; access to, and costs of, capital; the effects of changes in accounting rules applicable to the company; and changes in tax, environmental and other laws and regulations applicable to the company’s businesses. forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, but are based upon the current knowledge, beliefs and expectations of company management, and upon assumptions by the company concerning future conditions, any or all of which ultimately may prove to be inaccurate. the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. the company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter its forward-looking statements (or associated cautionary language), whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this press release except as required by applicable law. the company has included in its filings with the securities and exchange commission cautionary language identifying important factors (but not necessarily all the important factors) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by the company. for information concerning these factors, see the company’s securities and exchange commission filings such as its annual and quarterly reports and current reports on form 8-k, copies of which are available free of charge on the company’s website at www.sxcpartners.com. all forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by such cautionary statements. unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed in this release also could have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. suncoke energy partners, l.p. combined and consolidated statements of income (predecessor) (predecessor) net income attributable to suncoke energy partners, l.p. suncoke energy partners, l.p. combined and consolidated balance sheets suncoke energy partners, l.p. combined and consolidated statements of cash flows suncoke energy partners, l.p. segment operating data (unaudited) suncoke energy partners, l.p. reconciliations of non-gaap information adjusted ebitda to net income adjusted ebitda to net income disaggregated for periods prior to and subsequent to our ipo suncoke energy partners, l.p. reconciliations of non-gaap information reconciliation of adjusted ebitda and distributable cash flow to net income
