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AmeriGas Partners Reports First Quarter Results, Increases FY 2009 Guidance.


VALLEY FORGE Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill River, SE Pa., NW of Philadelphia. There, during the American Revolution, the main camp of the Continental Army was established (Dec., 1777–June, 1778) under the command of Gen. George Washington. , Pa. -- AmeriGas Propane, Inc., general partner of AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE NYSE

See: New York Stock Exchange
:APU APU Azusa Pacific University
APU Auxiliary Power Unit
APU Alaska Pacific University
APU Asia Pacific University (Japan)
APU American Public University
APU Anglia Polytechnic University (Chelmsford) 
), reported net income for the first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008 of $124.0 million compared to $54.3 million for the same period last year. The Partnership's earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become ) was $164.1 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to $93.1 million for the same period last year. Results for the current quarter include the impact of a $39.9 million gain on the sale of the Partnership's California propane storage terminal, which was completed in November.

For the three months ended December 31, 2008, retail propane volumes sold were 278.2 million gallons, virtually unchanged from the prior year period. Weather was nearly normal during the quarter and 6.9% colder than in the prior-year period, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and . The beneficial volume impacts of the colder weather and AmeriGas's acquisition of Penn Fuel Propane were more than offset by continued customer conservation and declines in motor fuel and certain other commercial segments which resulted from the deepening deep·en  
tr. & intr.v. deep·ened, deep·en·ing, deep·ens
To make or become deep or deeper.

Noun 1. deepening - a process of becoming deeper and more profound
 economic recession.

Eugene V. N. Bissell, chief executive officer of AmeriGas, said "Higher unit margins driven by lower wholesale propane product costs, and colder weather, fueled first quarter results. Looking forward, given our first quarter performance and our assessment of market conditions, we now expect EBITDA excluding the gain on the sale of the terminal to be in the range of $335 million to $345 million for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009."

Revenues for the quarter decreased to $727.1 million from $748.2 million in the prior year period, reflecting lower average selling prices The average sales price of goods or commodities. Especially used in the retail sector and technology distribution.  due to a decline in product costs. Total margin increased $39.7 million mainly due to the beneficial impact of higher retail unit margins resulting from a sharp decline in product costs during the quarter. Operating and administrative expenses increased to $160.0 million from $152.9 million in the prior year quarter due to higher bad debt and general insurance expenses and incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged.

Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost.
 expenses from the Penn Fuel Propane acquisition. Operating income Operating Income

The profit realized from a business' own operations.

Notes:
This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit.
 increased to $144.8 million from $74.0 million in the fiscal 2008 quarter, primarily reflecting the higher EBITDA.

Separately, AmeriGas announced that for the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, the compound annual total return on Partnership units exceeded that of a substantial majority of the partnerships in its peer group of publicly-traded master limited partnerships. As a result, employees who received performance-contingent unit awards in early 2006 in accordance with AmeriGas's long-term compensation plan will receive a payout under the plan in Partnership units and will be deemed to have sold a portion of the units to AmeriGas Partners for cash to pay income taxes. The appropriate disclosures on Form 4 have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AmeriGas Partners is the nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving nearly 1.3 million customers from nearly 600 locations in 46 states. UGI Corporation
UGI redirects here. For the radiographic procedure, see Upper GI series
UGI Corporation NYSE: UGI is a public utility holding company with a variety of assets based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Under the UGI Utilities, Inc.
 (NYSE:UGI UGI
abbr.
upper gastrointestinal (as in series)
), through subsidiaries, owns 44% of the Partnership and the public owns the remaining 56%.

AmeriGas Partners, L.P. will host its first quarter FY 2009 earnings conference call on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, at 4:00 PM ET. Interested parties may listen to a live audio broadcast of the conference call at http://investor.shareholder.com/ugi/apu/events.cfm or at the company website: www.amerigas.com by clicking on Investor Relations Investor relations

The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors.
. A telephonic replay will be available from 7:00 PM ET on Wednesday, January 28 through midnight Friday, January 30. The replay may be accessed at 1-888-203-1112, passcode 8177747 and International access 1-719-457-0820, passcode 8177747.

Comprehensive information about AmeriGas is available on the Internet at www.amerigas.com.

Estimated fiscal 2009 EBITDA excluding the $39.9 million gain on the sale of the California terminal is a non-GAAP financial measure. Management believes the presentation of this measure for fiscal 2009 provides useful information to investors to more effectively evaluate the year-over-year results of operations of the Partnership in fiscal 2009. This measure is not comparable to measures used by other entities and should only be considered in conjunction with net income per limited partner unit.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement

A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections.
 which management believes to be reasonable as of today's date only. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond management's control. You should read the Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K

A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information.


Form 10-K

See 10-K.
 for a more extensive list of factors that could affect results. Among them are adverse weather conditions, price volatility and availability of propane, increased customer conservation measures, the capacity to transport propane to our market areas and political, economic and regulatory conditions in the U. S. and abroad. The Partnership undertakes no obligation to release revisions to its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after today.
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Management also uses EBITDA to assess the Partnership's profitability because its parent, UGI Corporation, uses the Partnership's EBITDA to assess the profitability of the Partnership. UGI Corporation discloses the Partnership's EBITDA as the profitability measure to comply with the requirement in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 131, "Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information," to provide profitability information about its domestic propane segment.

The following table includes reconciliations of net income to EBITDA for all periods presented:
[TABLE OMITTED]


The following table includes a reconciliation of forecasted net income to forecasted EBITDA excluding gain on sale of terminal for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009:
[TABLE OMITTED]
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Publication:Business Wire
Article Type:Financial report
Date:Jan 28, 2009
Words:940
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