AmeriGas Partners Reports Third Quarter Results, Reiterates Fiscal Year Guidance.Business Editors/Energy Writers 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.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 2003 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 a seasonal net loss for the Partnership's third quarter of fiscal 2003 ended June 30, 2003 of $27,414,000 or $0.54 per limited partner unit, compared to a loss of $9,945,000 or $0.20 per limited partner unit, in the same period last year. Results for the June 2003 quarter include $3,022,000, or $0.06 per limited partner unit, of costs associated with the realignment re·a·lign tr.v. re·a·ligned, re·a·lign·ing, re·a·ligns 1. To put back into proper order or alignment. 2. To make new groupings of or working arrangements between. of the regional management structure announced in June. For the three months ended June 30, 2003, retail volumes sold were 182.4 million gallons, virtually unchanged from the 182.5 million gallons sold in the prior-year period. Nationally, weather was slightly cooler than weather 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 . Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, equity investee income, loss on debt extinguishments and minority interests (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 ) were $13,061,000 in the fiscal 2003 period compared to $28,455,000 a year ago. Eugene V. N. Bissell, chief executive officer of AmeriGas, said, "Our residential sales volumes increased over last year as a result of the slightly cooler weather as well as customer growth and acquisitions. However, the sluggish economy Sluggish Economy A state in the economy in which the growth is slow, flat or declining. The term can refer to the economy as a whole or a component of the economy, such as weak housing starts. continued to adversely affect our non-weather sensitive sales volumes. In addition, unit margins declined as a result of higher propane product costs and other costs in our PPX PPX Parallel Port Multiplexor PPX Popular Science Predictions eXchange (Popular Science magazine) PPX Point to Point Switching PPX Posture Planning Express (R) cylinder exchange business. We continue to expect that EBITDA for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2003 will be approximately $237 million to $242 million, excluding the charges relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc the above-mentioned realignment." Net income (after management realignment expenses) is expected to be approximately $70 million. Revenues for the quarter were $287,136,000 versus $254,469,000 a year ago, principally reflecting higher propane product costs. Operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. rose during the quarter mainly reflecting the costs related to the management realignment, higher medical and insurance costs, higher expenses in our PPX(R) cylinder exchange business as well as higher incentive compensation accruals relating to improved fiscal year 2003 financial results. AmeriGas Partners is the nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving nearly 1.2 million customers from approximately 650 locations in 46 states. UGI Corporation
Under the UGI Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:UGI UGI abbr. upper gastrointestinal (as in series) ), through subsidiaries, owns 48% of the Partnership and individual unitholders own the remaining 52%. EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, equity investee income, loss on debt extinguishments and minority interests) should not be considered as an alternative to net income (as an indicator of operating performance) or as an alternative to cash flow (as measures of liquidity or ability to service debt obligations) and is not a measure of performance or financial condition under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Management believes EBITDA, excluding charges related to the management realignment, is a meaningful non-GAAP financial measure used by investors to compare our operating performance with other companies within the propane industry and to evaluate our ability to meet loan covenants. Our definition of EBITDA may be different from that used by other companies. The following table includes a reconciliation of forecasted net income to forecasted EBITDA for fiscal 2003.
Forecast
Fiscal 2003
-----------
($Millions)
Net income (estimate) 70
Minority interests (estimate) 1
Interest expense (estimate) 87
Loss on extinguishments of debt (estimate) 3
Depreciation and amortization (estimate) 74
Equity investee (income)(estimate) -
-----------
EBITDA after management realignment expense
(estimate) 235
Management realignment expense 4
-----------
EBITDA before management realignment expense
(estimate) 239
-----------
AmeriGas Partners invites interested parties to listen to the live webcast of management's teleconference with the financial community about third quarter fiscal year 2003 results on Wednesday, July 30, 2003, at 4:00 PM Eastern time. The teleconference is available online live, in audio format, at http://www.shareholder.com/ugi/medialist.cfm. A telephonic replay of the call can be accessed approximately two hours after the completion of the call at 888/203-1112, (International replay 719/457-0820) passcode 490472, until midnight ET August 3, 2003. Comprehensive information about AmeriGas is available on the Internet at www.amerigas.com. The financial table appended to this news release can be viewed directly at http://www.shareholder.com/ugi/APU/3Q03FinancialTable.pdf. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements 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, the capacity to transport propane to our market areas and regional economic conditions. The Partnership undertakes no obligation to release revisions to its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after today. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion