Star Group, L.P. Reports Fiscal 2020 Fourth Quarter Results
Star Group, L.P. (SGU) reported a challenging fiscal 2020, with a 22.3% decrease in Q4 revenue to $183.3 million compared to $235.9 million a year earlier, attributed to lower selling prices and volume declines. Annual revenue fell 16.3% to $1.5 billion, mainly due to reduced average prices and a 9.3% drop in total volume sold, exacerbated by the pandemic and customer attrition. Despite these challenges, the net income rose to $55.9 million, driven by improved Adjusted EBITDA of $130.3 million, reflecting operational cost reductions and better margins in home heating products.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased by 36.7% to $130.3 million for the fiscal year.
- Lower operating expenses contributed $46.4 million to the base business.
- Home heating oil and propane margins improved by 6.6 cents per gallon.
- Fourth quarter revenue declined by 22.3%, reflecting lower selling prices and volume sold.
- Annual revenue dropped by 16.3%, primarily due to lower average selling prices.
- Total volume of home heating oil and propane sold decreased by 9.2%.
STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Star Group, L.P. (the "Company" or "Star") (NYSE:SGU), a home energy distributor and services provider, today announced financial results for the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2020.
Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Compared to the Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
For the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, Star reported a 22.3 percent decrease in total revenue to
The volume of home heating oil and propane sold during the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter decreased by 2.9 million gallons, or 13.2 percent, to 19.0 million gallons due to net customer attrition, summertime staffing levels, the timing of certain non winter deliveries and other factors. The volume of other petroleum products sold decreased by 4.6 million gallons, or 10.4 percent, to 39.6 million gallons due to a decline in motor fuel sales, reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on overall economic activity, and the loss of certain accounts.
Star’s net loss declined by
The fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA loss decreased by
“I’m pleased to announce that, in the face of many economic uncertainties this year, Star Group finished fiscal 2020 with solid performance, well positioned for the future,” said Jeff Woosnam, Star Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “For the full year, Adjusted EBITDA rose 37 percent, to
Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2020 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2019
Star reported a 16.3 percent decrease in total revenue to
The volume of home heating oil and propane sold decreased by 31.9 million gallons, or 9.2 percent, to 313.6 million gallons, as the impact from acquisitions was more than offset by warmer weather, net customer attrition, and other factors. Temperatures in Star's geographic areas of operation were 6.0 percent warmer than during the prior-year period and 10.2 percent warmer than normal, as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The volume of other petroleum products sold decreased by 15.6 million gallons, or 9.3 percent, to 151.8 million gallons, as the additional volume provided by acquisitions of 9.2 million gallons was more than offset by lower wholesale sales (due to warmer weather) and a reduction in motor fuel sales reflecting, in part, the impact of COVID-19 on economic activity, and the loss of certain accounts.
Net income increased by
Adjusted EBITDA increased by
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP Financial Measures)
EBITDA (Earnings from continuing operations before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) and Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings from continuing operations before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, (increase) decrease in the fair value of derivatives, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal charge, other income (loss), net, gain or loss on debt redemption, goodwill impairment, and other non-cash and non-operating charges) are non-GAAP financial measures that are used as supplemental financial measures by management and external users of the Company’s financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks and research analysts, to assess Star’s position with regard to the following:
- compliance with certain financial covenants included in our debt agreements;
- financial performance without regard to financing methods, capital structure, income taxes or historical cost basis;
- operating performance and return on invested capital compared to those of other companies in the retail distribution of refined petroleum products, without regard to financing methods and capital structure;
- ability to generate cash sufficient to pay interest on our indebtedness and to make distributions to our partners; and
- the viability of acquisitions and capital expenditure projects and the overall rates of return of alternative investment opportunities.
The method of calculating Adjusted EBITDA may not be consistent with that of other companies, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA both have limitations as analytical tools and so should not be viewed in isolation but in conjunction with measurements that are computed in accordance with GAAP. Some of the limitations of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are as follows:
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect cash used for capital expenditures;
- although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized often will have to be replaced and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the cash requirements for such replacements;
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, working capital requirements;
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the cash necessary to make payments of interest or principal on indebtedness; and
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the cash required to pay taxes.
REMINDER:
Members of Star's management team will host a webcast and conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time tomorrow, December 8, 2020. The webcast will be accessible on the company’s website, at www.stargrouplp.com, and the telephone number for the conference call is 877-327-7688 (or 412-317-5112 for international callers).
About Star Group, L.P.
Star Group, L.P. is a full service provider specializing in the sale of home heating products and services to residential and commercial customers to heat their homes and buildings. The Company also sells and services heating and air conditioning equipment to its home heating oil and propane customers and, to a lesser extent, provides these offerings to customers outside of its home heating oil and propane customer base. In certain of Star's marketing areas, the Company provides plumbing services, primarily to its home heating oil and propane customer base. Star also sells diesel, gasoline and home heating oil on a delivery only basis. We believe Star is the nation's largest retail distributor of home heating oil based upon sales volume. Including its propane locations, Star serves customers in the more northern and eastern states within the Northeast, Central and Southeast U.S. regions. Additional information is available by obtaining the Company's SEC filings at www.sec.gov and by visiting Star's website at www.stargrouplp.com, where unit holders may request a hard copy of Star’s complete audited financial statements free of charge.
Forward Looking Information
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" which represent the Company’s expectations or beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including those associated with the severity and duration of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic, the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. and global economies, the timing, scope and effectiveness of federal, state and local governmental responses to the pandemic, the effect of weather conditions on our financial performance; the price and supply of the products that we sell; the consumption patterns of our customers; our ability to obtain satisfactory gross profit margins; our ability to obtain new customers and retain existing customers; our ability to make strategic acquisitions; the impact of litigation; our ability to contract for our current and future supply needs; natural gas conversions; future union relations and the outcome of current and future union negotiations; the impact of current and future governmental regulations, including climate change, environmental, health and safety regulations; the ability to attract and retain employees; customer creditworthiness; counterparty creditworthiness; marketing plans; potential cyber-attacks; general economic conditions and new technology. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "seek," "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" and "Business Strategy" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K (the "Form 10-K") for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations ("Cautionary Statements") are disclosed in this news release and in the Form 10-Q, the Form 10-K and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Currently, one of the most significant factors, however, is the potential adverse effect of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, on the financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and performance of the Company and its customers and counterparties and the global economy and financial markets. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts us and our customers will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the scope, severity and duration of the pandemic, the actions taken to contain the pandemic or mitigate its impact, and the direct and indirect economic effects of the pandemic and containment measures, among others. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements. Unless otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this news release.
(financials follow)
| STAR GROUP, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS | ||||||||
| September 30, | September 30, | |||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | |||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Current assets | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 56,911 | $ | 4,899 | ||||
| Receivables, net of allowance of | 83,594 | 120,245 | ||||||
| Inventories | 50,256 | 64,788 | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 29,554 | 36,898 | ||||||
| Assets held for sale | 6,030 | -- | ||||||
| Total current assets | 226,345 | 226,830 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 93,495 | 98,239 | ||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 99,776 | -- | ||||||
| Goodwill | 240,327 | 244,574 | ||||||
| Intangibles, net | 90,293 | 107,688 | ||||||
| Restricted cash | 250 | 250 | ||||||
| Captive insurance collateral | 69,787 | 58,490 | ||||||
| Deferred charges and other assets, net | 18,343 | 16,635 | ||||||
| Total assets | $ | 838,616 | $ | 752,706 | ||||
| LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS' CAPITAL | ||||||||
| Current liabilities | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | 30,827 | $ | 33,973 | |||||
| Liabilities held for sale | 1,265 | -- | ||||||
| Revolving credit facility borrowings | -- | 24,000 | ||||||
| Fair liability value of derivative instruments | 11,437 | 8,262 | ||||||
| Current maturities of long-term debt | 13,000 | 9,000 | ||||||
| Current portion of operating lease liabilities | 19,139 | -- | ||||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 127,286 | 120,839 | ||||||
| Unearned service contract revenue | 58,430 | 61,213 | ||||||
| Customer credit balances | 83,471 | 68,270 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 344,855 | 325,557 | ||||||
| Long-term debt | 109,805 | 120,447 | ||||||
| Long-term operating lease liabilities | 85,908 | -- | ||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities, net | 17,227 | 20,116 | ||||||
| Other long-term liabilities | 25,001 | 25,746 | ||||||
| Partners' capital | ||||||||
| Common unitholders | 273,283 | 279,709 | ||||||
| General partner | (2,506 | ) | (1,968 | ) | ||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes | (14,957 | ) | (16,901 | ) | ||||
| Total partners' capital | 255,820 | 260,840 | ||||||
| Total liabilities and partners' capital | $ | 838,616 | $ | 752,706 | ||||
| STAR GROUP, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS | ||||||||||||||||
| Three Months Ended September 30, | Twelve Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||||||
| (in thousands, except per unit data) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
| (unaudited) | (unaudited) | |||||||||||||||
| Sales: | ||||||||||||||||
| Product | $ | 106,881 | $ | 159,281 | $ | 1,186,026 | $ | 1,466,045 | ||||||||
| Installations and services | 76,414 | 76,606 | 281,432 | 287,827 | ||||||||||||
| Total sales | 183,295 | 235,887 | 1,467,458 | 1,753,872 | ||||||||||||
| Cost and expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
| Cost of product | 72,427 | 121,639 | 738,714 | 998,559 | ||||||||||||
| Cost of installations and services | 64,050 | 65,766 | 253,724 | 267,607 | ||||||||||||
| (Increase) decrease in the fair value of derivative instruments | 781 | 5,845 | 2,755 | 25,113 | ||||||||||||
| Delivery and branch expenses | 68,428 | 73,007 | 323,373 | 369,033 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization expenses | 8,037 | 9,073 | 34,623 | 32,901 | ||||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 6,190 | 5,278 | 25,072 | 28,414 | ||||||||||||
| Finance charge income | (520 | ) | (939 | ) | (3,771 | ) | (5,105 | ) | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | (36,098 | ) | (43,782 | ) | 92,968 | 37,350 | ||||||||||
| Interest expense, net | (1,959 | ) | (2,487 | ) | (9,702 | ) | (11,164 | ) | ||||||||
| Amortization of debt issuance costs | (270 | ) | (276 | ) | (999 | ) | (1,032 | ) | ||||||||
| Other income (loss), net | (5,724 | ) | -- | (5,724 | ) | -- | ||||||||||
| Income (loss) before income taxes | (44,051 | ) | (46,545 | ) | 76,543 | 25,154 | ||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (13,852 | ) | (12,640 | ) | 20,625 | 7,517 | ||||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | (30,199 | ) | $ | (33,905 | ) | $ | 55,918 | $ | 17,637 | ||||||
| General Partner's interest in net income (loss) | (223 | ) | (224 | ) | 377 | 95 | ||||||||||
| Limited Partners' interest in net income (loss) | $ | (29,976 | ) | $ | (33,681 | ) | $ | 55,541 | $ | 17,542 | ||||||
| Per unit data (Basic and Diluted): | ||||||||||||||||
| Net income (loss) available to limited partners | $ | (0.68 | ) | $ | (0.69 | ) | $ | 1.22 | $ | 0.35 | ||||||
| Dilutive impact of theoretical distribution of earnings | -- | -- | 0.15 | -- | ||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted income (loss) per Limited Partner Unit: | $ | (0.68 | ) | $ | (0.69 | ) | $ | 1.07 | $ | 0.35 | ||||||
| Weighted average number of Limited Partner units outstanding (Basic and Diluted) | 43,875 | 48,986 | 45,656 | 50,814 | ||||||||||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION STAR GROUP, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES | ||||||||
| RECONCILIATION OF EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (Unaudited) | ||||||||
| Three Months Ended September 30, | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||
| Net loss | $ | (30,199 | ) | $ | (33,905 | ) | ||
| Plus: | ||||||||
| Income tax benefit | (13,852 | ) | (12,640 | ) | ||||
| Amortization of debt issuance costs | 270 | 276 | ||||||
| Interest expense, net | 1,959 | 2,487 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 8,037 | 9,073 | ||||||
| EBITDA | (33,785 | ) | (34,709 | ) | ||||
| (Increase) / decrease in the fair value of derivative instruments | 781 | 5,845 | ||||||
| Other loss (income), net | 5,724 | -- | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | (27,280 | ) | (28,864 | ) | ||||
| Add / (subtract) | ||||||||
| Income tax benefit | 13,852 | 12,640 | ||||||
| Interest expense, net | (1,959 | ) | (2,487 | ) | ||||
| Provision for losses on accounts receivable | (1,115 | ) | 1,041 | |||||
| Decrease in accounts receivables | 29,621 | 44,930 | ||||||
| Increase in inventories | (6,547 | ) | (8,264 | ) | ||||
| Increase in customer credit balances | 33,312 | 29,792 | ||||||
| Change in deferred taxes | (2,390 | ) | 6,080 | |||||
| Change in other operating assets and liabilities | (18,123 | ) | (19,808 | ) | ||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 19,371 | $ | 35,060 | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (9,423 | ) | $ | (1,588 | ) | ||
| Net cash used in financing activities | $ | (19,755 | ) | $ | (34,290 | ) | ||
| Home heating oil and propane gallons sold | 19,000 | 21,900 | ||||||
| Other petroleum products | 39,600 | 44,200 | ||||||
| Total all products | 58,600 | 66,100 | ||||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION STAR GROUP, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES | ||||||||
| RECONCILIATION OF EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (Unaudited) | ||||||||
| Twelve Months Ended September 30, | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||
| Net income | $ | 55,918 | $ | 17,637 | ||||
| Plus: | ||||||||
| Income tax expense | 20,625 | 7,517 | ||||||
| Amortization of debt issuance costs | 999 | 1,032 | ||||||
| Interest expense, net | 9,702 | 11,164 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 34,623 | 32,901 | ||||||
| EBITDA | 121,867 | 70,251 | ||||||
| (Increase) / decrease in the fair value of derivative instruments | 2,755 | 25,113 | ||||||
| Other loss (income), net | 5,724 | -- | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 130,346 | 95,364 | ||||||
| Add / (subtract) | ||||||||
| Income tax expense | (20,625 | ) | (7,517 | ) | ||||
| Interest expense, net | (9,702 | ) | (11,164 | ) | ||||
| Provision for losses on accounts receivable | 3,441 | 9,541 | ||||||
| Decrease in accounts receivables | 34,366 | 10,137 | ||||||
| Decrease (increase) in inventories | 14,588 | (6,306 | ) | |||||
| Increase in customer credit balances | 14,775 | 3,615 | ||||||
| Change in deferred taxes | (3,544 | ) | (5,126 | ) | ||||
| Change in other operating assets and liabilities | 12,023 | 8,838 | ||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 175,668 | $ | 97,382 | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (28,141 | ) | $ | (82,166 | ) | ||
| Net cash used in financing activities | $ | (95,515 | ) | $ | (24,848 | ) | ||
| Home heating oil and propane gallons sold | 313,600 | 345,500 | ||||||
| Other petroleum products | 151,800 | 167,400 | ||||||
| Total all products | 465,400 | 512,900 | ||||||
Source: Star Group, L.P.
| CONTACT: Star Group, L.P. Investor Relations 203/328-7310 | Chris Witty Darrow Associates 646/438-9385 or cwitty@darrowir.com |
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