CNX Midstream Reports Second Quarter Results

PITTSBURGH, July 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CNX Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: CNXM) ("CNXM", "CNX Midstream" or the "Partnership") today reported financial and operational results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020⁽¹⁾. 

Second Quarter Results

The Partnership continued its solid financial performance during the three months ended June 30, 2020 despite a decline in volumes. The net decrease in gathered volumes was the result of temporary production curtailments by our Sponsor and one of our third-party customers due to a decline in both natural gas and natural gas liquids pricing. Although a majority of the wet wells have since come back online due to a rebound in pricing, the concerns over storage capacity and other items could impact future periods. The impact of the lower wet gas volumes was partially offset by well turn-in-line activity that occurred over the past twelve months. Comparative results net to the Partnership, with the exception of net cash provided by operating activities, which is presented on a gross consolidated basis, were as follows:

The Board of Directors of CNX Midstream GP LLC, recently declared a cash distribution of $0.50 per unit with respect to the second quarter of 2020, which resulted in the distribution coverage ratio declining to 0.83x.

There is no change to previously stated guidance.

Capital Investment and Resources

For the second quarter of 2020, CNX Midstream's total capital investment net to the Partnership was $14.1 million, which includes investment in expansion projects of $8.8 million and maintenance capital of $5.3 million.

As of June 30, 2020, CNX Midstream had outstanding borrowings of $319.0 million under its $600.0 million revolving credit facility.

CNX Acquiring All Outstanding Common Units of CNXM (the "take-private transaction")

On July 27, 2020, CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) ("CNX") and CNX Midstream announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which CNX will acquire all of the outstanding common units of CNX Midstream that it does not already own in exchange for CNX common stock valued at approximately $357 million, based on the most recent closing price of CNX common stock.

Video Presentation

CNX and the Partnership have pre-recorded a video presentation that not only thoroughly examines the transaction, but also reviews the CNX investment thesis and why the company believes it is a non-replicable, best-in-class E&P company. The video can be accessed at: https://vimeo.com/441806879, or by visiting the "Investor Relations" page of CNX's website at www.cnx.com, or on the 'News and Events' page of the CNX Midstream website at cnxmidstream.com. Presentation materials are available on each company's website.

Second Quarter Financial and Operational Results Conference Call

In light of the take-private transaction, CNX Midstream has cancelled its previously announced earnings call scheduled for July 30.

⁽¹⁾            The Partnership's current financial interests in the development companies are: 100% in the Anchor Systems and 5% in the Additional Systems. Because the Partnership owns a controlling interest in each of these two development companies, it fully consolidates their financial results. CNX Gathering, which is wholly owned by CNX Resources Corporation, owns a 95% noncontrolling interest in the Additional Systems of the Partnership.
⁽²⁾       Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow are not measures that are recognized under accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP").  Definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to GAAP reporting measures appear in the financial tables which follow.

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CNX Midstream is a growth-oriented master limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires gathering and other midstream energy assets to service natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Our assets include natural gas gathering pipelines and compression and dehydration facilities, as well as condensate gathering, collection, separation and stabilization facilities.  More information is available at our website www.cnxmidstream.com.

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This press release is intended to be a qualified notice to nominees as provided for under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of CNX Midstream's distributions to non-U.S. investors as being attributed to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business.  Accordingly, CNX Midstream's distributions to non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate.  Nominees, and not CNX Midstream, are treated as withholding agents responsible for withholding on the distributions received by them on behalf of foreign investors.

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This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions or that include the words "will," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate" and other expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and trends and that do not relate to historical matters identify forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include statements about our business strategy, our industry, our future profitability, our expected capital expenditures and the impact of such expenditures on our performance, the costs of being a publicly traded partnership and our capital programs. A forward-looking statement may include a statement of the assumptions or bases underlying the forward-looking statement. We believe that we have chosen these assumptions or bases in good faith and that they are reasonable. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements reflect our good faith beliefs at the time they are made, they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to, among other matters, the following: the possibility that the market price of CNX Resource's common stock will fluctuate prior to the completion of the take-private transaction causing the value of the merger consideration to change; the risk that a condition to the closing of the take-private transaction may not be satisfied on a timely basis, if at all; the timing of the completion of the take-private transaction; the substantial transaction-related costs that may be incurred by CNX Resources and CNXM in connection with the take-private transaction; the possibility that CNX Resources and CNXM may, under certain specified circumstances, be responsible for the other party's expenses; the possibility that CNX Resources and CNXM may be the targets of securities class actions and derivative lawsuits; the limited duties CNXM's partnership agreement places on the general partner for actions taken by the general partner; the risk that certain officers and directors of CNX Resources and the general partner have interests in the take-private transaction that are different from, or in addition to, the interests they may have as CNXM's unitholders or the CNX Resources' stockholders, respectively; the possibility that financial projections by CNX Resources and CNXM may not prove to be reflective of actual future results; our ability to grow, or maintain, our current rate of cash distributions; our reliance on our customers, including our Sponsor, CNX Resources Corporation; the effects of changes in market prices of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil on our customers' drilling and development plans on our dedicated acreage and the volumes of natural gas and condensate that are produced on our dedicated acreage because of the natural decline in production from existing wells, our success, in part, depends on our ability to maintain or increase natural gas and condensate throughput volumes on our midstream systems, which depends on the level of development and completion activity on acreage dedicated to us; changes in our customers' drilling and development plans in the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale, and our customers' ability to meet such plans; our ability to maintain or increase volumes of natural gas and condensate on our midstream systems; the demand for natural gas and condensate gathering services, changes in general economic condition, and competitive conditions in our industry, including competition from the same and alternative energy sources; actions taken by third-party operators, gatherers, processors and transporters; our ability to successfully implement our business plan; our ability to complete internal growth projects on time and on budget; our ability to generate adequate returns on capital; the price and availability of debt and equity financing; the availability and price of oil and natural gas to the consumer compared to the price of alternative and competing fuels; prolonged customer curtailments; the availability of storage capacity for refined products such as crude, and refinery inputs including condensate, c5+ and butane; energy efficiency and technology trends; operating hazards and other risks incidental to our midstream services; natural disasters, weather-related delays, casualty losses and other matters beyond our control; the impact of outbreaks of communicable diseases such as the novel highly transmissible and pathogenic coronavirus (COVID-19) on business activity, the Partnership's operations and national and global economic conditions, generally; interest rates; labor relations; defaults by our customers under our gathering agreements; changes in availability and cost of capital; changes in our tax status; the effect of existing and future laws and government regulations; and the effects of future litigation.

Although forward-looking statements reflect CNXM's good faith beliefs at the time they are made, they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those conveyed in the forward-looking statements, including, among others, that CNXM's business plans may change as circumstances warrant, please refer to the "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" sections of CNXM's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the Securities and Commission on February 10, 2020 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. CNXM undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.

CNX MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA AND DISTRIBUTABLE CASH FLOW
(Dollars in thousands)

Definition of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before net interest expense, depreciation and amortization, and Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA adjusted for gains or losses on asset sales and abandonments and other non-cash items which should not be included in the calculation of Distributable Cash Flow. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are used as supplemental financial measures by management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors, industry analysts, lenders and ratings agencies, to assess:

• our operating performance as compared to those of other companies in the midstream energy industry, without regard to financing methods, historical cost basis or capital structure;
• the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our partners;
• our 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.

We believe that the presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provides information that is useful to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are Net Income and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to Net Income, Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA exclude some, but not all, items that affect Net Income or Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities, and these measures may vary from those of other companies. As a result, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as presented below may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Distributable Cash Flow

We define Distributable Cash Flow as Adjusted EBITDA less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, cash interest expense and maintenance capital expenditures, each net to the Partnership. Distributable Cash Flow does not reflect changes in working capital balances.

Distributable Cash Flow is used as a supplemental financial measure by management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors, industry analysts, lenders and ratings agencies, to assess:

• the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to support our indebtedness and make future cash distributions to our unitholders; and
• the attractiveness of capital projects and acquisitions and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities.

We believe that the presentation of Distributable Cash Flow in this release provides information that is useful to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to Distributable Cash Flow are Net Income and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities. Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered an alternative to Net Income, Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP.  Distributable Cash Flow excludes some, but not all, items that affect Net Income or Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities, and these measures may vary from those of other companies. As a result, our Distributable Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures that other companies may use.

Distribution Coverage Ratio

We define Distributable Coverage Ratio as Distributable Cash Flow divided by cash distributions declared or paid.

Free Cash Flow 

We define Free Cash Flow as Distributable Cash Flow less expansion capital expenditures, net to the Partnership.

The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures of Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of Net Income and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities.

The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow by quarter and for the most recently completed twelve month period with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, which are Net Income and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities.

SOURCE CNX Midstream Partners LP