Antero Midstream Announces Third Quarter 2022 Financial and Operational Results

DENVER, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE: AM) ("Antero Midstream" or the "Company") today announced its third quarter 2022 financial and operational results.  The relevant unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are included in Antero Midstream's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.

Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Highlights:

• Net Income was $84 million, or $0.17 per diluted share
• Adjusted Net Income was $96 million, or $0.20 per share (non-GAAP measure)
• Adjusted EBITDA was $223 million (non-GAAP measure)
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $177 million
• Free Cash Flow after dividends was $30 million (non-GAAP measure)
• Low pressure gathering volumes per day increased by 3% compared to the prior year quarter
• Announced a $205 million bolt-on acquisition of Marcellus gathering and compression assets

Paul Rady, Chairman and CEO said, "This quarter marked an important inflection point as we generated $30 million of Free Cash Flow after dividends. This was driven by a reduction in capital expenditures as we completed milestone projects supporting the expected growth from the drilling partnership. This transition to generating consistent Free Cash Flow after dividends significantly de-risks our business model over the next several years and positions us well to achieve our leverage target of 3.0x or less by year end 2024."

Mr. Rady added, "In addition, we closed the $205 million bolt-on acquisition of gathering and compression assets in the Marcellus Shale. This complementary acquisition with highly visible throughput in the core of the Marcellus Shale is a strategic fit with Antero Midstream's assets."

Marcellus Bolt-on Acquisition Closing

On October 25, 2022, Antero Midstream closed the previously announced bolt-on acquisition of Marcellus gathering and compression assets from Crestwood Equity Partners, LP (NYSE: CEQP) for $205 million in cash. The transaction was financed with borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility. The assets include 72 miles of dry gas gathering pipelines and nine compressor stations with approximately 700 MMcf/d of capacity. The transaction increases Antero Midstream's compression capacity by 20% and gathering pipeline mileage by 15%, and importantly, has significant available capacity for growth without significant capital investment. Antero Midstream has identified over $50 million of discounted future capital avoidance, integration and operational synergies, resulting in an adjusted transaction multiple of 4.5x next twelve months estimated Adjusted EBITDA.

The acquisition includes approximately 120,000 gross dedicated acres for gathering and compression and over 425 undeveloped drilling locations from Antero Resources. In addition, through the first nine months of 2022, Antero Resources has also added approximately 60 drilling locations from its organic leasing program. This results in approximately 485 total locations added year-do-date dedicated to Antero Midstream, which represents an additional seven to eight years of drilling inventory at the current development pace.

Brendan Krueger, CFO of Antero Midstream, said "Antero Midstream's highly visible and sustainable Free Cash Flow after dividends profile allowed us to finance the $205 million bolt-on acquisition with revolver borrowings. This strategic acquisition, with over $50 million of discounted future capital avoidance and synergies, is expected to further enhance our Free Cash Flow profile after dividends by over 10% through 2026."

For a discussion of the non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Leverage and Free Cash Flow after dividends please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results

Low pressure gathering volumes for the third quarter of 2022 averaged 2,952 MMcf/d, a 3% increase as compared to the prior year quarter.  Low pressure gathering volumes were in excess of the growth incentive fee threshold of 2,900 MMcf/d, resulting in a $12 million rebate to Antero Resources. Compression volumes for the third quarter of 2022 averaged 2,794 MMcf/d, a 2% increase compared to the prior year quarter.  High pressure gathering volumes averaged 2,802 MMcf/d, in line with the third quarter of 2021. Fresh water delivery volumes averaged 103 MBbl/d during the quarter, a 13% increase compared to the third quarter of 2021.

Gross processing volumes from our processing and fractionation joint venture with MPLX, LP (the "Joint Venture") averaged 1,474 MMcf/d for the third quarter of 2022, a 4% decrease compared to the prior year quarter.  Joint Venture processing capacity was 92% utilized during the quarter based on nameplate processing capacity of 1.6 Bcf/d.  Gross Joint Venture fractionation volumes averaged 36 MBbl/d, a 3% decrease compared to the prior year quarter. Joint Venture fractionation capacity was 90% utilized during the quarter based on nameplate fractionation capacity of 40 MBbl/d.

For the three months ended September 30, 2022, revenues were $231 million, comprised of $176 million from the Gathering and Processing segment and $55 million from the Water Handling segment, net of $18 million of amortization of customer relationships.  Water Handling revenues included $2 million from third party water business and $24 million from wastewater handling and high rate water transfer services.

Direct operating expenses for the Gathering and Processing and Water Handling segments were $20 million and $27 million, respectively, for a total of $47 million. Water Handling operating expenses include $23 million from wastewater handling and high rate water transfer services. General and administrative expenses excluding equity-based compensation were $8 million during the third quarter of 2022.  Total operating expenses during the third quarter of 2022 included $6 million of equity-based compensation expense, $34 million of depreciation and a $2 million gain on asset sale. 

Net Income was $84 million, or $0.17 per diluted share.  Net Income adjusted for amortization of customer relationships, impairment expense, and gain on asset sale, net of tax effects of reconciling items, or Adjusted Net Income, was $96 million. Adjusted Net Income was $0.20 per share.

The following table reconciles Net Income to Adjusted Net Income (in thousands):

Adjusted EBITDA was $223 million, a 2% increase compared to the prior year quarter. Interest expense was $48 million, a 7% increase compared to the prior year quarter. Capital expenditures were $37 million, a 54% decrease compared to the prior year quarter.  Free Cash Flow before dividends was $138 million, a 47% increase compared to the prior year quarter. Free Cash Flow after dividends was $30 million compared to a $13 million deficit in the prior year quarter.

The following table reconciles Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow before and after dividends (in thousands):

The following table reconciles net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow before and after dividends (in thousands):

Third Quarter 2022 Operating Update

Gathering and Processing — During the third quarter of 2022, Antero Midstream connected 22 wells to its gathering system. Antero Midstream finished construction on the Wetzel County high pressure pipeline that was placed online in the third quarter of 2022. This high pressure trunkline, in addition to the compression capacity placed in service in the second quarter of 2022 will support the expected throughput growth in 2023 and beyond.

Water Handling— Antero Midstream's water delivery systems serviced 18 well completions during the third quarter of 2022. These completions, which drove a 13% increase in fresh water delivery volumes compared to the prior year quarter, will generate momentum in throughput volume growth in 2023.

Capital Investments

Accrued capital expenditures were $37 million during the third quarter of 2022. The company invested $54 million in gathering, compression, and water infrastructure primarily in the liquids-rich midstream corridor of the Marcellus shale. In addition, the Company received a $17 million reimbursement of the prior capital expenditures related to the sale of the Smithburg 2 processing plant. As a result, Antero Midstream expects full year 2022 capital expenditures to be at the low end of the capital budget guidance range of $275 million to $300 million.

Conference Call

A conference call is scheduled on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 10:00 am MT to discuss the financial and operational results.  A brief Q&A session for security analysts will immediately follow the discussion of the results.  To participate in the call, dial in at 877-407-9126 (U.S.), or 201-493-6751 (International) and reference "Antero Midstream".  A telephone replay of the call will be available until Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 10:00 am MT at 877-660-6853 (U.S.) or 201-612-7415 (International) using the conference ID: 13726235. To access the live webcast and view the related earnings conference call presentation, visit Antero Midstream's website at www.anteromidstream.com.  The webcast will be archived for replay until Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 10:00 am MT.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Definitions

Antero Midstream uses certain non-GAAP financial measures. Antero Midstream defines Adjusted Net Income as Net Income plus amortization of customer relationships and impairment expense, excluding gain on asset sale, net of tax effect of reconciling items. Antero Midstream uses Adjusted Net Income to assess the operating performance of its assets. Antero Midstream defines Adjusted EBITDA as Net Income plus interest expense, income tax expense, amortization of customer relationships, depreciation expense, impairment expense, (gain) on asset sale, accretion of asset retirement obligations, loss on settlement of asset retirement obligations and loss on early extinguishment of debt and equity-based compensation expense, excluding equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates, plus distributions from unconsolidated affiliates.

Antero Midstream uses Adjusted EBITDA to assess:

• the financial performance of Antero Midstream's assets, without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis;
• its operating performance and return on capital as compared to other publicly traded companies in the midstream energy sector, without regard to financing or capital structure; and
• the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects.

Antero Midstream defines Free Cash Flow before dividends as Adjusted EBITDA less interest expense and accrual-based capital expenditures. Capital expenditures include additions to gathering systems and facilities, additions to water handling systems, investments in unconsolidated affiliates, and return of investment in unconsolidated affiliates. Capital expenditures exclude acquisitions. Free Cash Flow after dividends is defined as Free Cash Flow before dividends less accrual-based dividends declared for the quarter. Antero Midstream uses Free Cash Flow before and after dividends as a performance metric to compare the cash generating performance of Antero Midstream from period to period. 

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Free Cash Flow before and after dividends are non-GAAP financial measures.  The GAAP measure most directly comparable to these measures is Net Income. Such non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as alternatives to the GAAP measures of Net Income and cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities.  The presentations of such measures are not made in accordance with GAAP and have important limitations as analytical tools because they include some, but not all, items that affect Net Income and cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities.  You should not consider any or all such measures in isolation or as a substitute for analyses of results as reported under GAAP.  Antero Midstream's definitions of such measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

The following table reconciles cash paid for capital expenditures and accrued capital expenditures during the period (in thousands):

Antero Midstream defines Net Debt as consolidated total debt, excluding unamortized debt premiums and debt issuance costs, less cash and cash equivalents. Antero Midstream views Net Debt as an important indicator in evaluating Antero Midstream's financial leverage. Antero Midstream defines leverage as Net Debt divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the last twelve months. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Net Debt is total debt, excluding unamortized debt premiums and debt issuance costs.

The following table reconciles consolidated total debt to consolidated net debt, excluding debt premiums and issuance costs, ("Net Debt") as used in this release (in thousands):

The following table reconciles Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA for the last twelve months as used in this release (in thousands):

Antero Midstream Corporation is a Delaware corporation that owns, operates and develops midstream gathering, compression, processing and fractionation assets located in the Appalachian Basin, as well as integrated water assets that primarily service Antero Resources Corporation's properties.

This release includes "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are not under Antero Midstream's control. All statements, except for statements of historical fact, made in this release regarding activities, events or developments Antero Midstream expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such as statements regarding Antero Midstream's ability to realize the benefits of the Marcellus bolt-on acquisition, including the anticipated capital avoidance and synergies, Antero Midstream's ability to execute its business plan and return capital to its stockholders, information regarding Antero Midstream's return of capital policy, information regarding long-term financial and operating outlooks for Antero Midstream and Antero Resources, information regarding Antero Resources' expected future growth and its ability to meet its drilling and development plan and the participation level of Antero Resources' drilling partner and the impact on demand for Antero Midstream's services as a result of incremental production by Antero Resources, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although Antero Midstream believes that the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there is no assurance that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. Therefore, actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed, implied or forecast in such statements. Except as required by law, Antero Midstream expressly disclaims any obligation to and does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Antero Midstream cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties incident to our business, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond Antero Midstream's control. These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility, inflation, environmental risks, Antero Resources' drilling and completion and other operating risks, regulatory changes, the uncertainty inherent in projecting Antero Resources' future rates of production, cash flows and access to capital, the timing of development expenditures, impacts of geopolitical events and world health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity risk, our ability to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction targets and the costs associated therewith, the state of markets for and availability of verified quality carbon offsets and the other risks described under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Antero Midstream's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.

SOURCE Antero Midstream Corporation