CVR Refining Reports 2017 First Quarter Results

SUGAR LAND, Texas, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CVR Refining, LP (NYSE: CVRR), a refiner and marketer of petroleum fuels, today announced net income of $67.0 million on net sales of $1,423.5 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $68.0 million on net sales of $834.0 million for the first quarter of 2016. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the 2017 first quarter was $114.5 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $35.1 million for the 2016 first quarter.

"CVR Refining's Coffeyville, Kansas, and Wynnewood, Oklahoma, refineries performed exceptionally well during the 2017 first quarter and exceeded the range of our outlook by posting a combined crude throughput of 214,369 barrels per day (bpd), a quarterly record for the company," said Jack Lipinski, chief executive officer.

"Another recent highlight was the successful completion of our pipeline project with Velocity Midstream Partners," Lipinski said. "The newly constructed crude oil pipeline, which commenced operations in mid-April, directly links the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP) play to CVR Refining's Wynnewood refinery, further enhancing our crude supply.

"The Renewable Fuel Standard continues to be a disaster searching for a solution," he continued. "The wild volatility in the market for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) during the first quarter once again proves that RINs are not fundamentally priced but are in fact manipulated. The cost to produce a D-6 ethanol RIN is currently between 6 cents and 10 cents, yet it trades 40 cents higher. This is the price manipulation in the market that must stop and CVR Refining supports the efforts of the many refiners and independent gas station dealers to reform this misguided regulation.

"As I have said many times before, RINs are an egregious tax on independent, merchant refiners and small fuel retailers," Lipinski concluded. "CVR Refining alone has incurred more than $670 million in RIN expenses since the beginning of the program. Not only has the Company incurred this expense, but our unitholders have experienced significant market cap losses. RINs are sucking the lifeblood out of the merchant refining industry. We hope and strongly believe that this pernicious RINs program will be changed in the near future. However, in the interest of prudent corporate fiscal management, CVR Refining will not distribute cash this quarter."

Consolidated Operations

First quarter 2017 throughputs of crude oil and all other feedstocks and blendstocks totaled 228,612 bpd. Throughputs of crude oil and all other feedstocks and blendstocks for both refineries totaled 195,859 bpd for the same period in 2016.

Refining margin adjusted for FIFO impact per crude oil throughput barrel, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $11.54 in the 2017 first quarter, compared to $7.19 during the same period in 2016. Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization), including major scheduled turnaround expenses, per crude oil throughput barrel, for the 2017 first quarter were $5.29, compared to $7.02 in the first quarter of 2016.

Distributions

CVR Refining announced today that it will not make a cash distribution for the 2017 first quarter. CVR Refining is a variable distribution master limited partnership. As a result, its quarterly distributions, if any, will vary from quarter to quarter due to several factors, including, but not limited to, its operating performance, fluctuations in the prices paid for crude oil and other feedstocks, as well as the prices received for finished products, and other cash reserves deemed necessary or appropriate by the board of directors of its general partner.

First Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call

CVR Refining previously announced that it will host its first quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call for analysts and investors on Thursday, April 27, at 1 p.m. Eastern. The Earnings Conference Call may also include discussion of the Partnership's developments, forward-looking information and other material information about business and financial matters.

The Earnings Conference Call will be broadcast live over the Internet at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1005/20615. For investors or analysts who want to participate during the call, the dial-in number is (877) 407-8289.

For those unable to listen live, the Webcast will be archived and available for 14 days at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1005/20615. A repeat of the conference call can be accessed by dialing (877) 660-6853, conference ID 13659738.

This release serves as a qualified notice to nominees and brokers as provided for under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Please note that 100 percent of CVR Refining's distributions to foreign investors are attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, CVR Refining's distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest effective tax rate.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook," "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "seek," "should," or "will," or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. For a discussion of risk factors which may affect our results, please see the risk factors and other disclosures included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our other SEC filings. These risks may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. CVR Refining disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

About CVR Refining, LP
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Refining, LP is an independent downstream energy limited partnership that owns refining and related logistics assets in the Midcontinent United States. CVR Refining's subsidiaries operate a complex full coking medium-sour crude oil refinery with a rated capacity of 115,000 barrels per calendar day (bpcd) in Coffeyville, Kansas, and a complex crude oil refinery with a rated capacity of 70,000 bpcd in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. CVR Refining's subsidiaries also operate and invest in supporting logistics assets including approximately 340 miles of active owned and leased pipelines, a 65,000 bpcd pipeline owned and operated by a joint venture, approximately 150 crude oil transports, a network of strategically located crude oil gathering tank farms, and approximately 6.4 million barrels of owned and leased crude oil storage capacity.

For further information, please contact: 

Investor Contact:
Jay Finks
CVR Refining, LP
(281) 207-3588
[email protected]

Media Relations:
Brandee Stephens
CVR Refining, LP
(281) 207-3516
[email protected]

CVR Refining, LP

Financial and Operational Data (all information in this release is unaudited other than the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016).

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Operating Data

The following tables set forth information about our consolidated operations and our Coffeyville and Wynnewood refineries. Reconciliations of certain non-GAAP financial measures are provided under "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.

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Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our actual results in accordance with GAAP for the applicable periods, the Partnership also uses the non-GAAP financial measures noted above, which are reconciled to our GAAP-based results below. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered an alternative for GAAP results. The adjustments are provided to enhance an overall understanding of the Partnership's financial performance for the applicable periods and are indicators management believes are relevant and useful for planning and forecasting future periods.

Refining margin per crude oil throughput barrel is a measurement calculated as the difference between net sales and cost of materials and other. Refining margin is a non-GAAP measure that we believe is important to investors in evaluating our refineries' performance as a general indication of the amount above our cost of materials and other at which we are able to sell refined products. Each of the components used in this calculation (net sales and cost of materials and other) can be taken directly from our Statements of Operations. Our calculation of refining margin may differ from similar calculations of other companies in our industry, thereby limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure. In order to derive the refining margin per crude oil throughput barrel, we utilize the total dollar figures for refining margin as derived above and divide by the applicable number of crude oil throughput barrels for the period. We believe that refining margin is important to enable investors to better understand and evaluate our ongoing operating results and allow for greater transparency in the review of our overall financial, operational and economic performance.

Refining margin per crude oil throughput barrel adjusted for FIFO impact is a measurement calculated as the difference between net sales and cost of materials and other adjusted for FIFO impact. Refining margin adjusted for FIFO impact is a non-GAAP measure that we believe is important to investors in evaluating our refineries' performance as a general indication of the amount above our cost of materials and other (taking into account the impact of our utilization of FIFO) at which we are able to sell refined products. Our calculation of refining margin adjusted for FIFO impact may differ from calculations of other companies in our industry, thereby limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure. Under our FIFO accounting method, changes in crude oil prices can cause fluctuations in the inventory valuation of our crude oil, work in process and finished goods, thereby resulting in a favorable FIFO impact when crude oil prices increase and an unfavorable FIFO impact when crude oil prices decrease.

The calculation of refining margin and refining margin adjusted for FIFO impact (each a non-GAAP financial measure), including a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

The calculation of refining margin per crude oil throughput barrel and refining margin adjusted for FIFO impact per crude oil throughput barrel for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA represents net income (loss) before (i) interest expense and other financing costs, net of interest income, (ii) income tax expense and (iii) depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted for (i) FIFO impact, (favorable) unfavorable; (ii) major scheduled turnaround expenses (that many of our competitors capitalize and thereby exclude from their measures of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA); (iii) (gain) loss on derivatives, net and (iv) current period settlements on derivative contracts. We present Adjusted EBITDA because it is the starting point for our calculation of available cash for distribution. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be substituted for net income (loss) or cash flow from operations. Management believes that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA enable investors to better understand our ability to make distributions to our common unitholders, help investors evaluate our ongoing operating results and allow for greater transparency in reviewing our overall financial, operational and economic performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA presented by other companies may not be comparable to our presentation, since each company may define these terms differently.

A reconciliation of net income (loss) to EBITDA and EBITDA to Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

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Available cash for distribution is not a recognized term under GAAP. Available cash should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income (loss) or operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. In addition, available cash for distribution is not presented as, and should not be considered, an alternative to cash flows from operations or as a measure of liquidity. Available cash as reported by the Partnership may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other entities, thereby limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.

Available cash begins with Adjusted EBITDA reduced for cash needed for (i) debt service; (ii) reserves for environmental and maintenance capital expenditures; (iii) reserves for major scheduled turnaround expenses and (iv) to the extent applicable, reserves for future operating or capital needs that the board of directors of our general partner deems necessary or appropriate, if any. Available cash for distribution may be increased by the release of previously established cash reserves, if any, and other excess cash, at the discretion of the board of directors of our general partner. Actual distributions are set by the board of directors of our general partner. The board of directors of our general partner may modify our cash distribution policy at any time, and our partnership agreement does not require us to make distributions at all.

A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Available cash for distribution is as follows:

Q2 2017 Outlook. The table below summarizes our outlook for certain refining statistics for the second quarter of 2017. See "Forward-Looking Statements."

SOURCE CVR Refining, LP