Delek Logistics Partners, LP Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Nov. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Delek Logistics Partners, LP (NYSE: DKL) ("Delek Logistics") today announced its financial results for the third quarter 2020. For the three months ended September 30, 2020, Delek Logistics reported net income attributable to all partners of $46.3 million, or $1.26 per diluted common limited partner unit. This compares to net income attributable to all partners of $30.5 million, or $0.89 per diluted common limited partner unit, in the third quarter 2019. Net cash from operating activities was $62.3 million in the third quarter 2020 compared to $35.0 million in the third quarter 2019. Distributable cash flow was $59.1 million in the third quarter 2020, compared to $33.7 million in the third quarter 2019. Reconciliation of net cash from operating activities as reported under U.S. GAAP to distributable cash flow is included in the financial tables attached to this release.          

For the third quarter 2020, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") was $67.8 million compared to $51.5 million in the third quarter 2019. Results improved on a year-over-year basis primarily due to the drop down of the Big Spring Gathering System and Trucking Assets, increased crude gathering, and a reduction in operating expenses by $4.2 million primarily due to a decrease in contract services. Reconciliation of net income attributable to all partners as reported under U.S. GAAP to EBITDA is included in the financial tables attached to this release.

Uzi Yemin, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Delek Logistics' general partner, remarked: "Our financial performance remains resilient despite a challenging energy environment. Third quarter EBITDA and net income increased approximately 32% and 52%, respectively, versus last year. Third quarter distribution growth was 2.8% on a year-over-year basis and we are on-track to deliver 5% distribution growth on a full-year basis."

Mr. Yemin continued, "During the quarter, we eliminated the incentive distribution rights (IDRs), which removes an overhang from DKL shares and lowers our cost of capital. This better positions us to pursue growth opportunities going forward. Our distribution coverage and leverage ratios have already exceeded our year-end targets and create flexibility. Finally, the Red River pipeline expansion was completed in the quarter and should provide financial momentum into 2021."

Distribution and Liquidity

On October 27, 2020, Delek Logistics declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.905 per common limited partner unit for the third quarter 2020, which equates to $3.62 per common limited partner unit on an annualized basis. This distribution will be paid on November 12, 2020 to unitholders of record on November 6, 2020. This represents a 0.6% increase from the second quarter 2020 distribution of $0.900 per common limited partner unit, or $3.60 per common limited partner unit on an annualized basis, and a 2.8% increase over Delek Logistics' third quarter 2019 distribution of $0.88 per common limited partner unit, or $3.52 per common limited partner unit annualized. For the third quarter 2020, the total cash distribution declared to all partners was approximately $39.3 million, resulting in a distributable cash flow coverage ratio was 1.50x.

As of September 30, 2020, Delek Logistics had total debt of approximately $1,006.1 million and cash of $6.0 million. Additional borrowing capacity, subject to certain covenants, under the $850.0 million credit facility was $89.3 million. The total leverage ratio, calculated in accordance with the credit facility, for the third quarter 2020 was approximately 3.9x, which is within the current requirements of the maximum allowable leverage ratio of 5.5x.

Financial Results

Revenue for the third quarter 2020 was $142.3 million compared to $137.6 million in the prior-year period. The increase in revenue is primarily attributable to the drop down of the Big Spring Gathering System and Trucking Assets. Total operating expenses were $14.2 million in the third quarter 2020, compared to $18.4 million in the third quarter 2019. The decrease was primarily due to cost control measures put in place at the end of the first quarter 2020. Total contribution margin was $67.3 million in the third quarter 2020 compared to $46.5 million in the third quarter 2019, mainly driven by the aforementioned contribution from new assets and lower expenses. General and administrative expenses were $6.1 million for the third quarter 2020, compared to $5.3 million in the prior-year period.

Pipelines and Transportation Segment

Contribution margin in the third quarter 2020 was $46.4 million compared to $27.1 million in the third quarter 2019.  The recent drop down of the Big Spring Gathering System and the Trucking Assets were the primary drivers behind the year-over-year growth. Operating expenses were $10.7 million in the third quarter 2020 compared to $12.5 million in the prior-year period.

Wholesale Marketing and Terminalling Segment

During the third quarter 2020, contribution margin was $21.0 million, compared to $19.4 million in the third quarter 2019. The change in contribution margin was primarily due to lower operating expenses which were $3.5 million in the third quarter 2020, compared to $5.9 million in the third quarter 2019.

Average West Texas wholesale throughput in the third quarter 2020 was 9,948 barrels per day compared to 9,535 barrels per day in the third quarter 2019. The West Texas gross margin per barrel decreased year-over-year to $3.42 per barrel and included approximately $0.8 million, or $0.87 per barrel, from renewable identification numbers (RINs) generated in the quarter. During the third quarter 2019, the West Texas gross margin per barrel was $4.82 per barrel and included $0.3 million from RINs, or $0.38 per barrel.

Average terminalling throughput volume of 160,843 barrels per day during the third quarter 2020 decreased on a year-over-year basis from 170,727 barrels per day in the third quarter 2019.  During the third quarter 2020, average volume under the East Texas marketing agreement with Delek US was 73,417 barrels per day compared to 83,953 barrels per day during the third quarter 2019.

Third Quarter 2020 Results | Conference Call Information

Delek Logistics will hold a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2020 results on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. Central Time. Investors will have the opportunity to listen to the conference call live by going to www.DelekLogistics.com. Participants are encouraged to register at least 15 minutes early to download and install any necessary software.  An archived version of the replay will also be available at www.DelekLogistics.com for 90 days.    

Investors may also wish to listen to Delek US' (NYSE: DK) third quarter 2020 earnings conference call on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. Central Time and review Delek US' earnings press release. Market trends and information disclosed by Delek US may be relevant to Delek Logistics, as it is a consolidated subsidiary of Delek US. Investors can find information related to Delek US and the timing of its earnings release online by going to www.DelekUS.com.

About Delek Logistics Partners, LP

Delek Logistics Partners, LP, headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, was formed by Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DK) to own, operate, acquire and construct crude oil and refined products logistics and marketing assets.

Safe Harbor Provisions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements concerning current estimates, expectations and projections about future results, performance, prospects, opportunities, plans, actions and events and other statements, concerns, or matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the federal securities laws. These statements contain words such as "possible," "believe," "should," "could," "would," "predict," "plan," "estimate," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "will," "if,"  "expect" or similar expressions, as well as statements in the future tense, and can be impacted by numerous factors, including the fact that a substantial majority of Delek Logistics' contribution margin is derived from Delek US, thereby subjecting us to Delek US' business risks; risks relating to the securities markets generally; risks and costs relating to the age and operational hazards of our assets including, without limitation, costs, penalties, regulatory or legal actions and other effects related to releases, spills and other hazards inherent in transporting and storing crude oil and intermediate and finished petroleum products; the impact of adverse market conditions affecting the utilization of Delek Logistics' assets and business performance, including margins generated by its wholesale fuel business; the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the demand for crude oil, refined products and transportation and storage services; uncertainties regarding future decisions by OPEC regarding production and pricing disputes between OPEC members and Russia; an inability of Delek US to grow as expected as it relates to our potential future growth opportunities, including dropdowns, and other potential benefits; the results of our investments in joint ventures; the ability of the Red River joint venture to complete the expansion to increase the Red River pipeline capacity; adverse changes in laws including with respect to tax and regulatory matters; and other risks as disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports and filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future growth at Delek Logistics; distributions and the amounts and timing thereof; potential dropdown inventory; expected earnings or returns from joint ventures or other acquisitions; expansion projects; ability to create long-term value for our unit holders; financial flexibility and borrowing capacity; and distribution growth of 5% or at all. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved.  Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good faith belief with respect to future events, and is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements.  Delek Logistics undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or which Delek Logistics becomes aware of, after the date hereof, except as required by applicable law or regulation

Non-GAAP Disclosures:

Our management uses certain "non-GAAP" operational measures to evaluate our operating segment performance and non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate past performance and prospects for the future to supplement our GAAP financial information presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These financial and operational non-GAAP measures are important factors in assessing our operating results and profitability and include:

• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") - calculated as net income before net interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense, including amortization of customer contract intangible assets, which is included as a component of net revenues in our accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income.
• Distributable cash flow - calculated as net cash flow from operating activities plus or minus changes in assets and liabilities, less maintenance capital expenditures net of reimbursements and other adjustments not expected to settle in cash.  Delek Logistics believes this is an appropriate reflection of a liquidity measure by which users of its financial statements can assess its ability to generate cash.

EBITDA and distributable cash flow are non GAAP supplemental financial measures that management and external users of our condensed consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies, may use to assess:           

• Delek Logistics' operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships in the midstream energy industry, without regard to historical cost basis or, in the case of EBITDA, financing methods;
• the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our unitholders;
• Delek Logistics' 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.

Delek Logistics believes that the presentation of EBITDA, distributable cash flow and distributable cash flow coverage ratio provide useful information to investors in assessing its financial condition, its results of operations and the cash flow its business is generating. EBITDA, distributable cash flow and distributable cash flow coverage ratio should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income, operating income, cash flow from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. 

Non-GAAP measures have important limitations as analytical tools, because they exclude some, but not all, items that affect net income and net cash provided by operating activities. These measures should not be considered substitutes for their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures. Additionally, because EBITDA and distributable cash flow may be defined differently by other partnerships in its industry, Delek Logistics' definitions of EBITDA and distributable cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other partnerships, thereby diminishing their utility.  See the accompanying tables in this earnings release for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. 

⁽¹⁾ The distributions for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 reflect the impact of the distribution waiver that waived all of the distributions for the first quarter of 2020 on the 5.0 million Additional Units, related to the Big Spring Gathering Assets transaction, with respect to base distributions and the IDRs. In addition, the distributions for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 reflect the waiver of distributions in respect of the IDRs associated with the Additional Units for at least two years. The IDRs were eliminated in the Restructuring Transaction on August 13, 2020.

⁽²⁾  Distributable cash flow coverage ratio is calculated by dividing distributable cash flow by distributions to be paid in each respective period.

⁽¹⁾ Affiliate revenue for the wholesale marketing and terminalling segment is presented net of amortization expense pertaining to the marketing contract intangible we acquired in connection with the Big Spring acquisition.  

⁽¹⁾ Throughput for the Big Spring Gathering Assets are for approximately 180 days we owned the assets following the Big Spring Gathering Assets Acquisition effective March 31, 2020. 

⁽²⁾ Excludes jet fuel and petroleum coke.

Information about Delek Logistics Partners, LP can be found on its website (www.deleklogistics.com), investor relations webpage (ir.deleklogistics.com), news webpage (www.deleklogistics.com/news) and its Twitter account (@DelekLogistics).

SOURCE Delek Logistics