Williams Partners Updates Earnings, Capital Expenditure Guidance for 2010-12

TULSA, Okla., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) today announced updates to its earnings and capital expenditure guidance for 2010-12.  

Steve Malcolm, chief executive officer of the general partner of Williams Partners, will discuss the updated guidance in his presentation today at the Barclays Capital CEO Energy-Power Conference.  His presentation is available for download at www.williams.com/investors.

"Although we are adjusting our earnings guidance to reflect a somewhat less favorable commodity price market, we are still forecasting steady growth for Williams Partners," Malcolm said.  "Gas pipeline and the fee-based portion of our midstream business provide a stable base of earnings and cash flow, and we have a solid portfolio of growth opportunities in both businesses."

The new earnings guidance for 2010-12 reflects lower expected natural gas liquid (NGL) margins.  The partnership's updated assumptions for certain energy commodity prices for 2010-12 and the corresponding guidance for earnings, distributable cash flow and capital expenditures are displayed in the following table.

Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes certain financial measures, Distributable Cash Flow, Cash Distribution Coverage Ratio and Adjusted Segment Profit that are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For Williams Partners L.P., Adjusted Segment Profit excludes items of income or loss that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations.  Management believes Adjusted Segment Profit provides investors meaningful insight into Williams Partners L.P.'s results from ongoing operations.

For Williams Partners L.P. we define Distributable Cash Flow as net income plus depreciation, amortization and accretion and cash distributions from our equity investments less our earnings from our equity investments, distributions to noncontrolling interests and maintenance capital expenditures. We also adjust for payments and/or reimbursements under an omnibus agreement with Williams and certain other items. Total Distributable Cash Flow is reduced by any amounts associated with operations, which occurred prior to our ownership of the underlying assets to arrive at Distributable Cash Flow attributable to partnership operations.  For Williams Partners L.P. we also calculate the ratio of Distributable Cash Flow attributable to partnership operations to the total cash distributed (cash distribution coverage ratio). This measure reflects the amount of Distributable Cash Flow relative to our cash distribution. We have also provided this ratio calculated using the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net income.

This press release is accompanied by a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest GAAP financial measures. Management uses these financial measures because they are accepted financial indicators used by investors to compare company performance. In addition, management believes that these measures provide investors an enhanced perspective of the operating performance of the Partnership's assets and the cash that the business is generating. Neither Adjusted Segment Profit nor Distributable Cash Flow are intended to represent cash flows for the period, nor are they presented as an alternative to net income or cash flow from operations. They should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for a measure of performance prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles.

About Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. is a leading diversified master limited partnership focused on natural gas transportation; gathering, treating, and processing; storage; natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation; and oil transportation. The partnership owns interests in three major interstate natural gas pipelines that, combined, deliver 12 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States. The partnership's gathering and processing assets include large-scale operations in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and both onshore and offshore along the Gulf of Mexico. Williams (NYSE: WMB) owns approximately 80 percent of Williams Partners, including the general-partner interest. More information is available at www.williamslp.com. Go to http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1296&to=ea&s=0 or http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=630&to=ea&s=0 to join our email list.

Portions of this document may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by federal law. Although the partnership believes any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the "safe harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes in performance is contained in the partnership's annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Williams Partners L.P.