SMLP Summit Midstream Partners LP

HOUSTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) ("Summit", "SMLP" or the "Partnership") announced today its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

Highlights

• Reduced net leverage ratio to approximately 3.9x, a dramatic reduction from 5.4x in the fourth quarter of 2023, furthering progress toward achieving 3.5x net leverage target

• First quarter 2024 net income of $132.9 million, adjusted EBITDA of $70.1 million, cash flow available for distributions ("Distributable Cash Flow" or "DCF") of $32.5 million and free cash flow ("FCF") of $17.2 million

• Connected 71 wells during the first quarter

• Active customer base with three drilling rigs and more than 80 DUCs behind our systems

• Successful conclusion to the Double E open season resulting in an incremental 75 MMcfd, 10-year take or pay commitment and primary term extension with an existing customer plus an additional 150 MMcfd of non-binding bids from third parties

• Sold remaining Northeast assets in West Virginia for approximately $75 million¹

• Revised pro forma 2024 Adjusted EBITDA guidance of $170 million to $200 million²

Management Commentary

Heath Deneke, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman, commented, "Summit's first quarter 2024 financial and operating results were generally in line with management expectations, despite severe winter weather in the DJ Basin impacting volumes in January. With the previously announced Utica transaction and today's announced sale of our Mountaineer Gathering System in West Virginia to Antero Midstream LLC, we have now fully exited the Northeast segment and will focus on several organic and bolt-on acquisition opportunities in our Rockies and Permian segments. Pro forma for the Utica and Mountaineer transactions, we have dramatically reduced net leverage to approximately 3.9x, a 1.5x reduction from the fourth quarter of 2023. We have significant liquidity with a $400 million undrawn revolver and more than $350 million of unrestricted cash to pursue these organic growth and bolt-on acquisition opportunities, while continuing to de-lever the balance sheet and progress toward achieving our 3.5x net leverage target.

We had a very active quarter operationally, connecting 71 wells to the system, with a vast majority of those coming from the Rockies region, which represents nearly half of the total well connects we're expecting in 2024, pro forma for the combined Northeast asset divestitures. Our customers on our remaining segments are completing wells on schedule and continue to hold to their original timing expectations on future wells. As a result, our new Revised 2024 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $170 million to $200 million remains generally in-line with our original guidance for the year as adjusted to remove full year contributions of the Northeast segment divestitures.

In the Permian, we've continued to make great progress commercializing the available firm capacity on the Double E Pipeline as natural gas production continues to grow in the Delaware Basin. Earlier this week we concluded a successful open season that resulted in the awarding of 75 MMcf/d of incremental take-or-pay commitments with a subsidiary of Matador Resources to support their Marlan Processing Plant expansion in New Mexico, plus, we received an additional 150 MMcf/d of non-binding 10-year take-or-pay bids from other third parties desiring new plant connections in 2025. The amended and restated Matador agreement also provided for an extension of their existing firm service agreements to a new 10-year term effective May 1, 2024. Additionally, we recently executed a new max-rate interruptible agreement for up to 150 MMcf/d of incremental volume from a new customer in New Mexico. We're excited to see the increasing level of demand for residue gas takeaway capacity out of the Delaware Basin materialize and we continue to believe Double E is uniquely positioned to meet the growing near-term and long-term needs of the market."   

First Quarter 2024 Business Highlights

SMLP's average daily natural gas throughput for its wholly owned operated systems decreased 6.5% to 1,327 MMcf/d, and liquids volumes decreased 8.6% to 74 Mbbl/d, relative to the fourth quarter of 2023. OGC natural gas throughput increase from 826 MMcf/d to 849 MMcf/d, a 2.9% increase quarter-over-quarter and generated $14.3 million of adjusted EBITDA, net to SMLP, for the first quarter of 2024. Double E Pipeline gross volumes transported increased from 386 MMcf/d to 467 MMcf/d, a 21% increase quarter-over-quarter and generated $7.3 million of adjusted EBITDA, net to SMLP, for the first quarter of 2024.

Natural gas price-driven segments:

• Natural gas price-driven segments had combined quarterly segment adjusted EBITDA of $49.4 million, representing a 2.0% decrease relative to the fourth quarter, and combined capital expenditures of $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2024.

• Northeast segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $29.0 million, an increase of $0.6 million from the fourth quarter 2023, primarily due a 2.9% increase in volume and an increase in proportionate EBITDA from the OGC joint venture, partially offset by a 10% decrease in volume on our wholly owned systems. During the first quarter, three new wells were brought online behind the Summit Midstream Utica ("SMU") system and seven new wells were connected behind the OGC joint venture. On March 22, 2024, Summit sold Summit Midstream Utica, LLC, which included its approximately 36% interest in Ohio Gathering Company, LLC, approximately 38% interest in Ohio Condensate Company, LLC and SMU assets to a subsidiary of MPLX LP for $625 million in cash. On May 1, 2024 Mountaineer Midstream, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of SMLP, sold the Mountaineer Midstream System to Antero Midstream LLC.

• Piceance segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $15.2 million, a decrease of $0.9 million from the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to a 1.6% decrease in volume throughput driven by natural production declines and no new wells connected to the system during the quarter.

• Barnett segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $5.1 million, a decrease of $0.7 million relative to the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to 1.6% decrease in volumes from a customer continuing to curtail volumes by approximately 30 MMcf/d, partially offset by four new wells connected to the system from our anchor customer during the quarter. There is currently one rig running and 25 DUCs behind the system.

Oil price-driven segments:

• Oil price-driven segments generated $30.1 million of combined segment adjusted EBITDA, representing a 0.6% decrease relative to the fourth quarter, and had combined capital expenditures of $12.6 million.

• Permian segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $7.3 million, a decrease of $0.7 million from the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to a decrease in proportionate EBITDA from our Double E joint venture.

• Rockies segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $22.9 million, an increase of $0.5 million relative to the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to increased product margin related to our percent-of-proceeds contracts in the DJ Basin, partially offset by an 8.6% decrease in liquids volume throughput and a 1.6% decrease in natural gas volume throughput. Extreme weather and operational downtime negatively impacted gas volumes in the DJ Basin by approximately 9 MMcf/d during the quarter. There were 57 new wells connected during the quarter, including 39 in the DJ Basin and 18 in the Williston Basin. There are currently two rigs running and approximately 50 DUCs behind the systems.

The following table presents average daily throughput by reportable segment for the periods indicated:

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The following table presents adjusted EBITDA by reportable segment for the periods indicated:

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Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures totaled $16.4 million in the first quarter of 2024, inclusive of maintenance capital expenditures of $2.7 million. Capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2024 were primarily related to pad connections in the Rockies segment.

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Capital & Liquidity

As of March 31, 2024, SMLP had $344.6 million in unrestricted cash on hand and a fully undrawn $400 million ABL Revolver with $383.7 million of borrowing availability, after accounting for $4.3 million of issued, but undrawn letters of credit and $12 million of commitment reserve for the 2025 Senior Notes. As of March 31, 2024, SMLP's gross availability based on the borrowing base calculation in the credit agreement was $684 million, which is $284 million greater than the $400 million of lender commitments to the ABL Revolver. As of March 31, 2024, SMLP was in compliance with all financial covenants, including interest coverage of 1.87x relative to a minimum interest coverage covenant of 1.50x and first lien leverage ratio of -0.26x relative to a maximum first lien leverage ratio of 2.5x. As of March 31, 2024, SMLP reported a total leverage ratio of approximately 3.9x.

As of March 31, 2024, the Permian Transmission Credit Facility balance was $141.1 million, a reduction of $3.8 million relative to the December 31, 2023 balance of $144.8 million due to scheduled mandatory amortization. The Permian Transmission Term Loan remains non-recourse to SMLP.

MVC Shortfall Payments

SMLP billed its customers $7.3 million in the first quarter of 2024 related to MVC shortfalls. For those customers that do not have MVC shortfall credit banking mechanisms in their gathering agreements, the MVC shortfall payments are accounted for as gathering revenue in the period in which they are earned. In the first quarter of 2024, SMLP recognized $7.3 million of gathering revenue associated with MVC shortfall payments. SMLP had no adjustments to MVC shortfall payments in the first quarter of 2024. SMLP's MVC shortfall payment mechanisms contributed $7.3 million of total adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024.

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Quarterly Distribution 

The Board of Directors of SMLP's general partner continued to suspend cash distributions payable on its common units and on its Series A fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred units (the "Series A Preferred Units") for the period ended March 31, 2024. Unpaid distributions on the Series A Preferred Units will continue to accumulate.

Asset Sale Overview

On May 1, 2024, Mountaineer Midstream, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of SMLP, sold the Mountaineer Midstream System to Antero Midstream LLC for $70 million in cash, (the "Mountaineer Transaction"). Separately, Mountaineer Midstream, LLC sold latent compressor inventory to a third party for approximately $5 million in cash.

The Mountaineer Midstream System, within the Marcellus shale, is in Doddridge and Harrison counties in West Virginia where it gathers natural gas under a long-term, fee-based contract with Antero Resources Corporation. Volume throughput on the Mountaineer Midstream system is underpinned by minimum revenue commitments from Antero Resources Corporation. These minimum revenue commitments generated ~$6.6 million of shortfall payments in 2023, with contractual expirations in 2025 and 2026. The Mountaineer Midstream system consists of a high-pressure natural gas gathering system and two compressor stations, delivering natural gas to the inlet of the Sherwood Processing Complex and other high pressure gathering lines.

RBC Capital Markets, LLC served as financial advisor for the Mountaineer Transaction and Locke Lord L.L.P. served as legal advisor to Summit.

First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call Information

SMLP will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on May 3, 2024, to discuss its quarterly operating and financial results. The call can be accessed via teleconference at: Q1 2024 Summit Midstream Partners LP Earnings Conference Call (https://register.vevent.com/register/BIece413d1f8d74a20adea2361c8d96184). Once registration is completed, participants will receive a dial-in number along with a personalized PIN to access the call. While not required, it is recommended that participants join 10 minutes prior to the event start. The conference call, live webcast and archive of the call can be accessed through the Investors section of SMLP's website at www.summitmidstream.com. 

Upcoming Investor Conference

Members of SMLP's senior management team will attend the 2024 Energy Infrastructure CEO & Investor Conference which will take place on May 21–23, 2024, the 2024 RBC Capital Markets Global Energy, Power & Infrastructure Conference taking place on June 4–5, 2024, and the BofA Securities 2024 Energy Credit Conference on June 5–6, 2024. The presentation materials associated with these events will be accessible through the Investors section of SMLP's website at www.summitmidstream.com prior to the beginning of the conference.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We report financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). We also present adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow, and Free Cash Flow, non-GAAP financial measures.

Adjusted EBITDA

We define adjusted EBITDA as net income or loss, plus interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, our proportional adjusted EBITDA for equity method investees, adjustments related to MVC shortfall payments, adjustments related to capital reimbursement activity, unit-based and noncash compensation, impairments, items of income or loss that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations and other noncash expenses or losses, income tax benefit, income (loss) from equity method investees and other noncash income or gains. Because adjusted EBITDA may be defined differently by other entities in our industry, our definition of this non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other entities, thereby diminishing its utility.

Management uses adjusted EBITDA in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our financial performance. Furthermore, management believes that adjusted EBITDA may provide external users of our financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks, research analysts and others, with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results of prior periods as they are expected to be reflective of our core ongoing business.

Adjusted EBITDA is used as a supplemental financial measure to assess:

• the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to make future potential cash distributions and support our indebtedness;

• the financial performance of our assets without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis;

• our operating performance and return on capital as compared to those of other entities in the midstream energy sector, without regard to financing or capital structure;

• the attractiveness of capital projects and acquisitions and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities; and

• the financial performance of our assets without regard to (i) income or loss from equity method investees, (ii) the impact of the timing of MVC shortfall payments under our gathering agreements or (iii) the timing of impairments or other income or expense items that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations.

Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and investors should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. For example:

• certain items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing an entity's financial performance, such as an entity's cost of capital and tax structure;

• adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

• adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; and

• although depreciation and amortization are noncash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements.

We compensate for the limitations of adjusted EBITDA as an analytical tool by reviewing the comparable GAAP financial measures, understanding the differences between the financial measures and incorporating these data points into our decision-making process.

Distributable Cash Flow

We define Distributable Cash Flow as adjusted EBITDA, as defined above, less cash interest paid, cash paid for taxes, net interest expense accrued and paid on the senior notes, and maintenance capital expenditures.

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as distributable cash flow attributable to common and preferred unitholders less growth capital expenditures, less investments in equity method investees, less distributions to common and preferred unitholders. Free cash flow excludes proceeds from asset sales and cash consideration paid for acquisitions. 

We do not provide the GAAP financial measures of net income or loss or net cash provided by operating activities on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict, without unreasonable effort, certain components thereof including, but not limited to, (i) income or loss from equity method investees and (ii) asset impairments. These items are inherently uncertain and depend on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. As such, any associated estimate and its impact on our GAAP performance and cash flow measures could vary materially based on a variety of acceptable management assumptions.

About Summit Midstream Partners, LP

SMLP is a value-driven limited partnership focused on developing, owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in the core producing areas of unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in the continental United States. SMLP provides natural gas, crude oil and produced water gathering, processing and transportation services pursuant to primarily long-term, fee-based agreements with customers and counterparties in four unconventional resource basins: (i) the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota; (ii) the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which includes the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; (iii) the Fort Worth Basin, which includes the Barnett Shale formation in Texas; and (iv) the Piceance Basin, which includes the Mesaverde formation as well as the Mancos and Niobrara shale formations in Colorado. SMLP has an equity method investment in Double E Pipeline, LLC, which provides interstate natural gas transportation service from multiple receipt points in the Delaware Basin to various delivery points in and around the Waha Hub in Texas. SMLP is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements concerning expectations for the future that are forward-looking within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may project, indicate or imply future results, events, performance or achievements and may contain the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions, or future conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could." In addition, any statement concerning future financial performance (including future revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies and possible actions taken by SMLP or its subsidiaries are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also contain known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are difficult to predict and beyond management's control) that may cause SMLP's actual results in future periods to differ materially from anticipated or projected results. An extensive list of specific material risks and uncertainties affecting SMLP is contained in its 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2024. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and SMLP undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events.

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SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LP