Genesis Energy, L.P. Reports Fourth Quarter 2021 Results

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Genesis Energy, L.P. (NYSE: GEL) today announced its fourth quarter results.

We generated the following financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021:

  • Net Loss Attributable to Genesis Energy, L.P. of $68.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to Net Loss Attributable to Genesis Energy, L.P. of $85.2 million for the same period in 2020.
  • Cash Flows from Operating Activities of $95.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $1.1 million for the same period in 2020.
  • Total Segment Margin of $155.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2021.
  • Available Cash before Reserves to common unitholders of $51.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, which provided 2.80X coverage for the quarterly distribution of $0.15 per common unit attributable to the fourth quarter.
  • We declared cash distributions on our preferred units of $0.7374 for each preferred unit, which equates to a cash distribution of approximately $18.7 million and is reflected as a reduction to Available Cash before Reserves to common unitholders.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $140.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
  • Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA of $594.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 and a bank leverage ratio of 4.99X, both calculated in accordance with our senior secured credit agreement and discussed further in this release.

Grant Sims, CEO of Genesis Energy, said, “As we stated at the beginning of the year, 2021 was expected to be a year of transition as our businesses recovered from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unprecedented hurricane season of 2020. We did in fact see our businesses begin to recover and our financial performance for 2021 was in line with our expectations.

Importantly, during this transition year, we took steps to significantly enhance the partnership’s financial flexibility to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us. Earlier in the year, we were successful in refinancing our senior secured credit facility and extended its maturity into 2024. In the fourth quarter, we were successful in selling a 36% minority interest in our CHOPS oil pipeline system for gross proceeds of approximately $418 million. We used these proceeds to pay down debt, and were able to exit the year with a leverage ratio, calculated consistent with our senior secured credit facility, of 4.99 times. Additionally, we exited the year with over $600 million of undrawn commitments under our senior secured credit facility. This represents ample liquidity for us to capitalize on the economically attractive opportunities in front of us, including the completion of the expansion of our Granger soda ash facility.

As we look forward to 2022, we are very excited about the continuing recovery and the future trajectory of our businesses. While we will go into more detail below, our two largest businesses are expected to meaningfully improve in 2022 as compared to the past several years. Because of the increasingly tight conditions in the world soda ash market, we expect realized prices in 2022 to be at or above those we realized in 2019, or pre-pandemic. This recovery in pricing, in our mind, is at least one year ahead of schedule, based upon our previous expectations and taking into account the caps and collars we have in place for a significant percentage of our sales contracts. We are also excited because we believe that 2022 will be a year of dramatically increasing volumes out of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as Kings Quay and Argos begin ramping up production. We expect the contribution from offshore to increase around 10% year over year, even after our sale of a minority interest in CHOPS. As a result, we are rolling out initial guidance for 2022 of total Segment Margin expected in the $620-$640 million range and Adjusted EBITDA(1) expected in the $565-$585 million range. Both preceding ranges reflect zero payments from our legacy CO2 pipeline business (which totaled $70 million in 2021), a 64% ownership interest in CHOPS for the entire year and have no add-backs or pro forma adjustments as allowed under our senior secured credit facility to determine covenant compliance and/or pricing thereunder.

I’ll quickly turn to our individual segments with a focus on future periods as opposed to spending much time dwelling on the past.

During the quarter, our offshore pipeline transportation segment performed in line with our expectations despite the extended downtime we incurred on our Poseidon oil pipeline as a result of third party onshore facilities being without power for an extended period of time following Hurricane Ida. We believe that our two large upstream developments are now just months away from achieving first production. Both the Argos and Kings Quay floating production systems have been anchored in place in the Gulf of Mexico and both are working to achieve first production soon and anticipate ramping production up to their design capacities of some 80,000 barrels a day and 140,000 barrels a day, respectively, as we move through 2022 and into 2023. Activity levels in and around our assets continue to be exciting in terms of future opportunities to provide midstream services to the upstream community in the Gulf of Mexico. We would expect the midpoint of Segment Margin for our offshore pipeline transportation segment to be approximately $345 million in 2022, which reflects our sale of a 36% minority interest in CHOPS and also represents a full ten days of hurricane related downtime as opposed to our historical practice of anticipating an average of seven days of interruption.

The demand for soda ash continues to improve through a combination of a recovery in global economic activity along with the various tailwinds associated with the energy transition and its applications for solar panels and lithium batteries. This rapidly increasing demand coupled with, as a practical matter, a net decrease in supply provides a favorable environment for price redetermination for volumes to be sold in 2022. As such, we anticipate our weighted average realized price in 2022, even after taking into account the caps and collars under a significant percentage of our multi-year sales agreements, to actually exceed the weighted average price we realized in 2019, prior to any of the temporary demand destruction associated with the pandemic.

We see nothing on the horizon to significantly alter this higher priced environment. Demand growth with flat supply will always drive prices higher. Additionally, the costs associated with synthetic producers have dramatically increased, both on an absolute and relative basis when compared to natural producers’ costs, again providing a constructive backdrop for soda ash prices. Based on this expectation of market conditions, we have made the decision to restart our original Granger production facility and its roughly 500,000 tons of annual production in the first quarter of 2023. The Granger expansion, representing an incremental 700,000 tons or so of annual production remains on schedule and on budget for first production in the third quarter of 2023.

Our legacy refinery services business, which happens to be one of the most, if not in fact the most, eco-friendly methods to deal with sulfur entrained in the crude oil consumed at a refinery, continues to meet our financial performance expectations. It continues to benefit from copper’s role in the energy transition, where the majority of our resultant, sulfur removal by-product is used. Our industry leading position in this business combined with our world-class soda ash operations are expected to produce total Sodium Minerals and Sulfur Services Segment Margin in 2022 of approximately $210 million, at our midpoint.

Market conditions in our marine transportation segment continue to improve. As refinery utilization continues to recover, as heavy/light differentials return to historical norms, and as the effects of net equipment retirements are felt industry wide, we expect utilization rates and spot and term day rates to continue to recover and in fact accelerate as we move through 2022. As a result, we expect the Segment Margin for our marine transportation segment, as we have historically presented it, to be approximately $50 million at the midpoint of our expectations for 2022.

In our onshore facilities and transportation segment, we completed our exit from the CO2 pipeline business at the end of 2021. As a result, our 2022 Segment Margin will have no contribution from that exited business, which represented $70 million in last year’s results, given how our exit was structured. We would expect the midpoint of Segment Margin for our onshore facilities and transportation segment to total approximately $25 million in 2022, which will start out relatively small on a quarterly basis and accelerate through the year as we expect increasing utilization of our assets.

In summary, as we get 2020 and 2021 in our rear view mirror, we remain very excited with the expected improving financial results of our market leading businesses and continue to have a definite line of sight of $700-$800 million of annual Adjusted EBITDA in coming years, even after the sale of a minority interest in CHOPS. This outlook highlights the resiliency of our businesses and demonstrates the tremendous operating leverage we have to overall improving market conditions. The management team and board of directors remain steadfast in our commitment to build long-term value for all of our stakeholders, and we believe the decisions we are making reflect this commitment and our confidence in Genesis moving forward.

I would once again like to recognize our entire workforce for their efforts and unwavering commitment to safe and responsible operations. I’m proud to be associated with each and every one of you.”

 

(1) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of the forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA contained in this press release to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure because the information necessary for quantitative reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is not available to us without unreasonable efforts. The probable significance of providing the forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA without directly comparable GAAP financial measure is that such non-GAAP financial measure may be materially different from the corresponding GAAP financial measure.

Financial Results

Segment Margin

Variances between the fourth quarter of 2021 (the “2021 Quarter”) and the fourth quarter of 2020 (the “2020 Quarter”) in these components are explained below.

Segment Margin results for the 2021 Quarter and 2020 Quarter were as follows:

 

Three Months Ended

December 31,

 

2021

 

2020

 

(in thousands)

Offshore pipeline transportation

$

74,140

 

$

52,304

Sodium minerals and sulfur services

 

45,210

 

 

40,726

Onshore facilities and transportation

 

26,312

 

 

36,642

Marine transportation

 

9,972

 

 

7,331

Total Segment Margin

$

155,634

 

$

137,003

Offshore pipeline transportation Segment Margin for the 2021 Quarter increased $21.8 million, or 42%, from the 2020 Quarter primarily due to higher overall volumes on our crude oil and natural gas pipeline systems as a result of less unplanned downtime in the 2021 Quarter. During the 2020 Quarter, our offshore pipeline transportation segment experienced continued downtime and interruption from weather events, including Hurricanes Delta and Zeta, as a result of producers shutting in and us taking the necessary safety precautions to remove all personnel from the platforms that we operate and maintain. In addition to the majority of our assets being shut in for approximately 15 days during the 2020 Quarter, our CHOPS pipeline, although not damaged, was out of service beginning on August 26, 2020 (and for the full 2020 Quarter) due to damage at a junction platform that the CHOPS pipeline goes up and over. During the 2020 Quarter, we were able to successfully divert all CHOPS volumes to our 64% owned Poseidon oil pipeline system, but continued to incur our fixed costs associated with the CHOPS pipeline in addition to incremental operating costs we had to incur as a result of regulatory inspections and maintenance to return our assets to service. During the 2021 Quarter, while we did have some effects to our Segment Margin as a result of our Poseidon pipeline being down for part of September as a result of Hurricane Ida and certain onshore delivery constraints (as the distributions we received during the 2021 Quarter relate to business activities from September to November), the impacts were not as significant as those from the 2020 Quarter. The 2021 Quarter included normal activities on our CHOPS pipeline as well as less interruption across our infrastructure relative to the 2020 Quarter. This overall increase in activity was partially offset by our divestiture of a 36% minority interest in CHOPS on November 17, 2021, and thus, 36% of the results of CHOPS were attributable to our noncontrolling interests subsequent to the transaction date.

Sodium minerals and sulfur services Segment Margin for the 2021 Quarter increased $4.5 million, or 11%. This increase is primarily due to higher NaHS volumes in our refinery services business and more favorable export pricing in our Alkali Business. In our refinery services business, our NaHS sales volumes increased during the 2021 Quarter as demand has continued to recover and return to its pre-pandemic levels over the last twelve months due to the re-opening of economies, specifically from our mining customers in Peru. In our Alkali Business, we continued to produce at a high rate at our Westvaco facility during the 2021 Quarter. Additionally, we saw continued improvements in export pricing in the 2021 Quarter relative to the 2020 Quarter and sequentially from the first nine months of 2021, which is evidence that the supply and demand balance is becoming more aligned.

Onshore facilities and transportation Segment Margin for the 2021 Quarter decreased $10.3 million, or 28%. This decrease is primarily due to lower cash receipts from Denbury associated with our previously owned NEJD pipeline. On October 30, 2020, we reached an agreement with a subsidiary of Denbury Inc. to transfer to it the ownership of our remaining CO2 assets, including the NEJD and Free State pipelines, included within our onshore facilities and transportation segment. As a part of the agreement, we received $22.5 million in cash proceeds for the Free State pipeline (which is included in segment margin during the 2020 Quarter) and we received $17.5 million in the 2021 Quarter for the remaining principal payment associated with our previously owned NEJD pipeline. Additionally, we had lower contracted minimum volume commitments with our main customer associated with our Baton Rouge corridor assets (including rail, terminal and pipeline) as these commitments stepped down during 2021.

Marine transportation Segment Margin for the 2021 Quarter increased $2.6 million, or 36%. This increase is primarily attributable to higher utilization in both our inland and offshore barge businesses, partially offset by slightly lower day rates in our inland business during the 2021 Quarter. Lower refinery utilization in the Midwest and Gulf Coast significantly impacted and caused pressure on both the day rates and utilization within our inland barge operation. While we have begun to see slight improvements, we have continued to enter into short term contracts (less than a year) in both the inland and offshore markets because we believe the day rates currently being offered by the market have yet to fully recover.

Other Components of Net Income

We recorded Net Loss Attributable to Genesis Energy, L.P. of $68.3 million in the 2021 Quarter compared to Net Loss Attributable to Genesis Energy, L.P. of $85.2 million in the 2020 Quarter.

Net Loss Attributable to Genesis Energy, L.P. in the 2021 Quarter was impacted by: (i) higher segment margin of $18.6 million, relative to the 2020 Quarter (which was inclusive of $22.5 million associated with cash receipts from the sale of our Free State pipeline and included in the 2020 Quarter’s segment margin); (ii) an unrealized (non-cash) gain from the valuation of the embedded derivative associated with our Class A Convertible Preferred Units of $0.2 million in the 2021 Quarter compared to an unrealized (non-cash) loss of $18.3 million during the 2020 Quarter recorded within “Other expense, net”; and (iii) lower expense of $22.0 million as the 2020 Quarter included a loss on sale of assets. These increases were offset by: (i) higher depreciation, depletion and amortization of $35.7 million in the 2021 Quarter primarily as a result of changes in estimates associated with certain of our non-core asset retirement obligations; (ii) higher general and administrative costs of $11.2 million during the 2021 Quarter as a result of increased transaction costs associated with our sale of a 36% minority interest in CHOPS; (iii) lower equity in earnings of equity investees of approximately $10.1 million as a result of lower volumes transported on the Poseidon pipeline during the 2021 Quarter; and (iv) higher interest expense of $4.9 million during the 2021 Quarter.

Earnings Conference Call

We will broadcast our Earnings Conference Call on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. Central time (10:00 a.m. Eastern time). This call can be accessed at www.genesisenergy.com. Choose the Investor Relations button. For those unable to attend the live broadcast, a replay will be available beginning approximately one hour after the event and remain available on our website for 30 days. There is no charge to access the event.

Genesis Energy, L.P. is a diversified midstream energy master limited partnership headquartered in Houston, Texas. Genesis’ operations include offshore pipeline transportation, sodium minerals and sulfur services, onshore facilities and transportation and marine transportation. Genesis’ operations are primarily located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico.

GENESIS ENERGY, L.P.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS – UNAUDITED

(in thousands, except per unit amounts)

 

 

Three Months Ended

December 31,

 

Year Ended

December 31,

 

2021

 

2020

 

2021

 

2020

REVENUES

$

581,581

 

 

$

453,140

 

 

$

2,125,476

 

 

$

1,824,655

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COSTS AND EXPENSES:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs of sales and operating expenses

 

462,925

 

 

 

377,853

 

 

 

1,678,849

 

 

 

1,415,500

 

General and administrative expenses

 

22,241

 

 

 

11,062

 

 

 

61,185

 

 

 

56,920

 

Depreciation, depletion and amortization

 

108,771

 

 

 

73,112

 

 

 

309,746

 

 

 

295,322

 

Impairment expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

280,826

 

Loss on sale of assets

 

 

 

 

22,045

 

 

 

 

 

 

22,045

 

OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

 

(12,356

)

 

 

(30,932

)

 

 

75,696

 

 

 

(245,958

)

Equity in earnings of equity investees

 

12,715

 

 

 

22,803

 

 

 

57,898

 

 

 

64,019

 

Interest expense

 

(56,786

)

 

 

(51,884

)

 

 

(233,724

)

 

 

(209,779

)

Other expense, net

 

(2,063

)

 

 

(20,383

)

 

 

(36,232

)

 

 

(7,269

)

LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAXES

 

(58,490

)

 

 

(80,396

)

 

 

(136,362

)

 

 

(398,987

)

Income tax expense

 

(500

)

 

 

(752

)

 

 

(1,670

)

 

 

(1,327

)

NET LOSS

 

(58,990

)

 

 

(81,148

)

 

 

(138,032

)

 

 

(400,314

)

Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

 

(1,513

)

 

 

(289

)

 

 

(1,637

)

 

 

(251

)

Net income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interests

 

(7,759

)

 

 

(3,719

)

 

 

(25,398

)

 

 

(16,113

)

NET LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO GENESIS ENERGY, L.P.

$

(68,262

)

 

$

(85,156

)

 

$

(165,067

)

 

$

(416,678

)

Less: Accumulated distributions attributable to Class A Convertible Preferred Units

 

(18,684

)

 

 

(18,684

)

 

 

(74,736

)

 

 

(74,736

)

NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO COMMON UNITHOLDERS

$

(86,946

)

 

$

(103,840

)

 

$

(239,803

)

 

$

(491,414

)

NET LOSS PER COMMON UNIT:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and Diluted

$

(0.71

)

 

$

(0.85

)

 

$

(1.96

)

 

$

(4.01

)

WEIGHTED AVERAGE OUTSTANDING COMMON UNITS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and Diluted

 

122,579,218

 

 

 

122,579,218

 

 

 

122,579,218

 

 

 

122,579,218

 

GENESIS ENERGY, L.P.

OPERATING DATA – UNAUDITED

 

 

Three Months Ended

December 31,

 

Year Ended

December 31,

 

2021

 

2020

 

2021

 

2020

Offshore Pipeline Transportation Segment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crude oil pipelines (Bbls/day unless otherwise noted):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHOPS(2)

224,982

 

 

(1)

 

 

189,904

 

 

133,977

 

Poseidon(3)

240,995

 

 

355,340

 

 

263,169

 

 

290,600

 

Odyssey(3)

99,375

 

 

125,237

 

 

114,128

 

 

119,145

 

GOPL

8,702

 

 

5,485

 

 

7,826

 

 

4,154

 

Offshore crude oil pipelines total

574,054

 

 

486,062

 

 

575,027

 

 

547,876

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natural gas transportation volumes (MMBtus/day)(3)

393,234

 

 

286,535

 

 

345,870

 

 

324,395

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sodium Minerals and Sulfur Services Segment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NaHS (dry short tons sold)

29,565

 

 

27,299

 

 

114,292

 

 

107,428

 

Soda Ash volumes (short tons sold)

772,704

 

 

775,920

 

 

2,994,507

 

 

2,781,926

 

NaOH (caustic soda) volumes (dry short tons sold)(4)

20,436

 

 

19,723

 

 

84,278

 

 

77,274

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onshore Facilities and Transportation Segment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crude oil pipelines (Bbls/day):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas(5)

81,812

 

 

37,701

 

 

65,918

 

 

62,213

 

Jay

7,374

 

 

8,942

 

 

7,941

 

 

8,443

 

Mississippi

5,310

 

 

5,735

 

 

5,206

 

 

5,638

 

Louisiana

30,494

 

 

25,913

 

 

44,564

 

 

57,543

 

Onshore crude oil pipelines total

124,990

 

 

78,291

 

 

123,629

 

 

133,837

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free State – CO2 Pipeline (Mcf/day)(6)

 

 

60,436

 

 

 

 

101,845

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crude oil and petroleum products sales (Bbls/day)

24,082

 

 

30,946

 

 

24,239

 

 

27,073

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail unload volumes (Bbls/day)(7)

847

 

 

27,016

 

 

11,782

 

 

32,174

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marine Transportation Segment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inland Fleet Utilization Percentage(8)

94.7

%

 

56.8

%

 

81.9

%

 

77.8

%

Offshore Fleet Utilization Percentage(8)

97.8

%

 

89.7

%

 

95.9

%

 

95.4

%

(1)

Our CHOPS pipeline was out of service from August 26, 2020 to February 4, 2021 and had no volumes during this period due to damage at a junction platform that the CHOPS pipeline goes up and over. We were able to divert all volumes during this period onto our 64% owned Poseidon oil pipeline.

(2)

On November 17, 2021, we sold a 36% minority interest in our CHOPS pipeline. Volumes for our CHOPS pipeline are presented on a 100% basis.

(3)

Volumes for our equity method investees are presented on a 100% basis. We own 64% of Poseidon and 29% of Odyssey, as well as equity interests in various other entities.

(4)

Caustic soda sales volumes include volumes sold from our alkali and refinery services businesses.

(5)

Our Texas pipeline and infrastructure is a destination point for many pipeline systems in the Gulf of Mexico, including our CHOPS pipeline. Volumes during the 2020 Quarter were impacted as a result of the CHOPS pipeline being out of service as well as increased downtime throughout the Gulf of Mexico infrastructure as a result of the unprecedented 2020 hurricane season.

(6)

We sold our Free State pipeline on October 30, 2020.

(7)

Indicates total barrels for which fees were charged for unloading at all rail facilities.

(8)

Utilization rates are based on a 365 day year, as adjusted for planned downtime and dry-docking.

GENESIS ENERGY, L.P.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS – UNAUDITED

(in thousands, except units)

 

 

December 31,

2021

 

December 31,

2020

ASSETS

 

 

 

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

$

24,992

 

 

$

27,018

 

Accounts receivable – trade, net

 

400,334

 

 

 

392,465

 

Inventories

 

77,958

 

 

 

99,877

 

Other current assets

 

39,200

 

 

 

60,809

 

Total current assets

 

542,484

 

 

 

580,169

 

Fixed assets and mineral leaseholds, net of accumulated depreciation and depletion

 

4,461,190

 

 

 

4,403,909

 

Equity investees

 

294,050

 

 

 

319,068

 

Intangible assets, net of amortization

 

127,063

 

 

 

128,742

 

Goodwill

 

301,959

 

 

 

301,959

 

Right of use assets, net

 

140,796

 

 

 

153,925

 

Other assets, net of amortization

 

38,259

 

 

 

45,847

 

Total assets

$

5,905,801

 

 

$

5,933,619

 

LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS’ CAPITAL

 

 

 

Accounts payable – trade

$

264,316

 

 

$

198,433

 

Accrued liabilities

 

232,623

 

 

 

184,978

 

Total current liabilities

 

496,939

 

 

 

383,411

 

Senior secured credit facility

 

49,000

 

 

 

643,700

 

Senior unsecured notes, net of debt issuance costs

 

2,930,505

 

 

 

2,750,016

 

Deferred tax liabilities

 

14,297

 

 

 

13,317

 

Other long-term liabilities

 

434,925

 

 

 

393,018

 

Total liabilities

 

3,925,666

 

 

 

4,183,462

 

Mezzanine capital:

 

 

 

Class A Convertible Preferred Units

 

790,115

 

 

 

790,115

 

Redeemable noncontrolling interests

 

259,568

 

 

 

141,194

 

 

 

 

 

Partners’ capital:

 

 

 

Common unitholders

 

641,313

 

 

 

829,326

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

(5,607

)

 

 

(9,365

)

Noncontrolling interests

 

294,746

 

 

 

(1,113

)

Total partners’ capital

 

930,452

 

 

 

818,848

 

Total liabilities, mezzanine capital and partners’ capital

$

5,905,801

 

 

$

5,933,619

 

 

 

 

 

Common Units Data:

 

 

 

Total common units outstanding

 

122,579,218

 

 

 

122,579,218

 

Contacts

Genesis Energy, L.P.

Ryan Sims

SVP – Finance and Corporate Development

(713) 860-2521

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