Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP Reports First Quarter 2015 Results
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP (NYSE:WMLP) ("WMLP") today reported its results for the three months ended March 31, 2015 which include: An increase of $0.3 million in Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $9.6 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $9.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Westmoreland Resources GP, LLC, general partner of WMLP, declared a cash distribution for all unitholders and warrant unitholders of $0.20 per unit for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015. The distribution will be paid on May 15, 2015 to all unitholders and warrant unitholders of record as of the close of business on May 8, 2015. WMLP continued their strong safety performance achieving a zero reportable and lost time incident rates for surface mining operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015. "In this, our first quarter of ownership of WMLP, we began transitioning the business on to Westmoreland's systems," noted Keith Alessi, Chief Executive Officer. "We are operating the business with an emphasis on Distributable Cash Flow and it performed in line with our expectations." Safety During the three months ended March 31, 2015, WMLP continued to maintain reportable and lost time incident rates significantly below Appalachian Basin averages, as indicated in the table below. Three Months EndedMarch 31, 2015 ReportableRate — 1.19 Financial Results 1 The definition of Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, and a reconciliation thereof to Net Loss, a comparable GAAP financial measure, are included in a table presented near the end of this press release. 2Distributable cash flow is not defined in GAAP. Distributable cash flow is presented because it is helpful to management, industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies in assessing our financial performance. A reconciliation thereof to Net Loss, a comparable GAAP financial measure, are included in a table presented near the end of this press release. We reported total revenues of $67.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $78.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease of $10.4 million was principally due to decreased sales and production volumes, which declined to 1.1 million tons sold and produced in the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to 1.4 million tons sold and produced in the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in tons sold and produced resulted from a decrease in market demand. We reported net loss of $10.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $10.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Additionally we reported Adjusted EBITDA of $9.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, an increase of $0.3 million from $9.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Both the net loss and Adjusted EBITDA were also favorably impacted by a $0.66 increase in average coal sales price per ton sold to $54.02 per ton sold in the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $53.36 per ton sold in the three months ended March 31, 2014. For the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, our consolidated results include items that affect comparability of our results. The expense components of these items were as follows: 3Includes acquisition and transition costs included in cost of coal revenue related to the sale of inventory written up to fair value. Business Update Cash Distribution Westmoreland Resources GP, LLC, general partner of WMLP, declared a cash distribution for all of our unitholders and warrant unitholders of $0.20 per unit for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015. The distribution will be paid on May 15, 2015 to all unitholders and warrant unitholders of record as of the close of business on May 8, 2015. This press release is intended to be a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of WMLP's distributions to non-U.S. investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, WMLP's distributions to non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Conference Call A conference call regarding Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP's 2014 results will be held on April 24, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Call-in numbers are: Live Participant Dial In (Toll Free): 844-WCC-COAL (844-922-2625)Participant Dial In (International): 201-689-8584 About Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP is a low-cost producer of high-value thermal coal in Northern Appalachia. It markets its coal primarily to large electric utilities with coal-fired, base-load scrubbed power plants under long-term coal sales contracts. For more information about Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP (NYSE: WMLP), please visit www.westmorelandmlp.com. Financial and other information about the Partnership is routinely posted on and accessible at www.westmorelandmlp.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements are based on WMLP's current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, including WMLP's projections for 2015 performance. WMLP cautions you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are statements neither of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include political, economic, business, competitive, market, weather and regulatory conditions. Any forward-looking statements made by WMLP in this news release speak only as of the date on which it was made. WMLP undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. 1Working capital is a supplemental measures of financial performance that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. We define working capital as current assets, plus advance royalties less current liabilities. AND DISTRIBUTABLE CASH FLOW3 2 Adjusted EBITDA EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are key metrics used by us to assess our operating performance and we believe that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance because these measures: are used widely by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such terms, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors; and help investors to more meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by removing the effect of our capital structure and asset base from our operating results. Neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA is a measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. The items excluded from EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are significant in assessing our operating results. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. For example, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA: do not reflect our cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital and major maintenance expenditures or contractual commitments; do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; and do not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on certain of our debt obligations. In addition, although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements. Other companies in our industry and in other industries may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA differently from the way that we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only as supplemental data. 3 Distributable Cash Flow Distributable Cash Flow represents Adjusted EBITDA less cash interest expense (net of interest income), reserve replacement expenditures, maintenance capital expenditures, cash reclamation expenditures, and noncontrolling interest. Cash interest expense represents the portion of our interest expense accrued and paid in cash during the reporting periods presented or that we will pay in cash in future periods as the obligations become due. Other maintenance capital expenditures represent expenditures for coal reserve replacement, expenditures for plant, equipment and mine development. Cash reclamation expenditures represent the reduction to our reclamation and mine closure costs resulting from cash payments. Earnings attributable to the noncontrolling interest are not available for distribution to our unitholders and accordingly are deducted. Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) attributable to our unitholders, income from operations, cash flows from operating activities or any other measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Although Distributable Cash Flow is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, we believe Distributable Cash Flow is useful to investors because this measurement is used by many analysts and others in the industry as a performance measurement tool to evaluate our operating and financial performance, facilitating comparison with the performance of other publicly traded limited partnerships. 4 Includes acquisition and transition costs included in cost of coal revenue related to the sale of inventory written up to fair value. 5 Per ton amounts are calculated by dividing the related amount on the financial statements by the number of tons sold. Although per ton amounts are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, we believe they are useful to management and others, such as investors and lenders, in evaluating performance because they are widely used in the coal industry as a measure to evaluate a company's sales performance or control over costs. Because not all companies calculate these measures the same way, our calculations may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.
Apr 24, 2015 | www.businesswire.com
1-888-653-2347 
support@leadiq.com 
