Antero Midstream Corp (AM) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Antero midstream 2Q 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加 Antero 中游 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

I will now turn the conference over to Justin Agnew, Vice President of Finance. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我將會議交給財務副總裁賈斯汀‧阿格紐 (Justin Agnew)。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Antero Midstream second quarter investor conference call. We'll spend a few minutes going through the financial and operating highlights and then we'll open it up for Q&A. I would also like to direct you to the homepage of our website at www.anteromidstream.com, where we have provided a separate earnings call presentation that will be reviewed during today's call.

早安，感謝您參加 Antero Midstream 第二季投資人電話會議。我們將花幾分鐘時間回顧財務和營運亮點，然後開始問答環節。我還想將您引導至我們網站的主頁 www.anteromidstream.com，我們在那裡提供了單獨的收益電話會議演示文稿，將在今天的電話會議上進行審查。

Today's call may also contain certain non-GAAP financial methods. Please refer to our earnings press release for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

今天的電話會議可能還包含某些非 GAAP 財務方法。請參閱我們的收益新聞稿，以了解有關此類指標的重要揭露，包括與最具可比性的 GAAP 財務指標的對帳。

Joining me on the call today are Paul Rady, Chairman, CEO, and President of Antero Resources and Antero Midstream; Brendan Krueger, CFO of Antero Midstream; and Michael Kennedy, CFO of Antero Resources and Director of Antero Midstream.

今天參加電話會議的還有 Antero Resources 和 Antero Midstream 董事長、執行長兼總裁 Paul Rady、Antero Midstream 財務長 Brendan Krueger 以及 Antero Resources 財務長兼 Antero Midstream 董事 Michael Kennedy。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給保羅。

Thanks, Justin. Good morning, everyone. In my comments, I will discuss the progress on our 2025 capital projects and an update on our capital reuse savings. Brendan will then provide a recap of our second quarter results and increased 2025 guidance.

謝謝，賈斯汀。大家早安。在我的評論中，我將討論我們 2025 年資本項目的進展以及資本再利用節省的最新情況。隨後，布倫丹將回顧我們的第二季業績並提高 2025 年的預期。

Let me start on slide number 3 titled 2025 Capital Projects on Track. As depicted on this page, during the second quarter, we invest $45 million in gathering, compression, water, and the Stonewall joint venture projects.

我從第 3 張投影片開始，標題為「2025 年資本項目進展順利」。如本頁所示，在第二季度，我們向收集、壓縮、水和 Stonewall 合資項目投資了 4,500 萬美元。

This brings our year-to-date capital investment to $82 million or 45% of our updated 2025 capital budget at the midpoint of guidance. These projects included the completion of Torrey's Peak Compressor Stations and significant progress on the water system expansion to the southern portion of the Marcellus.

這使得我們今年迄今的資本投資達到 8,200 萬美元，占我們更新後的 2025 年資本預算（指導中位數）的 45%。這些項目包括托里峰壓縮機站的完工以及馬塞勒斯南部供水系統擴建的重大進展。

The capital invested in the back half of the year will be weighted toward the third quarter as we take advantage of better weather conditions for construction. Importantly, the remaining capital will be focused on low pressure gathering and water [canucks] that set up the 2026 development plan.

由於我們將利用更好的天氣條件進行施工，因此下半年投入的資金將集中到第三季。重要的是，剩餘的資金將集中在製定2026年發展計畫的低壓收集和水[canucks]。

Before turning the call over to Brendan, I also want to provide an update on our compression reuse program on slide number 4 titled Exceeding Expectations on Re-use savings. To date we have realized over $50 million of savings through our reuse program, including $30 million at the Torrey's Peak Compressor Station.

在將電話轉給布倫丹之前，我還想在第 4 張幻燈片上提供有關我們的壓縮重用計劃的最新信息，標題為“超出重用節省的預期”。到目前為止，我們透過再利用計畫已節省了超過 5,000 萬美元，其中包括托里峰壓縮機站的 3,000 萬美元。

After successful proof of concept on three compressor stations, we're now increasing the future re-use savings estimates. As you can see on the left side of the page, our five year savings estimate from 2026 to 2030 has increased from $60 million to over $85 million. This brings the cumulative savings already achieved plus the forecasted savings. To over $135 million. To put it in perspective, these savings approximate the cost of building two brand new 160 million cubic feet per day compressor stations.

在三個壓縮機站成功驗證概念後，我們現在正在增加未來重複使用節省的估算。正如您在頁面左側看到的，我們預計 2026 年至 2030 年五年間的節省額已從 6000 萬美元增加到 8500 萬美元以上。這就是已經實現的累計節省加上預測的節省。超過 1.35 億美元。從這個角度來看，這些節省的成本大約相當於建造兩個全新的每天 1.6 億立方英尺的壓縮機站的成本。

With that, let me turn it over to Brendan.

說完這些，讓我把麥克風交給布倫丹。

Thanks, Paul. I will start with our second quarter financial results on slide 5. During the second quarter, we generated $284 million of EBITDA, which was an 11% increase year-over-year. This was driven primarily by an increase in gathering and processing volumes, both of which set new company records. This EBITDA growth combined with declining capital year-over-year, resulted in free cash flow after dividends of $82 million which was almost a 90% increase compared to last year.

謝謝，保羅。我將從投影片 5 開始介紹我們的第二季財務表現。第二季度，我們的 EBITDA 為 2.84 億美元，年增 11%。這主要是由於收集量和處理量的增加，這兩項數據均創下了公司新紀錄。EBITDA 的成長加上資本的逐年下降，導致股息後的自由現金流達到 8,200 萬美元，與去年相比成長了近 90%。

We utilize this free cash flow for share repurchases and for debt reduction, which drove our leverage down to 2.8 times as of June 30.

我們利用這些自由現金流進行股票回購和減少債務，這使我們的槓桿率截至 6 月 30 日降至 2.8 倍。

Now let's move on to slide number 6 titled Increased 2025 guidance. This slide illustrates the components that resulted in the $25 million increase in our free cash flow guidance. At the midpoint, we are increasing our adjusted EBITDA guidance by $10 million driven by outperformance in our gathering and compression throughput. In addition, we are lowering lowering our capital budget range, bringing the top end of the guidance down from $200 million to $190 million, a $5 million reduction at the midpoint. Our debt reduction efforts have also resulted in $5 million lower interest expense.

現在讓我們看投影片 6，標題為「增加 2025 年指引」。這張投影片說明了導致我們的自由現金流指引增加 2500 萬美元的因素。在中點，我們將調整後的 EBITDA 指導值提高 1000 萬美元，這得益於我們在收集和壓縮吞吐量方面的優異表現。此外，我們正在降低資本預算範圍，將指導上限從 2 億美元降至 1.9 億美元，中間值減少了 500 萬美元。我們的減債努力也使利息支出減少了 500 萬美元。

Lastly, with the recently passed budget reconciliation bill, we are reducing our cash income taxes from a range of $0 to $10 million to $0. This is driven by a combination of reinstating bonus depreciation and interest interest deduction limitation improvements. Looking ahead, we do not expect to be a material cash taxpayer through at least 2028.

最後，根據最近通過的預算協調法案，我們將現金所得稅從 0 美元到 1000 萬美元的範圍減少到 0 美元。這是由恢復獎金折舊和利息扣除限制改進共同推動的。展望未來，我們預計至少到 2028 年都不會成為實質現金納稅人。

I will finish my comments on slide 7 titled Uniquely positioned for LNG and Northeast Demand Growth. AM plays the critical role in investing in first mile infrastructure connecting low cost production to LNG facilities along the Gulf Coast. While most midstream companies can connect producers to local Appalachian markets, AM is uniquely positioned in the fact that it connects its investment grade producer to premium price LNG markets while still maintaining significant optionality to connect into local markets should the demand growth warrant it.

我將在第 7 張投影片上結束我的評論，題為「液化天然氣和東北需求成長的獨特定位」。AM 在投資連接低成本生產和墨西哥灣沿岸液化天然氣設施的第一英里基礎設施方面發揮關鍵作用。雖然大多數中游公司可以將生產商與當地的阿巴拉契亞市場連接起來，但 AM 的獨特優勢在於，它既可以將其投資級生產商與高價液化天然氣市場連接起來，又可以在需求增長需要時，仍然保持與當地市場連接的極大選擇性。

As you can see on the snapshot on the right hand side of the page, additional projects in Appalachia continue to get announced, and we expect project announcements to accelerate, given the regulatory support, specifically in West Virginia for data center development.

正如您在頁面右側的快照中看到的，阿巴拉契亞地區的其他項目繼續宣布，並且我們預計，鑑於監管部門的支持，特別是西弗吉尼亞州對數據中心開發的支持，項目宣布將會加速。

In the future, if there is a structural change in Northeast demand or production tied to direct sales, Antero Resources has over 10 years of dry gas locations that are substantially HPP and dedicated to AM that can supply that growing opportunity set. Importantly, with over 20 years of liquids rich and dry gas inventory and an investment grade balance sheet, Antero is one of the few companies that can be relied on to actually supply long-term agreements.

未來，如果東北地區的需求或生產與直接銷售相關的結構性變化，Antero Resources 擁有超過 10 年的干氣地點，這些地點主要是 HPP 並致力於 AM，可以提供不斷增長的機會。重要的是，憑藉超過 20 年的富液乾氣庫存和投資級資產負債表，Antero 是少數幾家可以依靠實際提供長期協議的公司之一。

In summary, we continue to execute on our organic growth plan, consistently delivering predictable earnings and peer leading capital efficiency. These attributes allow us to pay an attractive dividend, reduce absolute debt, and make opportunistic share repurchases, all of which continue to drive value for our shareholders.

總之，我們繼續執行我們的有機成長計劃，持續提供可預測的收益和同業領先的資本效率。這些特徵使我們能夠支付有吸引力的股息、減少絕對債務並進行機會性股票回購，所有這些都將繼續為我們的股東創造價值。

With that, operator, we are ready to take questions.

接線員，現在我們可以回答問題了。

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。（操作員指示）

John MacKay, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的約翰·麥凱。

Hey guys, thank you for the time. I appreciate it. I wanted to start on some of your comments you made on the AR call. You continued to talk about in base and demand opportunities, also kind of saying that you'd want it to be kind of NMAX pricing and to be disciplined on growth into these. But maybe can you spend a second talking about where AM could fit into this? Are there opportunities for AM specifically beyond just, moving those gathering those incremental AR volumes?

嘿夥計們，感謝你們抽出時間。我很感激。我想先談談您在 AR 通話中提出的一些評論。您繼續談論基礎和需求機會，同時表示您希望它成為 NMAX 定價，並在成長方面保持紀律。但也許您可以花一點時間討論一下 AM 在其中能扮演什麼角色？除了移動那些收集增量 AR 量的設備之外，AM 是否還有機會？

Yeah, I think great question, John. I think for AM, we look at the opportunities similar to AR in the sense, AR could be a supplier. AM could build the infrastructure as needed. Obviously, we've got a large footprint with our current gathering and compression system. In West Virginia and in Ohio, and so there's certainly opportunities where AM could be the one building the spur, sort of take or pay contracts on on those arrangements as well. So we're looking at all of those items as potential solutions as it relates to this growing demand in the Northeast.

是的，我認為這個問題問得很好，約翰。我認為對於 AM，我們看到了與 AR 類似的機會，AR 可以成為供應商。AM 可以根據需要建立基礎設施。顯然，我們目前的收集和壓縮系統佔用的空間很大。在西維吉尼亞州和俄亥俄州，AM 肯定有機會成為建立支線、按照這些安排簽訂某種「照付不議」合約的人。因此，我們將所有這些項目視為與東北地區日益增長的需求相關的潛在解決方案。

And that's fair. Maybe just on capital allocation. I think the first kind of two quarters of the year, or sorry, I guess, you've talked about the buyback being kind of potentially 50% of what's called access free cash flow. It's kind of trending below that first two quarter of the year. It does look like it stepped up in July, but maybe just can you spend a second on how you think about allocating to the buyback versus the balance sheet, and is that 50% number still kind of the right ballpark?

這很公平。也許只是資本配置。我認為今年的前兩個季度，或者抱歉，我想，您談到的回購可能會佔所謂的自由現金流的 50%。這與今年前兩季的趨勢有些相似。它看起來確實在 7 月份有所增加，但也許您能花一點時間考慮一下您如何考慮分配給回購與資產負債表，並且 50％ 這個數字是否仍然是正確的大概數字？

Yeah, I mean, I think we think about that 50% and probably longer term numbers. So when we're giving those comments, it's over a full year period, not kind of quarter to quarter here. In the first quarter we had some working capital headwinds, so did not pay as much debt down in that first quarter and then you saw in the second quarter we did pay a substantial amount of debt down.

是的，我的意思是，我認為我們會考慮那 50% 甚至更長期的數字。因此，當我們發表這些評論時，指的是全年的情況，而不是每季的情況。在第一季度，我們遇到了一些營運資金阻力，因此在第一季度沒有償還那麼多債務，然後你會看到在第二季度我們確實償還了大量債務。

And then as you head on in July, we certainly stepped up on the buyback there. So I would say it really does add and flow and and we try to be opportunistic in those share repurchases and can be more aggressive at times we see more value in the shares. I think for AM we we continue to see a lot of value in the share buyback.

隨著七月的到來，我們肯定會加強回購力道。因此我想說，它確實會增加流動性，我們試圖在股票回購中抓住機會，並且在我們看到股票價值更高時可以採取更積極的行動。我認為對於 AM 來說，我們繼續看到股票回購的巨大價值。

And we also see the value of paying down debt accruing to the equity as well. I think we're the lowest levered midstream name in the space and we think that debt pay down does accrue to the equity still as we look at that today. So we'll continue to look at both opportunities and it'll change quarter to quarter.

我們也看到了償還債務對股權的價值。我認為我們是該領域槓桿率最低的中游公司，我們認為，從今天來看，債務償還確實會累積到股權中。因此，我們將繼續關注這兩個機會，並且它將逐季度發生變化。

Alright, that's clear. Thank you. Appreciate the time.

好的，很清楚了。謝謝。珍惜時間。

Thanks John.

謝謝約翰。

Jeremy Tonet, JP Morgan

摩根大通的傑里米·託內特

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

Good morning.

早安.

Just wanted to dig in maybe a little bit more if you could with regards to in-base and demand opportunities, and there's been some announcements recently at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. I think there's also been, some announcements out of Meta with the new Albany facility and was just wondering, related to these recent developments, I guess, do you see opportunities emerging specific to AM here over time?

如果您可以的話，我只是想就基地內和需求機會進行更深入的探討，最近在賓州能源和創新高峰會上發布了一些公告。我認為 Meta 也發布了一些有關新奧爾巴尼工廠的公告，我只是想知道，與這些最新發展相關，隨著時間的推移，您是否看到了這裡出現的針對 AM 的特定機會？

Yeah, I think we talked a little bit about it in the the first question there, West Virginia in particular is where we have our significant asset base for AM. West Virginia recently did pass this micro grid bill, where, if you supply 70% of the power to a data center, you're essentially you kind of skip the line. So a lot of benefits, if you can if you can fall under that micro grid bill.

是的，我想我們在第一個問題中已經討論過這個問題了，西維吉尼亞州是我們 AM 的重要資產基礎所在。西維吉尼亞州最近確實通過了這項微電網法案，如果你向資料中心供應 70% 的電力，那麼你基本上就跳過了這條線。如果您能夠享受微電網服務，那麼您將獲得許多好處。

And I think as mentioned in the previous question for AM, I think there's really two ways that AM plays a role, the extent AR accelerates production to meet that specific demand. AM, of course, gets the benefit of the water, the low pressure, the compression, the high pressure fees.

我認為，正如上一個關於 AM 的問題中提到的那樣，我認為 AM 實際上透過兩種方式發揮作用，即 AR 加速生產以滿足特定需求的程度。當然，AM 受益於水、低壓、壓縮和高壓費用。

And then the second piece is, of course, if AM participates in building out infrastructure for the supply, AM would that earn a fee with potential third party on building that infrastructure out. So I think I'd probably communicate what we did on the AR call, which is, having lots of conversations we've got a team internally working it, but no timeline in terms of when, if any announcements could be made. We're trying to go through this thoughtfully and to the extent something makes sense for the company. We'll come out with it, but otherwise, no plans in the medium term, intermediate term.

然後第二點當然是，如果 AM 參與建設供應基礎設施，AM 會從建造該基礎設施的潛在第三方賺取費用。因此，我認為我可能會在 AR 電話會議上傳達我們所做的事情，也就是說，我們進行了很多對話，我們有一個內部團隊在開展工作，但沒有時間表說明何時可以發布任何公告。我們正在努力認真考慮這個問題，並力求讓事情對公司有利。我們會推出它，但除此之外，中期沒有計劃。

Got it. Understood. Maybe just pivoting here to the Clearwater facility lawsuit. I don't know if there's any color you could shed on timeline at this point from a legal proceeding standing.

知道了。明白了。也許只是轉向 Clearwater 工廠訴訟。我不知道您是否可以從法律訴訟的角度對時間線做出任何說明。

No, unfortunately not. I think nothing's changed from what we put in our disclosure. They appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court and just waiting on the Colorado Supreme Court to come out with any sort of decision in terms of whether they take it or not, but no change from that standpoint.

不，很遺憾不是。我認為，與我們披露的內容相比，沒有任何改變。他們向科羅拉多州最高法院提出上訴，只是在等待科羅拉多州最高法院做出是否接受的裁決，但從這個角度來看沒有任何改變。

Got it. Makes sense. I'll leave it there. Thank you.

知道了。有道理。我就把它留在那裡。謝謝。

Thanks, Jer.

謝謝，傑爾。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Ned Baramov, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的內德‧巴拉莫夫 (Ned Baramov)。

Hi, thanks for taking the questions. Processing volumes picked up well above capacity in the second quarter, and given AR's development plan assumes a higher mix of liquids, rich wells going into the fourth quarter, I would imagine utilization will increase even further from here. Could you maybe talk about the threshold above name plate that would potentially trigger a decision to add another processing plant at the JV. It seems that running 5% to 10% above name plate is not really a trigger, but just curious at what utilization levels you would have to make that decision.

你好，謝謝你回答這個問題。第二季度的處理量遠高於產能，考慮到 AR 的開發計劃假設第四季度液體和富油井的混合比例更高，我認為利用率將從現在開始進一步提高。您能否談談銘牌以上的門檻，這可能會引發在合資企業中增加另一個加工廠的決定。看來，運行比標稱值高出 5% 到 10% 並不是真正的觸發因素，只是好奇您必須在什麼樣的利用率水平下做出這樣的決定。

Yeah, I think there's still some room there. You can typically run these about 10% over name plates, so at the [16] related to the JV. You'd be 160 over name plates, so you've got another 80 or 90 still above that. So no imminent needs to increase processing capacity and I think it was talked about in the AR call there's also, pads, they get layered in over the next couple of years that are leaner as well. So you'd expect that to stay in that in a similar ballpark as you look forward here.

是的，我認為那裡還有一些空間。通常，您可以將其運行在銘牌上的約 10%，因此在與合資企業相關的 [16] 處。您的金額將超過銘牌金額 160，因此您還需再超過該金額 80 或 90。因此，不需要立即增加處理能力，而且我認為在 AR 電話會議中也談到了這一點，還有墊子，它們會在未來幾年內分層，而且也會更精簡。因此，您可以預期，正如您所期望的那樣，情況將保持在類似的水平。

Understood. And then quick question on cash taxes. The earnings press release indicated an expected reversal of cash taxes paid year-to-date in the second half of the year. Could you maybe talk about your cash tax expectations longer term? When do you think AM will be a full cash taxpayer?

明白了。然後快速問一下關於現金稅的問題。收益新聞稿表明，預計今年下半年年初至今支付的現金稅款將出現逆轉。您能否談談您對長期現金稅收的預期？您認為 AM 什麼時候才能成為全額現金納稅人？

Yeah, as we look at at least over the five years, we're not expect to be a full cash taxpayer, and I think as I mentioned in prepared remarks, do not expect to be a material cash taxpayer through, at least 2028, and then we'll see after that. But that the bill overall was favorable for AM in the sense it reduced at least the next five years by about $150 million in terms of deferred taxes. So a nice benefit of getting that bill passed.

是的，至少在未來五年內，我們預計不會成為一個完全現金納稅人，而且我認為，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，至少在 2028 年之前，我們不會成為一個實質性現金納稅人，然後我們再看看。但總體而言，該法案對 AM 有利，因為它至少在未來五年內減少了約 1.5 億美元的遞延稅。因此，該法案的通過會帶來很大的好處。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Wade Suki, Capital One.

韋德·蘇基 (Wade Suki)，Capital One 的代表。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. I'm just wondering if you might be able to speak to sort of inorganic opportunities what you're seeing in the asset market out there, any color you could get would be great. Thank you.

大家早安。感謝您回答我的問題。我只是想知道您是否可以談談您在資產市場上看到的無機機會，您能提供的任何資訊都很好。謝謝。

Yeah, good question. We've had some bolt on acquisitions that we've completed over the last several years. Those -- we'll continue to look at opportunities like that where there's bolt-on opportunities in and around our current asset base, nothing immediate to talk about there, but we're always looking at opportunities there.

是的，好問題。過去幾年裡，我們完成了一些附加收購。我們將繼續尋找類似的機會，在我們目前的資產基礎內外都有附加機會，雖然現在沒有什麼可談論的，但我們一直在尋找那裡的機會。

Okay. Great. Thank you so much appreciate it.

好的。偉大的。非常感謝。

Thanks, Wade.

謝謝，韋德。

Thank you. This now concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Justin Agnew for any closing comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將發言權交還給賈斯汀·阿格紐 (Justin Agnew)，請他發表最後評論。

Thanks operator and thanks to everybody for joining today's conference call. Please feel free to reach out with any follow up questions.

感謝接線員，也感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如有任何後續問題，請隨時與我們聯繫。

Thank you. This does now conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路。享受你剩餘的一天。