Star Group LP (SGU) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to Star Group's fiscal third-quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Also please be aware that today's call is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Star Group 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）也請注意，今天的通話正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Witty, Investor Relations Adviser. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係顧問克里斯·威蒂（Chris Witty）。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning. With me on the call today are Jeff Woosnam, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Rich Ambury, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，早安。今天與我一起參加電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Jeff Woosnam；和財務長 Rich Ambury。

I would now like to provide a brief Safe Harbor Statement. This conference call may include forward-looking statements that represent the company's expectations and beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties and may cause the company's actual performance to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this conference call are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

我現在想提供一份簡短的安全港聲明。本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，代表公司對涉及風險和不確定性的未來事件的預期和信念，並可能導致公司的實際業績與此類陳述所表明或暗示的業績有重大差異。本次電話會議中除歷史事實陳述外的所有陳述均為前瞻性陳述。儘管該公司認為此類前瞻性聲明中反映的預期是合理的，但不能保證此類預期將被證明是正確的。

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations are disclosed in this conference call, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year-ended September 30, 2023, and the company's other filings with the SEC. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements. Unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this conference call.

本次電話會議、本公司截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的財政年度 10-K 表格年度報告以及公司向 SEC 提交的其他文件中披露了可能導致實際結果與公司預期存在重大差異的重要因素。所有隨後由本公司或代表本公司行事的人員所作的書面和口頭前瞻性陳述均明確符合警告性陳述的全部要求。除非法律另有要求，本公司不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或本次電話會議日期之後的其他情況。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Jeff Woosnam. Jeff?

我現在想把電話轉給傑夫·伍斯南。傑夫？

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss our third quarter and fiscal year-to-date results.

謝謝克里斯，大家早安。感謝您加入我們討論我們第三季和財年迄今的業績。

As the summer progresses, we continue to deliver solid results, benefiting from both higher volumes and improved per gallon gross margin versus the third quarter of fiscal 2023. This, coupled with strong expense control and higher service and equipment installation profitability has allowed us to reduce our adjusted EBITDA loss by nearly $19 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2024.

隨著夏季的到來，我們將繼續取得穩健的業績，受益於與 2023 財年第三季相比銷量的增加和每加侖毛利率的提高。再加上強有力的費用控制以及更高的服務和設備安裝盈利能力，使我們能夠在 2024 財年第三季度將調整後 EBITDA 損失減少近 1900 萬美元。

Through the first nine months of fiscal 2024, temperatures were virtually identical to last year, but 15% warmer than normal. Despite the mild heating season, we were able to increase adjusted EBITDA by $13 million, which I believe is a testament to our team's ability to rapidly adjust and make the most of whatever weather conditions we faced during the year.

2024 財年的前 9 個月，氣溫幾乎與去年相同，但比正常高 15%。儘管暖氣季節溫和，我們仍能夠將調整後 EBITDA 增加 1300 萬美元，我相信這證明了我們團隊有能力快速調整併充分利用這一年中遇到的任何天氣條件。

In addition, I am pleased to announce that we have entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a very high-quality fuel dealer for approximately $35 million before working capital. The business, which is expected to add some 19 million gallons of heating oil annually is located within our existing operating footprint, and we anticipate closing on the transaction in the fourth quarter. This purchase will represent our fifth acquisition in the current fiscal year, and we continue to have an active pipeline of opportunities being evaluated for the future.

此外，我很高興地宣布，我們已達成最終協議，以約 3,500 萬美元（不含營運資金）的價格收購一家非常優質的燃料經銷商。該業務預計每年增加約 1,900 萬加侖暖氣油，位於我們現有的營運範圍內，我們預計交易將於第四季完成。此次收購將是我們在本財年的第五次收購，我們將繼續積極評估未來的機會。

Of course, we are also working to improve the overall efficiency and performance across our existing businesses, which is always a priority for us. Our net attrition for the quarter remained stable and was down slightly year-over-year, reflecting our ongoing focus on excellent customer service and strategies to elevate retention rates going forward. Given our investment in our operations and our people, we look forward to the return of winter in the coming months.

當然，我們也在努力提高現有業務的整體效率和績效，這始終是我們的首要任務。本季我們的淨流失率保持穩定，年比略有下降，這反映出我們持續專注於卓越的客戶服務和提高未來留任率的策略。鑑於我們對營運和員工的投資，我們期待未來幾個月冬天的回歸。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Rich to provide additional comments on the quarter's results. Rich?

因此，我想將電話轉給 Rich，以提供有關本季業績的更多評論。富有的？

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. For the third quarter, our home heating oil and propane volume increased by 7.6 million gallons or 25% to 38 million gallons as the additional volume provided from acquisitions and other factors was reduced by net customer attrition.

謝謝傑夫，大家早安。第三季度，我們的家用暖氣油和丙烷數量增加了 760 萬加侖（即 25%），達到 3,800 萬加侖，因為收購和其他因素提供的額外數量因客戶淨流失而減少。

Temperatures for the fiscal 2024 third quarter were equal to last year and 18% warmer than normal. Our product gross profit increased by $20 million or 37% to $75 million due to an increase in home heating oil and propane volumes sold and higher per gallon margins. We realized a combined gross profit from service and installation of $13.5 million or $3.5 million higher than the prior year's comparable quarter as we continue to focus on improving both revenue and controlling expenses.

2024 財年第三季的氣溫與去年持平，比正常高 18%。由於家用暖氣油和丙烷銷售量的增加以及每加侖利潤的提高，我們的產品毛利增加了 2000 萬美元或 37%，達到 7500 萬美元。由於我們繼續專注於提高收入和控制費用，我們實現了服務和安裝的綜合毛利潤 1,350 萬美元，比去年同期高出 350 萬美元。

Delivery, branch and G&A expenses increased by $4.7 million year-over-year, due in part to the additional operating costs attributable to acquisitions of $1.6 million. In addition, insurance expense rose by $1.6 million due to increasing premiums and expected higher claim costs. The balance of the expenses rose by just $1.5 million or 1.7% as we were successful in managing such costs and mitigating the impact from inflationary pressures.

交付、分公司和一般管理費用較去年同期增加 470 萬美元，部分原因是收購導致的營運成本增加 160 萬美元。此外，由於保費增加和預期索賠成本增加，保險費用增加了 160 萬美元。由於我們成功地管理了此類成本並減輕了通膨壓力的影響，費用餘額僅增加了 150 萬元或 1.7%。

We posted a net loss of $11 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 or $13 million less than the prior year period, reflecting the after-tax impact of a non-cash unfavorable change in the fair value of derivative instruments of $2 million and an $18.9 million decrease in the adjusted EBITDA loss. The adjusted EBITDA loss decreased by $18.9 million to $4 million as the impact of higher home heating oil and propane volume and expansion of per gallon margins and improvement in service and installation profitability and the additional EBITDA from acquisitions more than offset an increase in operating expenses.

我們公佈的 2024 財年第三季淨虧損為 1,100 萬美元，比上年同期減少 1,300 萬美元，反映了衍生性工具公允價值 200 萬美元的非現金不利變化以及調整後 EBITDA 損失減少 1,890 萬美元。調整後的EBITDA 損失減少了1890 萬美元，至400 萬美元，原因是家庭取暖油和丙烷用量增加、每加侖利潤擴大、服務和安裝盈利能力改善以及收購帶來的額外EBITDA 的影響，足以抵消運營費用的增加。

Turning to the results for the first nine months of fiscal 2024, our home heating oil and propane volume declined by 5.5 million gallons or 2% to $235 million as the additional volume provided from acquisitions was more than offset by net customer attrition and other factors. Temperatures for the period were unchanged from last year but still approximately 15% warmer than normal. Our product gross profit increased by $18 million or 4% to $426 million as higher home heating oil and propane margins was reduced by the 2% decline in home heating oil and propane sold and, to a certain extent, lower gross profit from the sale of motor fuels.

談到 2024 財年前 9 個月的業績，我們的家用暖氣油和丙烷銷量下降了 550 萬加侖或 2%，至 2.35 億美元，因為收購提供的額外銷量被淨客戶流失和其他因素所抵消。這段時期的氣溫與去年持平，但仍比正常高約 15%。我們的產品毛利增加了1,800 萬美元或4%，達到4.26 億美元，原因是家用暖氣油和丙烷銷售量下降2%，導致家用暖氣油和丙烷利潤率上升，並且在一定程度上降低了銷售毛利。

We realized the combined gross profit from service and installation of $18 million or $6.3 million higher than the prior year's comparable quarter, again, as we continue to focus on improving both revenue and controlling these operating costs. Delivery, branch and G&A were higher by $9.7 million year-over-year, which included $5 million attributable to our weather hedging program. In fiscal 2024, we recorded a benefit of $7.5 million under our weather hedge compared to $12.5 million recorded in fiscal 2023.

隨著我們繼續專注於提高收入和控制營運成本，我們實現了服務和安裝的綜合毛利潤 1800 萬美元，比去年同期高出 630 萬美元。交付、分行和一般管理費用較去年同期增加 970 萬美元，其中包括我們的天氣對沖計劃帶來的 500 萬美元。2024 財年，我們在天氣對沖項下獲得了 750 萬美元的收益，而 2023 財年的收益為 1,250 萬美元。

Recent acquisitions accounted for an increase of approximately $4 million in operating expenses and the base business rose by just $400,000. We posted net income of $70 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2024 or $19 million higher than the prior year period as the after-tax impact of a non-cash favorable change in the fair value of derivative instruments of $11 million and an increase in adjusted EBITDA of $13 million.

最近的收購導致營運費用增加了約 400 萬美元，而基礎業務僅增加了 40 萬美元。我們公佈 2024 財年前九個月的淨利潤為 7000 萬美元，比上年同期增加 1900 萬美元，這是由於衍生工具公允價值非現金有利變化 1100 萬美元以及增加的稅後影響調整後EBITDA 為1300 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA increased by $13 million to $141 million as the expansion of per gallon margins and improvement in service and installation profitability and the additional EBITDA provided from acquisitions more than offset a reduction in home heating oil and propane volume in the base business and the $5 million decline in the weather hedge benefit year over year. With regard to our weather hedge for fiscal 2025, the maximum that the company can receive is $15 million, and we are obligated to make an annual payment capped at $5 million if the degree days exceed the payment threshold. If we had the same coverage in place in fiscal 2024, we would have received an additional $7.5 million more in fiscal 2024.

調整後的EBITDA 增加了1300 萬美元，達到1.41 億美元，原因是每加侖利潤的擴大以及服務和安裝盈利能力的提高，以及收購帶來的額外EBITDA 足以抵消基礎業務中家庭取暖油和丙烷數量的減少以及500 萬美元的損失。關於我們2025財年的天氣對沖，公司可以獲得的最高金額為1500萬美元，如果度日超過支付門檻，我們有義務每年支付上限為500萬美元的款項。如果我們在 2024 財政年度實施相同的保險範圍，我們將在 2024 財政年度額外獲得 750 萬美元。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Jeff.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉回給傑夫。

Thanks, Rich. At this time, we'd be pleased to address any questions you may have. Joe, please open the phone lines for questions.

謝謝，里奇。目前，我們很樂意解答您的任何問題。喬，請撥打電話提問。

(Operator Instructions) And with that, that will conclude the question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Woosnam for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明）至此，問答環節就結束了。我想將會議轉回傑夫·伍斯南 (Jeff Woosnam) 發表閉幕詞。

Well, thank you for taking the time to join us today and your ongoing interest in Star Group. We look forward to sharing our 2024 fiscal fourth quarter results in December. Thanks, everyone.

好的，感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們以及您對星空集團的持續關注。我們期待在 12 月分享 2024 財年第四季的業績。謝謝大家。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。現在您可以斷開線路。