Star Group LP (SGU) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Star Group fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Star Group 2025 財年第四季業績電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。

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

現在我將把會議交給投資人關係顧問克里斯·威蒂。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，早安。今天和我一起參加電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Jeff Woosnam，以及財務長 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.

現在我想簡單說明一下「安全港」條款。本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述代表了公司對未來事件的預期和信念，涉及風險和不確定性，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存在重大差異。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。雖然該公司認為此類前瞻性聲明中反映的預期是合理的，但無法保證這些預期最終會被證明是正確的。

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, 2025, 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.

可能導致實際結果與公司預期存在重大差異的重要因素已在本次電話會議、公司截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的財政年度的 10-K 表格年度報告以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中披露。本公司或代表本公司行事的人員隨後所做的所有書面和口頭前瞻性陳述均受上述警示性聲明的完整約束。除非法律另有規定，否則本公司不承擔在本次電話會議日期之後，因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而公開更新或修訂任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

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

現在我想把電話交給傑夫‧伍斯南。傑夫？

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our fourth-quarter conference call. It's an exciting time for us as we conclude another fiscal year and begin a new heating season. As we close out 2025, it's a great opportunity to reflect on Star's performance over the past 12 months.

謝謝克里斯，大家早安。感謝您參加我們第四季電話會議。又一個財政年度即將結束，新的供暖季節即將開始，這對我們來說是一個令人興奮的時刻。2025 年即將結束，這是一個很好的機會來回顧 Star 在過去 12 個月中的表現。

Most notably, temperatures were 8% warmer than normal this year, but 8% colder than in fiscal 2024. The lower temperatures coupled with recent acquisitions resulted in a 29 million gallon or 12% year-over-year increase in heating oil and propane volume. At the same time, we kept overhead expenses largely in check, maintained disciplined margin management, and continued to invest in installation and service as a complementary service offering, which posted revenue growth of over -- of nearly 10% over fiscal 2024.

最值得注意的是，今年的氣溫比正常高 8%，但比 2024 財年低 8%。氣溫下降加上近期收購，導致暖氣油和丙烷的銷量年增 2,900 萬加侖，增幅達 12%。同時，我們基本上控制了管理費用，保持了嚴格的利潤率管理，並繼續投資於安裝和服務作為一項補充服務，該服務在 2024 財年實現了近 10% 的收入增長。

The resulting bottom line impact on these efforts, along with cooler temperatures, fueled a year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA of $24.8 million or 22.2%. While net customer attrition rose modestly, we believe we are taking the necessary steps to manage through this with our ongoing focus on customer service across our operating footprint. Our internal customer satisfaction indicators and loss rates continue to improve, although we observed a lower level of overall real estate activity in the marketplace, which in part impacted new customer additions.

這些努力帶來的最終收益，加上氣溫下降，推動調整後 EBITDA 年增 2,480 萬美元，增幅達 22.2%。雖然淨客戶流失率略有上升，但我們相信，透過持續專注於我們營運範圍內的客戶服務，我們正在採取必要的措施來應對這種情況。雖然我們觀察到市場上的整體房地產活動有所減少，這在一定程度上影響了新客戶的增加，但我們的內部客戶滿意度指標和損失率仍在持續改善。

Our acquisition program remains an important component of our overall business strategy. And in total, we completed four separate transactions during fiscal 2025, adding just under 12 million gallons of heating oil and propane volume annually. We continue to have many additional opportunities in various stages of review.

我們的收購計劃仍然是我們整體業務策略的重要組成部分。2025 財年，我們總共完成了四筆獨立的交易，每年新增近 1,200 萬加侖的暖氣油和丙烷。我們還有許多其他機會正處於不同的審核階段。

In terms of overall capital allocation, in fiscal 2025, we invested approximately $81 million towards acquisitions and $16 million in unit repurchases and paid $26 million in distributions. We believe all of these activities serve to increase shareholder value.

就整體資本配置而言，在 2025 財年，我們投資了約 8,100 萬美元用於收購，1,600 萬美元用於單位回購，並支付了 2,600 萬美元的分紅。我們相信所有這些活動都有助於提升股東價值。

A recap of our results would not be complete without mentioning how proud I am of our talented team of employees who have not only supported but taken genuine ownership in effectively executing our strategy of differentiating Star from the competition through providing outstanding service and value to our customers. We are steadfast in our mission to grow and diversify the company by continuing to make both heating oil and propane acquisitions, keeping net attrition as low as possible and maximizing installation and service profitability over time. We look forward to taking advantage of further opportunities to improve the organization and its performance in fiscal 2026.

回顧我們的業績，就不能不提及我為我們才華洋溢的員工團隊感到多麼自豪。他們不僅支持我們的策略，而且真正承擔起了責任，有效地執行了我們的策略，即透過為客戶提供卓越的服務和價值，使 Star 從競爭對手中脫穎而出。我們堅定不移地致力於發展和多元化公司，不斷收購取暖油和丙烷，盡可能降低淨損耗，並隨著時間的推移最大限度地提高安裝和服務盈利能力。我們期待在 2026 財年抓住更多機遇，進一步提升組織及其績效。

So with that, I'll turn the call over to Rich to provide additional comments on the quarter and year-end results. Rich?

那麼，接下來我將把電話交給 Rich，讓他對季度和年度業績做進一步評論。富有的？

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. For the fourth quarter, our home heating oil and propane volume increased by 1.5 million gallons or 8% to 20 million gallons as the additional volume provided from acquisitions more than offset net customer attrition and other factors. Our product gross profit increased by $2.5 million or 6% to $45 million as the positive impact from higher home heating oil and propane volume was only offset by slightly lower per gallon margins, driven in part by the mix of volume associated with recent acquisitions.

謝謝你，傑夫，大家早安。第四季度，由於收購帶來的額外銷售超過了淨客戶流失和其他因素的影響，我們的家用暖氣油和丙烷銷量增加了 150 萬加侖，增幅為 8%，達到 2,000 萬加侖。由於家用暖氣油和丙烷銷量增加帶來的正面影響，我們的產品毛利增加了 250 萬美元，增幅為 6%，達到 4,500 萬美元，但每加侖利潤率略有下降，部分原因是近期收購帶來的銷售組合變化。

Delivery, branch and G&A expenses increased by $5 million year over year, largely reflecting the additional operating costs attributable to acquisitions of $4.2 million. Operating costs in the base business rose by just $800,000 or less than 1%. Depreciation and amortization rose by $1.3 million and net interest expense increased by $1.4 million year over year. These changes were largely attributable to the impact from recent acquisitions.

配送、分公司和一般管理費用年增 500 萬美元，主要反映了因收購而增加的 420 萬美元營運成本。基礎業務的營運成本僅增加了 80 萬美元，不到 1%。折舊和攤提費用較去年同期增加 130 萬美元，淨利息支出較去年同期增加 140 萬美元。這些變化主要歸因於近期收購的影響。

We posted a net loss of $28.7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 or $6.4 million less than the prior-year period, reflecting a noncash favorable change in the fair value of derivative instruments of $12.2 million and a $3.8 million benefit from the sale of certain real estate. The impacts of these positive items were largely offset by a $3.6 million lower income tax benefit, a $3.3 million increase in our adjusted EBITDA loss, again, higher depreciation and amortization expense and higher acquisition-related financing costs, along with other factors.

我們在 2025 財年第四季錄得淨虧損 2,870 萬美元，比上年同期減少 640 萬美元，這反映了衍生性工具公允價值的非現金有利變動 1220 萬美元，以及出售某些房地產獲得的 380 萬美元收益。這些正面因素的影響很大程度上被以下因素抵消：所得稅優惠減少 360 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 虧損增加 330 萬美元，折舊和攤提費用增加，收購相關融資成本增加，以及其他因素。

The adjusted EBITDA loss for the fourth quarter increased by $3.3 million to $33 million as the impact from an increase in volumes sold was more than offset by slightly lower home heating oil and propane per gallon margins and an increase in operating expenses of $5 million, again, of which $4.2 million was due to recent acquisitions.

第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 虧損增加了 330 萬美元，達到 3300 萬美元，原因是銷量增長帶來的影響被家用取暖油和丙烷每加侖利潤率略微下降以及運營費用增加 500 萬美元所抵消，其中 420 萬美元是由於最近的收購造成的。

Now turning to the results of fiscal 2025. Our home heating oil and propane volume increased by 29 million gallons or 12% to 283 million gallons, again, reflecting colder temperatures and the additional volume provided from acquisitions more than offsetting net customer attrition and other factors. Temperatures in Star's geographic areas of operations for the full year were 8% colder than the prior year period, but 8% warmer than normal.

現在來看2025財年的結果。我們的家用暖氣油和丙烷銷量增加了 2,900 萬加侖，增幅達 12%，達到 2.83 億加侖，這再次反映了氣溫下降以及收購帶來的額外銷量超過了淨客戶流失和其他因素的影響。Star公司全年營運所在地理區域的氣溫比去年同期低8%，但比正常高8%。

Our product gross profit rose by $57 million or 12% to $525 million due to an increase in home heating oil and propane volumes sold and higher home heating oil and propane per gallon margins and a slight increase in gross profit from other petroleum products. In addition, as previously mentioned on prior calls, we've improved our service and installation profitability, which contributed to an increase in gross profit of $3.8 million year to date.

由於家用暖氣油和丙烷的銷量增加，家用暖氣油和丙烷的每加侖利潤率提高，以及其他石油產品毛利略有增長，我們的產品毛利增加了 5,700 萬美元，增幅達 12%，達到 5.25 億美元。此外，正如先前在電話中提到的，我們提高了服務和安裝的盈利能力，這使得今年迄今為止的毛利增加了 380 萬美元。

Delivery, branch and G&A expenses rose by $36.6 million, of which $10.6 million was attributable to our weather hedging program. As a reminder, in fiscal 2025, we recorded an expense of $3.1 million under our weather hedges compared to a benefit of $7.5 million recorded in fiscal 2024, reflecting weather conditions in both periods. Aside from this, recent acquisitions accounted for an increase in expenses of $23 million year over year, while related costs in the base business rose again by just $3 million or eight-tenths of 1%.

配送、分行和一般管理費用增加了 3,660 萬美元，其中 1,060 萬美元歸因於我們的天氣避險計劃。提醒一下，在 2025 財年，我們在天氣對沖方面記錄了 310 萬美元的支出，而 2024 財年則記錄了 750 萬美元的收益，這反映了這兩個時期的天氣狀況。除此之外，最近的收購導致支出比前一年增加了 2,300 萬美元，而基礎業務的相關成本僅增加了 300 萬美元，即 0.8%。

Depreciation and amortization rose by $3.9 million and net interest expense increased by $2.8 million. These changes, again, were largely attributable to the impact from recent acquisitions. We posted net income of $73.5 million for fiscal 2025 or $38.2 million higher in the prior-year period, largely due to an increase in adjusted EBITDA of $24.8 million and a noncash favorable change in the fair value of derivative instruments of $32 million, which more than offset higher income tax expense of $16 million and other factors.

折舊和攤銷增加了 390 萬美元，淨利息支出增加了 280 萬美元。這些變化，同樣主要歸因於近期收購帶來的影響。我們公佈 2025 財年淨利潤為 7,350 萬美元，比上年同期增長 3,820 萬美元，主要原因是調整後 EBITDA 增加 2,480 萬美元，以及衍生性工具公允價值的非現金有利變動 3,200 萬美元，這足以抵銷 1,600 萬美元的所得稅支出增加和其他因素。

Adjusted EBITDA rose by $24.8 million to $136.4 million, reflecting an $18.5 million increase in adjusted EBITDA in the base business and $17 million increase in adjusted EBITDA from recent acquisitions, partially offset by a $10.6 million change in expenses relating to the company's weather hedge contracts.

經調整的 EBITDA 成長 2,480 萬美元至 1.364 億美元，其中基礎業務經調整的 EBITDA 成長 1,850 萬美元，近期收購帶來的經調整的 EBITDA 成長 1,700 萬美元，但部分被公司氣象避險合約相關費用的 1,060 萬美元變動所抵銷。

And with that, I'll turn the call back to Jeff.

那麼，我就把電話轉回給傑夫了。

Thanks, Rich.

謝謝你，里奇。

At this time, we'd be pleased to address any questions you may have. Chloe, can you please open the phone lines for questions?

此時，我們很樂意解答您可能提出的任何問題。Chloe，請問可以開通電話接聽問題嗎？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Tim Mullen, Laurelton Management.

提姆·穆倫，勞雷爾頓管理公司。

I was just curious if you guys could share any thoughts on the regulatory environment, specifically in New York? And what impact in the years ahead do you think it could have on Star Gas, things like the fossil fuel ban and some of the other regulatory items.

我只是好奇各位能否分享一下對監管環境，特別是紐約監管環境的看法？您認為在未來幾年，化石燃料禁令和其他一些監管措施會對 Star Gas 產生什麼影響？

It's really just very difficult for us to try to predict how that regulatory environment is going to impact us as a business. And a lot of that is still in flux and some of those plans are still trying to being determined. So again, it just -- it's really difficult to comment on how that might impact us going forward.

我們真的很難預測監管環境將如何影響我們的業務。很多事情仍處於變化之中，有些計劃仍在製定中。所以，再次強調，真的很難評論這會對我們未來產生怎樣的影響。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Michael Prouting, 10K Capital.

邁克爾·普羅廷，10K Capital。

Jeff, on the customer attrition, I just happened to notice -- so looking just at the fourth quarter, that looked like customer gains were down, customer losses were up. And then also, if you just look at the last few years, if you look at the net attrition for the year, it does seem like things are trending in the wrong direction.

Jeff，關於客戶流失，我碰巧注意到——只看第四季度，客戶成長似乎下降了，客戶流失卻上升了。而且，如果你看看過去幾年，看看每年的淨流失率，你會發現情況似乎朝著錯誤的方向發展。

Was there anything specifically you think that affected attrition in the fourth quarter? And what are your thoughts about attrition going forward for the coming year?

您認為第四季有哪些具體因素影響了人員流失率？您對來年的人員流失狀況有何看法？

We're just generally seeing a low level of prospect activity in the marketplace, Michael. I would say for the full year because some of this is timing, but certainly for the full year, the encouraging part of it is that you can see that our loss rates as a percentage of our customer base are down and continue to come down each year, and I think they are really at historical low points. And all of our -- as I've mentioned, all of our customer with internal customer satisfaction indexes are pointing in the right direction. So the overall impact of that is it's lower churn on the business.

邁克爾，我們目前普遍看到市場上的潛在客戶活躍度較低。我會說就全年而言，因為這其中有些是時間因素，但就全年而言，令人鼓舞的是，你可以看到我們客戶群的損失率百分比正在下降，並且每年都在持續下降，我認為它們確實處於歷史最低點。正如我之前提到的，我們所有的客戶—所有內部客戶滿意度指數都指向正確的方向。因此，其整體影響是降低了企業的客戶流失率。

The challenge has been new customer gains. And that's something we're constantly reviewing. There's -- in part, as I mentioned in my remarks, we've seen a lower level of activity -- real estate activity, which just takes fewer prospects out of the market. And I would also note that while fiscal '25 was colder than '24, it was still 8% warmer than normal, and we really didn't have a lot of disruptive weather in that period, which tends to attract prospects to our high-quality brands. So we're just constantly reviewing our sales and marketing structure and activities and to attract more customers to our brands.

最大的挑戰在於如何獲取新客戶。這是我們一直在審查的事情。部分原因是——正如我在演講中提到的——房地產活動有所減少，這使得市場上的潛在客戶數量減少。我還想指出，雖然 2025 財年比 2024 財年冷，但仍然比正常情況暖和 8%，而且那段時間我們並沒有遇到太多破壞性的天氣，這往往會吸引潛在客戶關注我們的高品質品牌。因此，我們一直在不斷檢視我們的銷售和行銷結構及活動，以吸引更多客戶關注我們的品牌。

Okay. And then I had just actually two other questions. Jeff, one for you on the acquisition front. I just wanted to get your color on how the pipeline looks at this point and whether you see the effect of any significantly large deals?

好的。然後我其實還有兩個問題。傑夫，收購方面有個問題要跟你提一下。我只是想了解一下您目前對專案進度的看法，以及您是否看到任何重大交易的影響？

And I also had a question for Rich. So in terms of free cash flow, the K was not filed last night, although I have been going through it this morning. But I did happen to notice that free cash flow was lower than I would have expected in the fourth quarter. And it looks like that could be attributed to a combination of working capital tied up in receivables and inventory. And I was just wondering, especially with the inventory, if there was anything there like you guys got a really good deal on heating oil or just what it might have driven the lower-than-expected free cash flow in the quarter?

我還有一個問題想問里奇。所以就自由現金流而言，K 表格昨晚還沒有提交，儘管我今天早上一直在查看它。但我確實注意到，第四季的自由現金流低於我的預期。這似乎是由於營運資金被佔用在應收帳款和庫存中所造成的。我只是想問一下，特別是關於庫存方面，你們是否以非常優惠的價格買到了取暖油，或者是什麼原因導致了本季度自由現金流低於預期？

Sure. Related to acquisitions, our pipeline is -- it remains active. We have a number of different opportunities currently under review. Nothing significantly sizable, several tuck-in opportunities, some smaller standalones, but we'll have to see how all of that kind of transpires and comes to fruition.

當然。在收購方面，我們的專案儲備仍然活躍。我們目前正在評估多個不同的機會。沒有什麼特別大的進展，有一些零星的機會，一些較小的獨立項目，但我們得看看這一切會如何發展並最終實現。

But I'm very pleased with just the overall level of activities and transactions that we've been able to complete this past year. And really, when you think about it, four quality deals in 2025 and four in '24. So nine completed acquisitions that we're very proud of over the last two years. But hopefully, we can continue that trend.

但我對我們在過去一年中完成的整體活動和交易水平感到非常滿意。仔細想想，2025 年有四筆優質交易，2024 年也有四筆。因此，在過去的兩年裡，我們完成了九項收購，我們為此感到非常自豪。但願我們能繼續保持這種趨勢。

Yeah, if you look at our receivables, I think we have the same -- relatively same day sales outstanding this year versus last year on our accounts receivable. I don't really see any big difference between our free cash flow this year versus last year. We're paying the same taxes. EBITDA was $3.3 million less this year versus last year. Interest is up a little bit.

是的，如果你看一下我們的應收帳款，我認為我們今年的應收帳款與去年同期基本相同——當天未結清的銷售款項也基本相同。我看不出我們今年的自由現金流與去年有太大的不同。我們繳的稅是一樣的。今年的 EBITDA 比去年減少了 330 萬美元。興趣略有上升。

The timing of income taxes could be possibly impacting free cash flow. But it all depends, too, on the timing of some inventory coming in, barges this year versus last year. And the way the cash flows work, it's a change versus the change in the prior year, but I don't see anything really impacting free cash flow or leading to possibly a distributable cash flow calculation because interest expense is up a little bit.

所得稅繳納時間可能會影響自由現金流。但這也要取決於一些貨物的到貨時間，例如今年的駁船到貨量與去年的到貨量相比如何。現金流的運作方式是，與前一年相比有所變化，但我認為不會對自由現金流產生任何實際影響，也不會導致可分配現金流的計算出現問題，因為利息支出略有上升。

Our cash taxes are not really all that much different. And interest expense is up a bit as well. And we didn't have any tremendous fourth-quarter capital purchases this year versus last year, Michael.

我們的現金稅收其實沒有太大差別。利息支出也有所增加。邁克爾，與去年相比，我們今年第四季並沒有什麼大規模的資本採購。

(Operator Instructions) This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Jeff Woosnam, CEO, for any closing remarks.

（操作說明）問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給執行長傑夫‧伍斯南先生，請他作總結發言。

Well, thank you for taking the time to join us today and your ongoing interest in Star Group. We look forward to sharing our 2026 fiscal first-quarter results in February. Happy holidays, everyone.

非常感謝您今天抽出時間參加我們的活動，也感謝您一直以來對星光集團的關注。我們期待在二月公佈2026財年第一季業績。祝大家節日快樂。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

會議已經結束。感謝您參加今天的演講，現在可以斷開連接了。