Natural Resource Partners L.P. Announces 2016 First Quarter Results

HOUSTON, May 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Resource Partners L.P. (NYSE:NRP) today reported net income attributable to the limited partners for the three months ended March 31, 2016 of $23.0 million, or $1.88 per unit, compared with net income attributable to the limited partners of $17.1 million, or $1.40 per unit, a year earlier.  Results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were positively impacted by gains on sale of assets of $21.5 million attributable to the limited partners and negatively impacted by $2.0 million of non-cash impairment charges attributable to the limited partners.  Excluding these items, net income attributable to the limited partners was $0.29 per unit.  Distributable Cash Flow for the three months ended March 31, 2016 increased $5.1 million to $58.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA increased $2.2 million to $66.4 million. Both Distributable Cash Flow and Adjusted EBITDA were positively impacted by the oil and gas royalty and hard mineral royalty sales executed during the first quarter of 2016.

"In spite of another challenging quarter across all of our business segments as a result of continued low commodity prices, we made significant strides towards achieving our longer-term deleveraging objectives during the first quarter," said Wyatt Hogan, President and Chief Operating Officer.  "With the completed sales of a portion of our oil and gas and aggregates royalty properties, we were able to raise $47.5 million at attractive cash flow multiples to be used to pay down debt.   In addition, we are actively engaged in a process to sell our Bakken oil and gas interests, which we hope to close by midyear.  This sale will mark NRP's exit from the oil and gas business, allow us to further deleverage the company, and will permit us to focus our attention on our aggregates, soda ash and coal and hard minerals business segments, as well as our longer-term objective of repositioning NRP to thrive with a stronger balance sheet when commodity prices improve."

NRP has taken the following steps in the first quarter of 2016 to achieve the financial objectives outlined in the April 2015 strategic plan:

• reduced net debt by an additional $51 million in the first quarter of 2016;
• sold $47.5 million of assets in order to raise cash to help NRP stay on track to achieve its deleveraging objectives,
• engaged in a process to sell NRP Oil and Gas' non-operated working interests in the Williston Basin.

Effective February 17, 2016, NRP completed a 1-for-10 reverse unit split, decreasing the number of units outstanding to 12.2 million in order to ensure continued compliance with New York Stock Exchange listing standards.

At March 31, 2016, NRP had $62.1 million of liquidity, consisting of $52.1 million in cash and $10.0 million available for borrowing under its revolving credit facilities.

Business Results and Outlook

The table below presents NRP's business results by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

Coal, Hard Mineral Royalty and Other

Both the thermal and metallurgical coal markets remained severely challenged, and NRP does not anticipate that either market will recover in the near term, despite some recent modest improvements in the metallurgical markets.  First quarter coal production in the United States was down 32% as compared to the first quarter of 2015, and NRP expects that coal producers will continue to cut production and idle additional mines in response to market conditions.  In spite of this supply reduction, decreased demand for both thermal and metallurgical coal continues to out-pace supply cuts, and utility stockpiles remain at peak levels.

Revenues and other income decreased $14.5 million, or 26%, from $55.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $40.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease is primarily related to a $15.0 million reduction in total coal royalty revenues caused by a 3.0 million ton reduction in sales and a $0.61 per ton reduction in combined average coal royalty revenue per ton.  While all regions except Northern Appalachia experienced reduced revenue, the largest decreases occurred in Central Appalachia and in the Illinois Basin, where the Deer Run mine is currently not producing.

Net income decreased $12.1 million, or 33%, from $36.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $24.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This decrease is primarily related to reduced revenues discussed above and additional impairments of $1.9 million, partially offset by lower depreciation, depletion and amortization expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased $13.4 million, or 29%, from $46.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $33.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This decrease was primarily the result of lower coal royalty revenues.

Distributable cash flow decreased $14.6 million, or 30%, from $48.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $33.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This decrease was primarily the result of lower revenues discussed above and lower receipts of deferred revenue, partially offset by the proceeds from the sale of the aggregate royalty properties of $9.8 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Soda Ash

Revenues and other income related to our Soda Ash segment decreased $2.7 million, or 22%, from $12.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $9.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease was mainly due to lower pricing and higher selling, general and administrative expenses.  For the three months ended March 31, 2016, we received $12.3 million in cash distributions from Ciner Wyoming and for the three months ended March 31, 2015, we received $10.9 million in cash distributions. While distributable cash flow in both years reflects contingency payments related to the purchase of these assets, distributable cash flow of $5.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 reflects the final contingency payment of $7.2 million.

VantaCore

VantaCore's construction aggregates mining and production business is largely dependent on the strength of the local markets that it serves and is seasonal, with lower production and sales expected during the first quarter of each year due to winter weather. VantaCore's Laurel Aggregates operation in southwestern Pennsylvania serves energy producers and oilfield service companies operating in the Marcellus and Utica shales and local residential and commercial construction businesses. The first quarter of 2016 was impacted by the slowing pace of natural gas exploration and development activity in those areas due to low natural gas prices, that was partially offset by increased local residential and commercial construction business activity. VantaCore's operations based in Clarksville, Tennessee and Baton Rouge, Louisiana depend on the pace of commercial and residential construction in those areas. Both the Clarksville and the Baton Rouge operations performed above expectations during the first quarter of 2016.  VantaCore's Grand Rivers operations, which started up in July 2015, continues to build construction and sales volumes.

Revenues and other income related to our VantaCore segment decreased $2.1 million, or 8%, from $26.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $24.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease was primarily the result of a reduction in revenue from the brokered stone business at Laurel as well as reduced delivery and fuel income quarter-over-quarter.  This decrease was partially offset by an increase in crushed stone, sand and gravel and construction revenue. Tonnage sold remained flat at 1.5 million tons quarter-over-quarter.

Net loss decreased $1.5 million, or 60% from a loss of $2.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to a loss of $1.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This reduction in loss was primarily due to a decline in materials cost and overhead, partially offset by the reduction in revenues discussed above.

Adjusted EBITDA increased $1.1 million from $1.4 million, or 79% in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $2.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This increase was primarily the result of the decrease in net loss driven by lower costs discussed above.

Distributable cash flow decreased $2.2 million, or 31% from $7.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $4.9 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease was primarily the result of lower operating cash flows quarter-over-quarter.

Oil and Gas

Global crude oil prices remained low through the first quarter of 2016 and were significantly lower than the first quarter of 2015. Natural gas prices have remained depressed as well and are also significantly below the amounts realized in the first quarter of 2015.  NRP's oil and gas revenues will continue to fluctuate with commodity prices and will decline over time due to the reduced drilling activity.  As discussed previously, NRP sold substantially all of its oil and gas royalty properties in the first quarter and has initiated a process to sell NRP Oil and Gas' non-operated working interest properties.

Revenues and other income increased $12.4 million, or 82%, from $15.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $27.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This increase was primarily due to a $20.3 million gain recorded on the sale of our oil and gas royalty assets.  Production and royalty revenue within the segment declined $7.5 million mainly due to a decline in prices and production quarter-over-quarter and as a result of the sale of our royalty assets in February 2016.

Net income increased $20.9 million from a loss of $2.9 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to income of $18.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This increase was primarily the result of the asset sale gain discussed above.

Adjusted EBITDA increased $13.9 million, or 162%, from $8.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $22.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This increase was primarily the result of the gain on the sale of assets discussed above.  Decreased production revenues, partially offset by lower lease operating expenses and production taxes resulting from decreased production quarter-over-quarter, accounted for the remainder.

Distributable cash flow increased $22.0 million, or 191%, from $11.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $33.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  This increase was primarily the result of the $32.8 million asset sale proceeds received and $4.5 million lower reserves for maintenance capital expenditures, partially offset by lower cash flow from operations quarter-over-quarter.

Corporate and Financing

Corporate and financing general and administrative expense (including affiliates) includes corporate headquarters, financing and centralized treasury and accounting.  These costs increased $0.8 million, or 24%, from $3.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $4.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016 primarily due to increased legal and consulting fees and additional corporate personnel.  Interest expense increased $0.8 million, or 3%, from $22.9 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 to $23.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This increase was primarily the result of the write off of debt issue costs during the first quarter of 2016 in connection with the Fourth Amendment to our RBL Facility, partially offset by lower interest expense resulting from lower debt balances quarter-over-quarter.

Company Profile

Natural Resource Partners L.P. is a master limited partnership headquartered in Houston, TX.  NRP is a diversified natural resource company that owns interests in oil and gas, coal, aggregates and industrial minerals across the United States.  A large percentage of NRP's revenues are generated from royalties and other passive income.  In addition, NRP owns an equity investment in Ciner Wyoming, a trona/soda ash operation, owns non-operated working interests in oil and gas properties and owns VantaCore, making NRP one of the top 25 aggregates producers in the United States.

For additional information, please contact Kathy H. Roberts at 713-751-7555 or [email protected].  Further information about NRP is available on the partnership's website at http://www.nrplp.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

"Distributable Cash Flow" is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents net cash provided by operating activities, plus returns of unconsolidated equity investments, proceeds from sales of assets, and returns of long-term contract receivables—affiliate, less maintenance capital expenditures and distributions to non-controlling interest. Although distributable cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure, we believe it is a useful adjunct to net cash provided by operating activities under GAAP. Distributable Cash Flow is not a measure of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to cash flows from operating, investing or financing activities. Distributable Cash Flow may not be calculated the same for us as for other companies. A reconciliation of Distributable Cash Flow to net cash provided by operating activities is included in the tables attached to this release.

"Adjusted EBITDA" is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net income (loss) less equity earnings from unconsolidated investment, gain on reserve swaps and income to non-controlling interest; plus distributions from equity earnings in unconsolidated investment, interest expense, depreciation, depletion and amortization and asset impairments. Adjusted EBITDA, as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), cash flows provided by operating, investing and financial activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA provides no information regarding a partnership's capital structure, borrowings, interest costs, capital expenditures, and working capital movement or tax positions. Adjusted EBITDA does not represent funds available for discretionary use because those funds may be required for debt service, capital expenditures, working capital and other commitments and obligations. Our management team believes Adjusted EBITDA is a useful measure because it is widely used by financial analysts, investors and rating agencies for comparative purposes. Adjusted EBITDA is also a financial measure widely used by investors in the high-yield bond market. There are significant limitations to using Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of performance, including the inability to analyze the effect of certain recurring items that materially affect our net income (loss), the lack of comparability of results of operations of different companies and the different methods of calculating Adjusted EBITDA reported by different companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income is included in the tables attached to this release.

"Operating expenses excluding impairments" is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as total operating expenses less asset impairments. "Operating expenses excluding impairments," as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. Operating expenses excluding impairments should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income, net income or loss, cash flows provided by operating, investing and financing activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Operating expenses excluding impairments provides no information regarding a company's capital structure, borrowings, interest costs, capital expenditures, and working capital movement or tax positions. Operating expenses excluding impairments does not represent funds available for discretionary use because those funds may be required for debt service, capital expenditures, working capital and other commitments and obligations. Our management team believes Operating expenses excluding impairments is useful in evaluating our financial performance because asset impairments are one-time non-cash charges and excluding these from total operating expenses allows us to better compare results period-over-period. A reconciliation of Operating expenses excluding impairments to total operating expenses is included in the tables attached to this release.

"Net income excluding impairments" Net income excluding impairments is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net income (loss) plus asset impairments. Net income excluding impairments, as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. Net income excluding impairments should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), cash flows provided by operating, investing and financial activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our management team believes net income excluding impairments is useful in evaluating our financial performance because asset impairments are irregular non-cash charges and excluding these from net income allows us to better compare results period-over-period. A reconciliation of Net income excluding impairments to net income is included in the tables attached to this release. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements.  These statements are based on certain assumptions made by the partnership based on its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances.  Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the partnership.  These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity prices; decreases in demand for coal, trona and soda ash, construction aggregates, crude oil and natural gas, frac sand and other natural resources; changes in operating conditions and costs; production cuts by our lessees; the pace of development of our oil and natural gas properties; unanticipated geologic problems; our liquidity, leverage and access to capital and financing sources; changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, our ability to consummate planned asset sales and execute on our long-term strategic plan and other factors detailed in Natural Resource Partners' Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Natural Resource Partners L.P. has no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.                   

-Financial Tables Follow-