Ferrellgas Partners Reports Record Second-Quarter Adjusted EBITDA, Gross Profit and Distributable Cash Flow; Sales Volumes Grow Nearly 13%

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., one of the largest distributors of propane, today reported record results for several key metrics for the fiscal second quarter ended January 31.

Adjusted EBITDA was up 7% to $130.1 million over the year-ago record $121.6 million. Gross profit totaled $248.7 million compared with $243.5 million the year before, while distributable cash flow increased 12% to $104.3 million from $93.1 million. Second-quarter net earnings rose 11% to $77.9 million from $70.4 million a year earlier.

President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Wambold explained, "We are quite pleased with our second-quarter results, especially in light of the ongoing challenging economic environment and weather that was warmer than a year ago. Particularly encouraging was the strong propane volume, which continued to outpace the industry's performance. Retail propane gallon sales increased 9.7%, while wholesale volume climbed more than 23%, resulting in a total volume gain of nearly 13% on temperatures in our service locations that were 5% warmer than in the prior year."

"We also benefited from our discipline of keeping a tight rein on costs. We're especially gratified by a slight decline in operating expenses though sales volumes were up, both in absolute dollars and cents per gallon delivered." He noted that general and administrative expense also decreased modestly, while equipment lease expense was down sharply, nearly 35%.

Looking ahead, Wambold commented, "We expect the second-quarter's positive momentum to carry over into the second half of the fiscal year, as we remain focused on our strategy of profitable growth. Therefore, we expect improved performance that should lead to record Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2010." Ferrellgas reported record Adjusted EDITDA of $251.1 million for fiscal 2009.

Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., through its operating partnership, Ferrellgas, L.P., serves approximately one million customers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Ferrellgas employees indirectly own more than 20 million common units of the partnership through an employee stock ownership plan. More information about the partnership can be found online at www.ferrellgas.com .

Source: PR Newswire