EXHIBIT 99
(PRESS RELEASE)
Contact: Robert W. Krick For Release: April 30, 2003
610-337-1000, ext. 3141 Immediate
AMERIGAS PARTNERS REPORTS SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN EARNINGS
VALLEY FORGE, Pa., April 30 - AmeriGas Propane, Inc., general partner of
AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APU), reported net income for the Partnership's
second quarter of fiscal 2003 ended March 31, 2003 of $89,876,000, or $1.80 per
limited partner unit, compared to $81,989,000, or $1.64 per limited partner
unit, in the same period last year. Results for the March 2003 quarter include a
loss of $3,023,000, or $0.06 per limited partner unit, related to a refinancing
of certain debt as previously reported.
For the three months ended March 31, 2003, retail volumes sold rose 8.3% to a
second quarter record 393.4 million gallons versus 363.4 million gallons sold in
the prior-year period. Weather was essentially normal during the recent quarter
compared to weather that was approximately 8.5% warmer than normal in the
prior-year period according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and
amortization, equity investee income, loss on debt extinguishments and minority
interests (EBITDA) were $134,084,000 in the fiscal 2003 period compared to
$120,850,000 a year ago. Operating income was $115,547,000 in the most recently
completed quarter compared to $104,644,000 in the 2002 quarter.
Lon R. Greenberg, chairman of AmeriGas, said, "We are pleased to see improved
results in a difficult environment. Weather in the eastern portion of the
continental U. S. was colder than normal, but the western regions were
significantly warmer than normal. In this quarter, we overcame the triple
challenges of this bifurcated national weather pattern, the continued sluggish
economy adversely affecting our non-weather sensitive sales volumes, and
uncertainty in the energy markets related to international events that produced
the highest propane product cost in over a decade."
Eugene V. N. Bissell, chief executive officer of AmeriGas, added, "The
combination of higher sales volumes, together with our continued emphasis on
management of operating expenses and margins, produced improved results this
quarter. Our employees did an outstanding job serving our customers even as the
colder weather and higher commodity prices caused heating bills to increase
substantially over last winter in many areas of the country."
Revenues for the quarter were $625,546,000 versus $460,122,000 a year ago,
principally reflecting higher propane sales volumes as well as higher propane
product costs. Operating expenses rose during the quarter mainly reflecting
higher compensation, vehicle, equipment maintenance and bad debt expenses
related to higher sales volumes and higher commodity prices as well as higher
employee benefit and general insurance expenses.
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AMERIGAS PARTNERS REPORTS SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN EARNINGS PAGE 2
AmeriGas Partners is the nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving
nearly 1.2 million customers from approximately 650 locations in 46 states. UGI
Corporation (NYSE:UGI), through subsidiaries, owns 51% of the Partnership and
individual unitholders own the remaining 49%.
AmeriGas Partners invites interested parties to listen to the live webcast of
management's teleconference with the financial community about second quarter
fiscal year 2003 results on Wednesday, April 30, 2003, at 4:00 PM Eastern time.
The teleconference is available online live, in audio format, at
http://www.shareholder.com/ugi/medialist.cfm. A telephonic replay of the call
can be accessed approximately two hours after the completion of the call at
888/203-1112, (International replay 719/457-0820) passcode 476376, until
midnight ET May 4, 2003.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements which management
believes to be reasonable as of today's date only. Actual results may differ
significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict
and many of which are beyond management's control. You should read the
Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for a more extensive list of factors
that could affect results. Among them are adverse weather conditions, price
volatility and availability of propane, the capacity to transport propane to our
market areas and regional economic conditions. The Partnership undertakes no
obligation to release revisions to its forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances occurring after today.
Comprehensive information about AmeriGas is available on the Internet at
WWW.AMERIGAS.COM.
AP-04 ### 4/30/03
AMERIGAS PARTNERS, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES
REPORT OF EARNINGS
(Thousands, except per unit and where otherwise indicated)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
March 31, March 31, March 31,
------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
2003 2002 (a) 2003 2002 (a) 2003 2002 (a)(b)
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Revenues:
Propane $ 595,138 $ 432,986 $ 1,005,718 $ 772,134 $ 1,425,233 $ 1,155,065
Other 30,408 27,136 64,859 59,373 121,717 104,886
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
625,546 460,122 1,070,577 831,507 1,546,950 1,259,951
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales - propane 349,327 214,492 577,621 400,131 783,185 616,960
Cost of sales - other 11,334 10,122 26,406 23,670 50,119 41,574
Operating and administrative expenses 133,923 116,368 254,869 229,484 473,194 406,544
Depreciation 17,435 15,372 33,909 30,441 65,461 55,132
Amortization 996 1,116 2,013 2,233 3,891 15,596
Equity investee (income) loss 106 (282) (144) (512) 80 (512)
Other (income), net (3,122) (1,710) (4,058) (1,316) (6,857) (4,988)
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
509,999 355,478 890,616 684,131 1,369,073 1,130,306
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Operating income 115,547 104,644 179,961 147,376 177,877 129,645
Loss on extinguishments of debt (3,023) -- (3,023) (752) (3,023) (752)
Interest expense (21,884) (22,011) (44,583) (44,757) (87,665) (85,309)
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Income before income taxes 90,640 82,633 132,355 101,867 87,189 43,584
Income tax (expense) benefit 320 322 62 (216) (62) (294)
Minority interests (1,084) (966) (1,629) (1,265) (1,359) (786)
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net income $ 89,876 $ 81,989 $ 130,788 $ 100,386 $ 85,768 $ 42,504
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
General partner's interest in net income $ 899 $ 820 $ 1,308 $ 1,004 $ 858 $ 425
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
Limited partners' interest in net income $ 88,977 $ 81,169 $ 129,480 $ 99,382 $ 84,910 $ 42,079
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
Net income per limited partner unit - basic
and diluted $ 1.80 $ 1.64 $ 2.62 $ 2.05 $ 1.72 $ 0.90
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
Average limited partner units outstanding:
Basic 49,433 49,385 49,433 48,385 49,421 46,600
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
Diluted 49,491 49,493 49,483 48,476 49,482 46,645
=========== =========== =========== =========== =========== ===========
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:
Retail gallons sold (millions) (c) 393.4 363.4 717.6 643.7 1,061.4 937.5
EBITDA (d) $ 134,084 $ 120,850 $ 215,739 $ 179,538 $ 247,309 $ 199,861
Distributable cash flow (d) 106,095 93,433 159,321 122,834 139,025 94,212
Capital expenditures:
Maintenance capital expenditures 6,105 5,406 11,835 11,947 20,619 20,340
Growth capital expenditures 11,602 6,812 21,433 14,840 39,334 25,576
(a) Certain operating and administrative expenses associated with PPX(R) have
been reclassified to cost of sales to conform to the current period
presentation.
(b) Pro forma net income and net income per limited partner unit for the
twelve months ended March 31, 2002 as if SFAS No. 142, "Goodwill and Other
Intangible Assets," had been adopted at the beginning of that period would
have been $54,290 and $1.15, respectively.
(c) Retail gallons sold in the 2003 three-, six-, and twelve-month periods
include certain bulk gallons previously reflected in wholesale gallons.
Prior-period gallon amounts have been adjusted to conform to the current
period classification.
(continued)
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AMERIGAS PARTNERS, L.P. AND SUBSIDIARIES
REPORT OF EARNINGS
(Thousands, except per unit and where otherwise indicated)
(Unaudited)
(continued)
(d) EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and
amortization, equity investee income, loss on debt extinguishments and
minority interests) and distributable cash flow (EBITDA less interest
expense and maintenance capital expenditures) should not be considered as
alternatives to net income (as indicators of operating performance) or as
alternatives to cash flow (as measures of liquidity or ability to service
debt obligations) and are not measures of performance or financial
condition under accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States. Management believes EBITDA is a meaningful non-GAAP financial
measure used by analysts and lenders for evaluating the Partnership's
operating performance and ability to meet loan covenants. In addition,
EBITDA is sometimes useful for comparing operating results of companies
within the propane industry. Management believes distributable cash flow
is a meaningful non-GAAP measure for evaluating the Partnership's ability
to declare and pay the Minimum Quarterly Distribution. The Partnership's
definitions of EBITDA and distributable cash flow may be different from
those used by other companies. Weather significantly impacts demand for
propane and profitability because many customers use propane for heating
purposes. Due to the seasonal nature of the Partnership's propane
business, EBITDA and distributable cash flow for interim periods are not
necessarily indicative of amounts to be expected for a full year. The
following table includes a reconciliation of operating income to EBITDA
and distributable cash flow for all periods presented:
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
March 31, March 31, March 31,
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------
2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Operating income $ 115,547 $ 104,644 $ 179,961 $ 147,376 $ 177,877 $ 129,645
Depreciation 17,435 15,372 33,909 30,441 65,461 55,132
Amortization 996 1,116 2,013 2,233 3,891 15,596
Equity investee (income) loss 106 (282) (144) (512) 80 (512)
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
EBITDA 134,084 120,850 215,739 179,538 247,309 199,861
Interest expense (21,884) (22,011) (44,583) (44,757) (87,665) (85,309)
Maintenance capital expenditures (6,105) (5,406) (11,835) (11,947) (20,619) (20,340)
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Distributable cash flow $ 106,095 $ 93,433 $ 159,321 $ 122,834 $ 139,025 $ 94,212
========= ========= ========= ========= ========= =========
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