References and Defined Terms
In this Item 2 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, unless the context
indicates otherwise:
"us," "we," "our," "ours," "consolidated," or "Ferrellgas" are references to
Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. together with its consolidated subsidiaries,
? including Ferrellgas Partners Finance Corp., Ferrellgas, L.P. and Ferrellgas
Finance Corp., except when used in connection with "Class A Units" or "Class B
Units," in which case these terms refer to Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. without
its consolidated subsidiaries;
? "Ferrellgas Partners" refers to Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. itself, without its
consolidated subsidiaries;
the "operating partnership" refers to Ferrellgas, L.P., together (except where
? the context indicates otherwise) with its consolidated subsidiaries, including
Ferrellgas Finance Corp.;
? our "general partner" refers to Ferrellgas, Inc.;
? "Ferrell Companies" refers to Ferrell Companies, Inc., the sole shareholder of
our general partner;
? "Board of Directors" or "Board" refers to the board of directors of our general
partner;
? "GAAP" refers to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States;
"retail sales" refers to Propane and other gas liquid sales: Retail - Sales to
? End Users or the volume of propane sold primarily to our residential,
industrial/commercial and agricultural customers;
"wholesale sales" refers to Propane and other gas liquid sales: Wholesale -
? Sales to Resellers or the volume of propane sold primarily to our portable tank
exchange customers and bulk propane sold to wholesale customers;
"other gas sales" refers to Propane and other gas liquid sales: Other Gas Sales
? or the volume of bulk propane sold to other third-party propane distributors or
marketers and the volume of refined fuel sold;
? "propane sales volume" refers to the volume of propane sold to our retail sales
and wholesale sales customers;
"Class A Units" refers to the Class A Units of Ferrellgas Partners, one of
? which was issued for every twenty of Ferrellgas Partners' then-outstanding
common units in a 1-for-20 reverse unit split effected on March 30, 2021;
? "Class B Units" refers to the Class B Units of Ferrellgas Partners;
? "Preferred Units" refers to the Senior Preferred Units of the operating
partnership;
"Unitholders" or "unitholders" refers to holders of Class A Units, holders of
? Class B Units or holders of Preferred Units, as indicated or as the context
requires for each such reference; and
? references to any fiscal year are to the fiscal year ended or ending on July 31
of the applicable year.
Also, the following terms are defined in this Item 2 of this Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q:
? Amended Ferrellgas Partners LPA
? Credit Agreement
? Credit Facility
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? Effective Date
? Ferrellgas Partners Notes
? OpCo LPA Amendment
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
Statements included in this report include forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are identified as any statement that does not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. These statements often use words such
as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "projection," "forecast,"
"strategy," "position," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "may," "will," or the
negative of those terms or other variations of them or comparable terminology.
These statements often discuss plans, strategies, events or developments that we
expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future and are based upon the
beliefs and assumptions of our management and on the information currently
available to them. In particular, statements, express or implied, concerning our
future operating results or financial position or our ability to generate sales,
income or cash flow are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. You should not put
undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements
are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these
forward-looking statements. Many of the factors that will affect our future
results are beyond our ability to control or predict. Some of the risk factors
that may affect our business, financial condition or results of operations
include:
? the effect of weather conditions on the demand for propane;
? the prices of wholesale propane, motor fuel and crude oil;
? disruptions to the supply of propane;
? competition from other industry participants and other energy sources;
? energy efficiency and technology advances;
? adverse changes in our relationships with our national tank exchange customers;
? significant delays in the collection of accounts or notes receivable;
? customer, counterparty, supplier or vendor defaults;
? changes in demand for, and production of, hydrocarbon products;
? disruptions to railroad operations on the railroads we use;
? increased trucking and rail regulations;
? inherent operating and litigation risks in gathering, transporting, handling
and storing propane;
? our inability to complete acquisitions or to successfully integrate acquired
operations;
? costs of complying with, or liabilities imposed under, environmental, health
and safety laws;
? the impact of pending and future legal proceedings;
? the interruption, disruption, failure or malfunction of our information
technology systems including due to cyber-attack;
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? the impact of changes in tax law that could adversely affect the tax treatment
of Ferrellgas Partners for federal income tax purposes;
? economic and political instability, particularly in areas of the world tied to
the energy industry;
? disruptions in the capital and credit markets; and
? access to available capital to meet our operating and debt-service
requirements.
When considering any forward-looking statement, you should also keep in mind the
risk factors set forth in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for fiscal 2021 and in any more recent filings with the SEC. Any of
these risks could impair our business, financial condition or results of
operations. Any such impairment may affect our ability to make distributions to
our unitholders or pay interest on the principal of any of our debt securities.
In addition, the trading price of our securities could decline as a result of
any such impairment.
Except for our ongoing obligations to disclose material information as required
by federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements or risk factors after the date of this Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q.
Overview
Our management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of
operations relates to Ferrellgas Partners and the operating partnership.
Ferrellgas Partners is a holding entity that conducts no operations and has two
direct subsidiaries, Ferrellgas Partners Finance Corp. and the operating
partnership. Ferrellgas Partners Finance Corp. and Ferrellgas Finance Corp. have
nominal assets, do not conduct any operations and have no employees other than
officers. Our activities are primarily conducted through the operating
partnership. Ferrellgas Partners Finance Corp. has served as co-issuer and
co-obligor for debt securities of Ferrellgas Partners, while Ferrellgas Finance
Corp., a subsidiary of the operating partnership, serves as co-issuer and
co-obligor for debt securities of the operating partnership. Accordingly, and
due to the reduced disclosure format, a discussion of the results of operations,
liquidity and capital resources of Ferrellgas Partners Finance Corp. and
Ferrellgas Finance Corp. is not presented in this section.
Ferrellgas Partners and the Preferred Unitholders are the only limited partners
of the operating partnership. Ferrellgas, Inc. is the sole general partner of
Ferrellgas Partners and the operating partnership and, excluding the economic
interests attributable to the Class B Units and the Preferred Units, owns an
approximate 1% general partner economic interest in each, and, therefore, an
effective 2% general partner economic interest in the operating partnership.
Excluding the economic interests attributable to the Preferred Units, Ferrellgas
Partners owns an approximate 99% limited partner interest in the operating
partnership. For information regarding the economic and other terms of the Class
B Units and the Preferred Units, see Note H - Equity and Note G - Preferred
units - to our condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere
herein.
Our Class A Units of Ferrellgas Partners are traded on the OTC Pink Market under
the symbol "FGPR".
Our general partner performs all management functions for us. The parent of our
general partner, Ferrell Companies, currently beneficially owns approximately
23.4% of our outstanding Class A units. Ferrell Companies is owned 100% by an
employee stock ownership trust.
The operating partnership was formed on April 22, 1994, and accounts for
substantially all of our consolidated assets, sales and operating earnings,
except for interest expense related to the $357.0 million aggregate principal
amount of Ferrellgas Partners' unsecured senior notes due June 15, 2020 (the
"Ferrellgas Partners Notes") during the relevant historical periods.
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We file annual, quarterly, and current reports and other information with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). You may read and download our
SEC filings over the Internet from several commercial document retrieval
services as well as at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are
also available on our website at www.ferrellgas.com at no cost as soon as
reasonably practicable after our electronic filing or furnishing thereof with
the SEC. Please note that any Internet addresses provided in this Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q are for informational purposes only and are not intended to
be hyperlinks. Accordingly, no information found and/or provided at such
Internet addresses is intended or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein.
The following is a discussion of our historical financial condition and results
of operations and should be read in conjunction with our audited historical
consolidated financial statements and accompanying Notes thereto included in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2021 and in our unaudited historical
condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying Notes thereto
included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
The discussions set forth in the "Results of Operations" and "Liquidity and
Capital Resources" sections generally refer to Ferrellgas Partners and its
consolidated subsidiaries. However, in these discussions there exists one
material difference between Ferrellgas Partners and the operating partnership:
Ferrellgas Partners entered into a term loan credit agreement with the
operating partnership, pursuant to which the operating partnership extended to
Ferrellgas Partners an unsecured, non-amortizing term loan in the aggregate
principal amount of $19.9 million. The term loan bears interest at a rate of
20% per annum, and all interest on the term loan will be added to the
? outstanding principal amount of the term loan. The term loan will mature on
July 1, 2022. During July 2021, Ferrellgas Partners made an optional prepayment
of $9.0 million principal amount of the term loan. The outstanding principal
and accrued interest at October 31, 2021 was $13.8 million. As of October 31,
2021, the operating partnership had additional intercompany receivables from
Ferrellgas Partners not related to the term loan totaling $3.9 million.
Recent developments
COVID-19
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has been declared by the World
Health Organization as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern,"
continues to impact the economy of the United States and other countries around
the world. COVID-19 poses the risk that we or our employees, contractors,
suppliers, customers and other business partners may be prevented from or
limited in conducting business activities for an indefinite period of time. The
outbreak of COVID-19 has already resulted in significant governmental measures
being implemented to control the spread of the virus, including quarantines,
travel restrictions, manufacturing restrictions, declarations of national
emergency and states of emergency, business shutdowns and restrictions on the
movement of people throughout the United States and the world. While some of our
business operations and support systems are deemed essential in many
jurisdictions, we are continuing to assess the impact that COVID-19 may have on
our results of operations and financial condition and cannot at this time
accurately predict what effects these conditions will have on our operations and
sales due to uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the
virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak and the length
of the travel restrictions and business closures imposed by governments in
different jurisdictions. Additionally, initiatives we have implemented or may
implement to slow and/or reduce the impact of COVID-19, such as using staggered
start times for drivers, may increase our operating expenses and reduce the
efficiency of our operations.
How We Evaluate Our Operations
We evaluate our overall business performance based primarily on a metric we
refer to as "Adjusted EBITDA", which is not defined by GAAP and should not be
considered an alternative to earnings measures defined by GAAP. We do not
utilize depreciation, depletion and amortization expense in our key measures
because we focus our performance management on cash flow generation and our
revenue generating assets have long useful lives. For the definition of Adjusted
EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss attributable to
Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., the most directly comparable GAAP measure, see the
subheading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
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Based on our propane sales volumes in fiscal 2021, we believe that we are the
second largest retail marketer of propane in the United States and a leading
national provider of propane by portable tank exchange. We serve residential,
industrial/commercial, portable tank exchange, agricultural, wholesale and other
customers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Our
operations primarily include the retail distribution and sale of propane and
related equipment and supplies with concentrations in the Midwest, Southeast,
Southwest and Northwest regions of the United States.
We use information on temperatures to understand how our results of operations
are affected by temperatures that are warmer or colder than normal. Normal
temperatures computed by us are the average of the last 10 years of information
published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Based on this
information we calculate a ratio of actual heating degree days to normal heating
degree days. Heating degree days are a general indicator of weather impacting
propane usage.
Weather conditions have a significant impact on demand for propane for heating
purposes primarily during the months of November through March (the "winter
heating season"). Accordingly, the volume of propane used by our customers for
this purpose is directly affected by the severity of the winter weather in the
regions we serve and can vary substantially from year to year. In any given
region, sustained warmer-than-normal temperatures will tend to result in reduced
propane usage, while sustained colder-than-normal temperatures will tend to
result in greater usage. Although there is a strong correlation between weather
and customer usage, general economic conditions in the United States and the
wholesale price of propane can have a significant impact on this correlation.
Additionally, there is a natural time lag between the onset of cold weather and
increased sales to customers. If the United States were to experience a cooling
trend we could expect nationwide demand for propane to increase which could lead
to greater sales, income and liquidity availability. Conversely, if the United
States were to experience a continued warming trend, we could expect nationwide
demand for propane for heating purposes to decrease which could lead to a
reduction in our sales, income and liquidity availability as well as impact our
ability to maintain compliance with our debt covenants.
We employ risk management activities that attempt to mitigate price risks
related to the purchase, storage, transport and sale of propane generally in the
contract and spot markets from major domestic energy companies. We attempt to
mitigate these price risks through the use of financial derivative instruments
and forward propane purchase and sales contracts. We enter into propane sales
commitments with a portion of our customers that provide for a contracted price
agreement for a specified period of time. These commitments can expose us to
product price risk if not immediately hedged with an offsetting propane purchase
commitment.
Our open financial derivative propane purchase commitments are designated as
hedges primarily for fiscal 2022 and 2023 sales commitments and, as of October
31, 2021, we have experienced net mark-to-market gains of approximately $140.1
million. Because these financial derivative purchase commitments qualify for
hedge accounting treatment, the resulting asset, liability and related
mark-to-market gains or losses are recorded on the condensed consolidated
balance sheets as "Prepaid expenses and other current assets," "Other assets,
net," "Other current liabilities," "Other liabilities" and "Accumulated other
comprehensive loss," respectively, until settled. Upon settlement, realized
gains or losses on these contracts will be reclassified to "Cost of
sales-propane and other gas liquid sales" in the condensed consolidated
statements of operations as the underlying inventory is sold. These financial
derivative purchase commitment net gains are expected to be offset by decreased
margins on propane sales commitments that qualify for the normal purchase normal
sale exception. At October 31, 2021, we estimate 77% of currently open financial
derivative purchase commitments, the related propane sales commitments and the
resulting gross margin will be realized into earnings during the next
twelve months.
Summary Discussion of Results of Operations:
Executive Overview
For the three months ended October 31, 2021 and 2020
During the three months ended October 31, 2021, we recognized net loss
attributable to Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. of $8.6 million, compared to net loss
attributable to Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. of $46.1 million during the three
months ended October 31, 2020. This decreased loss primarily reflects an $8.7
million increase in "Gross margin - Propane and other gas liquid sales" and a
$28.8 million decrease in "Interest expense."
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"Interest expense" for Ferrellgas Partners decreased $28.8 million primarily due
to (i) a decrease in interest on the Ferrellgas Partners Notes and (ii) lower
interest expense in 2021 as a result of the March 30, 2021 refinancing
transactions.
Distributable cash flow attributable to equity investors increased to $15.3
million for the three months ended October 31, 2021 compared to $(22.4) million
for the prior year period, primarily due to a $32.6 million decrease in net cash
interest expense and a $3.5 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA.
Distributable cash flow excess increased to $(2.4) million in the current period
from $(21.8) million in the prior year period, primarily due to a $32.6 million
decrease in our net cash interest expense and a $3.5 million increase in
Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by a $17.0 million increase in distributions
accrued or paid to preferred unitholders.
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