TSE:SPB Superior Plus Q1 2023 Earnings Report C$6.53 +0.04 (+0.62%) As of 03:17 PM Eastern Earnings HistoryForecast Superior Plus EPS ResultsActual EPSC$0.63Consensus EPS C$0.49Beat/MissBeat by +C$0.14One Year Ago EPSN/ASuperior Plus Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$1.26 billionExpected Revenue$1.71 billionBeat/MissMissed by -$459.10 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/ASuperior Plus Announcement DetailsQuarterQ1 2023Date5/9/2023TimeN/AConference Call DateWednesday, May 10, 2023Conference Call Time10:30AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckInterim ReportEarnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Superior Plus Q1 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrMay 10, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Superior Plus 2023 First Quarter Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please note that today's conference may be recorded. Operator00:00:27I will now hand the conference over to your speaker host, Rob Doran, Vice President of Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:34Thank you, Olivia. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Superior Plus' conference call and webcast to review our 2023 First Quarter Results. On the call today from Superior Plus are Alan McDonald, President and CEO Beth Summers, Executive VP and CFO and Darren Rebar, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. For this morning's call, Alan and Beth will begin with their prepared remarks, and then we will open up the call for questions. Listeners are reminded that some of the comments made today may be forward looking in nature and are based on Superior's current expectations, estimates, judgments, projections and risks. Speaker 100:01:11Further, some of the information provided refers to non GAAP measures. Please refer to Superior's continuous disclosure documents available on SEDAR and Superior's website yesterday for further details. Dollar amounts discussed on today's call are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. I'll now turn the call over to Alan. Speaker 200:01:34Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining the call to discuss our 2023 Q1 results. Let me begin by saying just how proud I am to be here as the newest member of the Superior Plus executive team. Since joining last month, I've spent the majority of my time familiarizing myself with Superior's operations and meeting with members of the Superior team, the investor community and industry thought leaders. Speaker 200:02:05This orientation has been incredibly insightful and I'd like to share some thoughts with you on what I've seen so far. First, the team. There's no question Superior's team is amongst the best in the industry. They've extended me a very warm welcome and the executive team have been great, helping me get up to speed with the operations and providing thoughtful insights on the issues facing the business, the day to day challenges and our opportunities to continue to evolve. The management teams in each of the divisions and the frontline employees have been equally warm in their welcome. Speaker 200:02:43They take great pride in showing how hard we work to create a great experience for our customers, knowing the safe and timely delivery of their energy needs is critical to keeping their homes and businesses functioning. The team has also impressed me with their commitment to safety. Our senior leadership and employees understand That creating a safe working environment is a community effort. It's not about compliance, it's about commitment. And more than anything, watching out for each other and working together to keep our employees, customers and the communities where we operate safe. Speaker 200:03:19The team has made great progress on the integration of Superior's recent acquisitions and their contribution to Superior's performance is not insignificant as demonstrated by Akeva's 1st quarter performance and Superior's year over year EBITDA growth even with the impact of significantly warmer weather. Superior has demonstrated a history of creating value by consolidating regional and local propane distributors. And these acquisitions underscore Superior's core competency in this regard As we look to continue to create value through growth and generating economies of scale, Superior is amongst the best I've seen at acquiring, integrating and generating synergies from acquisitions. Superior is also focused on the future energy needs of our existing and future customers investing in real impactful ESG opportunities. As a leader in portable energy distribution, Superior has a unique vantage point when it comes to reducing our customers' carbon footprints with low carbon and alternative energy options. Speaker 200:04:29The Certarus acquisition is a perfect example of this visionary thinking and commitment to ESG transformation. Certarus is a perfect partner for Superior. Their progress in bringing compressed natural gas and next generation energy offerings such as Renewable Natural Gas and Hydrogen to industrial and commercial customers, we'll continue to grow with the assistance of Superior's expertise in distribution, logistics and sales and marketing as well as its capital investment capacity. As it relates to the status of the Sutaris acquisition, well, we've completed our supplementary information request filings with the Canadian Competition Bureau, and we're working closely with the Bureau as they review the transaction. We're confident the acquisition will close this quarter. Speaker 200:05:20And I'm very pleased to congratulate Curtis Fillipon, the Sutaris' CEO and the entire Sutaris team on an exceptional Q1. We're excited to welcome Curtis and the team into the Superior family, and we're looking forward to working together to continue their success story. Before I turn the call over to Beth, I'd like to touch on important early insights I'm hearing from the investment community and industry thought leaders. Our stakeholders are optimistic. They believe Superior has great potential, a strong team and an impressive asset base. Speaker 200:05:59Superior can lead the industry by effectively delivering 3 things. 1st, organic growth innovate and improve operational capabilities beyond what the propane industry has traditionally seen and drive incremental growth from this impressive asset base. Secondly, continue to create value by acquiring smaller regional and local players and create scale and shareholder value through acquisition. And finally, continue being a leader and the transition to lower carbon and alternative energy options for our existing and future customers investing in the development of ESG friendly service offerings and adding real profitable ESG lines of business across Canada and the United States. Finally, I want to congratulate the Superior team on delivering an exceptional quarter. Speaker 200:06:54The business faced challenges from significantly warmer weather, But they focused on the task at hand, safely and efficiently making customer deliveries, managing our costs and continuing to complete the integration of acquisitions, including Kavs, Kiva and Quaros. So with that, I'll now turn the call over to Beth to discuss the financial results. Beth? Speaker 300:07:16Thank you, Alan, and good morning, everyone. I'm proud to say Superior's 1st quarter adjusted EBITDA of $272,000,000 was a record for us in the Q1, even though we were negatively impacted by the Significantly warmer weather during our key demand months in most of our operating regions. The increase was $22,000,000 compared to the prior year quarter, driven by higher EBITDA from operations, partially offset by a realized loss on foreign currency hedging contracts compared to a gain in the prior year quarter and higher corporate costs. The 1st quarter earnings were $147,100,000 an increase of $6,100,000 compared to the prior year quarter. The primary driver for the increase in net earnings was higher revenue and gross profit, partially offset by higher SD and A, a lower gain on derivatives and foreign currency translation of borrowings and higher income tax and finance expenses. Speaker 300:08:17Now turning to the individual business results. U. S. Propane adjusted EBITDA for the Q1 was $175,900,000 an increase of $13,000,000 compared to the prior year 1st quarter adjusted EBITDA was positively impacted by acquisitions completed in the prior year and to a lesser extent increased prices to offset inflation and the impact of the weaker Canadian dollar on the translation of U. S. Speaker 300:08:47Denominated transactions. The higher adjusted EBITDA was offset in part by a decrease in volumes related to warmer weather. Weather in our U. S. Operating regions was 14% warmer than the prior year quarter and 12% warmer than the 5 year average. Speaker 300:09:06Canadian propane adjusted EBITDA was $65,900,000 which was a 3,700,000 change compared to the prior year quarter. The decrease in EBITDA was primarily due to lower volumes related to warmer weather and the impact of the SKUs benefit in sale of carbon credits in the prior year quarter. This was offset in part by higher margins related to increased pricing to offset the impact of increased labor and the impact from inflation. Weather in Canada was 7% warmer than the prior year quarter and 5% warmer than the 5 year average. Wholesale Propane achieved adjusted EBITDA of $40,200,000 in the Q1. Speaker 300:09:53This was an increase of $21,200,000 compared to the prior year quarter, driven by the contribution from Kiva and to a lesser extent, the impact from higher pricing differentials related to wholesale market fundamentals in California and the Western U. S. Turning to corporate results, the adjusted EBITDA guidance and leverage. Corporate administrative costs for the Q1 were $5,800,000 an increase of $3,200,000 compared to the prior year quarter. This was due to lower LTIP expense in the prior year quarter related to the share price Superior realized a loss on foreign currency hedging contracts of $4,100,000 compared to a gain of $1,500,000 in the prior year quarter as Superior's average hedge rates were lower relative to the average U. Speaker 300:10:47S. CAD rate in the current quarter. Superior's total net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio for the trailing 12 months ended March 31, 2023, was 3.9x, which is within our target range of 3.5x to 4x. The leverage ratio also declined from 4.1x at December 31, 2022, driven by lower average debt levels. We expect leverage to remain in the target range of 3.5x to 4x at the close of the acquisition of Sutaris based on our current leverage and Sutaris' strong first quarter results. Speaker 300:11:28We're updating our 2023 pro form a adjusted EBITDA guidance range from $585,000,000 to $635,000,000 to a range of $620,000,000 to $660,000,000 which includes Sutara's full year adjusted EBITDA in the range of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 I'd also like to reiterate While we're waiting for the Canadian Competition Bureau to complete its review of the Sutaris acquisition, all economic benefits and the cash generated in the Sutaris business belongs to Superior based on the terms of the arrangement agreement. We also still expect to achieve which you'll recall is 2 years ahead of expectations. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Q and A. Operator00:12:27Thank you. And our first question coming from the line of Jerry Ho from Desjardins. Your line is open. Speaker 400:12:55Thanks. Good morning. Maybe just first question on the Seterus closing. Just wondering if you can provide a bit more color In terms of what else is needed, kind of your conversations with the Competition Bureau, additional color on timing and maybe your confidence in closing the deal this quarter would be helpful. Speaker 200:13:18Sure. It's Darren Rebar. Just want to respond to the Competition Bureau aspect of the question. Yes, we continue to work cooperatively With the Competition Bureau, while they're conducting their review, as Alan stated, we've complied with the supplementary information request, And so we're just continuing to work with them at this point. They may need some additional time to conduct their review, But we're very confident the transaction will be closed in the second quarter. Speaker 400:13:49Okay. And then my second question is for Alan. You've taken the helm for a month now. Step back, you provided some of your initial thoughts. Just Wondering kind of high level aspect of the business, whether it's legacy propane or spares that you really liked and on the other hand maybe post estimates that you hope to assess over time? Speaker 200:14:13Hey, Gary. Yes, thanks for the question. It's really early days, But what I would say is the team have been great. And it's never easy trying to brief a new CEO on the breadth of operations like this, especially as you're getting ready for an AGM and closing a big transaction. But I've been hugely impressed with the quality of the team, both here at home office and then in Canada and the U. Speaker 200:14:42S. Their ability to sort of create a collection of assets, I think, is quite Something. So I would say that in addition to the team, I mean, the asset base that we have is really impressive. When you look Next generation, you go, well, there's a lot to work with here in terms of assets and talent. And then you put Sartares in there, Equally impressive group of individuals, great culturally, really enthused about The growth potential and future opportunities and a really good a really strong ESG story. Speaker 200:15:22So for me, I think, Again, I can't stress enough that it's early days, but there's a lot to get your hands around in this business and it's a really positive story. So my focus right now is In conversation with all of you and with other sort of thought leaders across the industry, how do we take this impressive group of assets, Get our most value out of it that we can, allocate our capital really wisely And then create a story for growth from here forward. I think we got a lot to do and a lot of opportunity in front of us. So I couldn't be more positive, frankly. Speaker 400:16:01Okay, great. Thanks for answering the color. My last question Thanks, Sharon. Yes, maybe for Beth. I have a question just on leverage and it relates to your last bit of your prepared remarks. Speaker 400:16:12I assume there's some modest decline in the assumed debt Portion for the Seterus deal, just given they are retaining all the cash post announcement. And with the increased EBITDA expectations now, do you think the leverage will come in maybe lower versus when you ran the math, when the deal was announced? Speaker 300:16:34It's an interesting question. I think the way to think about the incremental cash being held, you're absolutely correct. The over earnings generate more cash. There's obviously CapEx that's being done in the Certarus company. But net overall, from a debt reduction, when you look at the over earnings, you probably have an additional $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 reduction. Speaker 300:16:59I think when you talk about it in the context of leverage after the Sutaris acquisition is closed, It's a leverage neutral transaction as a result of both the debt and the equity coming forward. Where it is going to be more positive at this Point in time, my gut feel would be it's not more of an impact than likely rounding, right, either up or down, but it won't have a turn difference, But it is positive. Speaker 400:17:28Okay. Okay. All right. I just want to make sure I understand that correctly. Okay. Speaker 400:17:31Thanks for your time. Speaker 200:17:35Thanks Gary. Operator00:17:36Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Matthew with IA Capital Markets. Your line is open. Speaker 500:17:45Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just Thinking about the over performance from Sartorius in the quarter, I'm wondering how much you think at this point and how much the team thinks is sort of sustainable going forward and based on the contracts and overall strength in demand spending on MSUs and If there are any sort of tailwinds based on that were abnormal based on maybe the gas price or other things like that? Speaker 300:18:16Sure. So to kick off, just to commend the team at Sutaris We're focusing on both the organic growth as well as the efficiency on the MSUs in that business, which did contribute to the strong performance. To sort of take that amount and split it into a few pieces, I think if you want to think about it, roughly half of the over performance is linked to low commodity price environment. So if you think of it similar to our business, there is the ability to pick up some incremental margin when the commodity price is lower. So that is a contributor and probably in and around think of it the range of half of what we're seeing at this point in time. Speaker 300:19:01The other piece is you have sales pricing improving. Part of that is back to some of the contracts that were reduced in response to COVID and there was a lot of work done by the Sutaris team to reprice those contracts back to levels which would be consistent with pricing prior to COVID. So that also contributed to higher margin per MSU that was being generated. And then one of the other pieces I think is important to flag is the National Grid contract. And that contract, which had roughly 100 MSUs at site, generates higher margins than some of the other contracts. Speaker 300:19:44So it is a good example of how Sutaris has some competitive advantage Because of the size of their fleet, that does help overall generate higher MSU returns overall. So those over earnings, as you said, There is over earnings or I don't want to call them over earnings, but very strong performance for the remainder of the year, which is reflected in the updated guidance number that we provided. Speaker 500:20:11Okay. Thank you. Appreciate the comment on that. So it sounds like there's kind of Over earning and higher returns per MSU and more MSUs at the same time. And as you think about the growth in that business going forward and when you look at the market, Do you think there's the market will sort of absorb any incremental capacity on MSUs? Speaker 500:20:31And do you think that as MSUs are built, The demand is there, that will essentially those will be able to go in the market and generate a pretty quick return? Speaker 300:20:41Yes, absolutely. The market or the demand in the market is much higher right now than the supply. And that also helps drive The higher EBITDA per MSU currently and that's simply because you can be very specific and the Sutaris team can really choose What contracts and the higher margin contracts to allocate the MSUs to? We're confident at this point in time certainly that that market is growing faster than the number of MSU or the North American MSU fleet is growing. Speaker 500:21:15Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'll turn it Speaker 400:21:19Thanks, Matthew. Operator00:21:21Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Steve Hansen with Raymond James. Your line is open. Speaker 600:21:37Yes, good morning guys. Thanks for the time. Apologies if I missed it. I had some technical issues here. But I just wanted to clarify on what, If any supply chain challenges might exist to getting more MSUs to market outside of capital deployment specifically, Are there limitations to getting more MSUs out there? Speaker 600:21:56And just as a follow on, what kind of term are you typically looking for across the average contract in terms of visibility and cadence of earnings? Thanks. Speaker 200:22:07Hey, Steve, it's Alan. I'm going I'll tackle the first part of your question and then I'll have I have to I confess I don't know the second part. This is an emerging industry, obviously. So there's an endless supply of MSUs or trailers, and they're very technically Complex. So I wouldn't want to leave you with the impression that this is simply a matter of producing trailers and getting the business. Speaker 200:22:36There's a lot more to it than that. But As it stands right now, you're looking at about a 9 to 12 month wait or lead time for new MSUs for from our supplier base. So we're working with vendors to make sure that we have the right supply and bring business on a way that we can handle it. And of In terms of contract length, I think Probably suffice to say that this is an emerging business and it's growing very rapidly. There isn't necessarily a standard term that's been traditionally Established, but majority of the contracts would be 12 months or greater. Speaker 600:23:27Okay. That's very helpful. And just as a follow-up, if I may, is around the again emerging nature of the industry. We've seen some evidence that other players are starting to get involved Or more interested, there's even been an acquisition recently in the landscape. And just curious if you're running into competition in any sort of Degree of vigor thus far, and or how do you think about trying to protect your existing market position as it stands? Speaker 600:23:56Or is there just So much room for growth that there's room for plenty of players. Thanks. Yes, Speaker 200:24:03to both. We've got look, There's lots of room for growth. There's it's an emerging industry. So it's complicated. Like I say, it's much more complicated Just the MSU supply, the compression and decompression is almost Virtually proprietary technology, not quite, but we like to think that Certarus does it really well. Speaker 200:24:27So I think it's going to be a balancing act between managing unbelievable customer service, commitment to safety and then being able to do this really effectively. Beth, did you want to add something to that? Speaker 300:24:41Yes. I think one of the items that I would like to add is one of the really nice things about this business is that the mobile storage units really are mobile. So one of the nice things as you have an Increasingly building addressable market, the MSUs can be moved to other parts of North America and other industries and other sectors. So as it grows, there is a lot of places that they can be moved to even if there are specific regions where you have people building and creating some competition from that perspective. So there's certainly a lot of business going around. Speaker 300:25:20And I also think it's important to remind everybody of the fact that these MSUs can also carry both renewable natural gas as well as hydrogen and green hydrogen. So in addition, as the business grows, that's also area from an even more Carbon Positive or Less Carbon Intensive Industry where we can grow into those areas as well. Speaker 600:25:47That's great. And I'll just squeeze one last one, if I may. Just apologize. But on capital allocation priorities, every incremental dollar of growth capital, As you think about it today, how do you think about that going into Certarus versus the traditional core business? Does it go both ways? Speaker 600:26:04Are you skewing it towards Certarus? I mean, how should we think about that given the growth profile we're seeing here at Certarus? Thanks. Speaker 200:26:11Well, I think Beth could speak to the particulars. But philosophically, I mean, I think Superior has done a great job allocating capital and being Thoughtful and opportunistic in terms of its capital allocation. You have opportunities that will exist within The existing Superior businesses are going to be really important. We'll have tuck in opportunities. We obviously had Share buyback and dividend considerations in our capital allocation strategy. Speaker 200:26:44And we're adding to that new growth business. So we're going to continue to do what we've always done and be opportunistic, be mindful of the returns that we're getting and use our capital to drive shareholder value. I don't see any big change in that. Beth, what would you add to that? Speaker 300:27:00Just if we want to think about for the remainder of this year, I think along That path similar to what we've talked about previously, based on returns from an opportunistic perspective, The returns out of Certarus organic growth, that in our mind would be the primary allocation for the remainder of this year. And the reason why is when you think about the M and A opportunities, you still have in certain instances a bit of a valuation gap because of the so quickly increasing cost of capital just resulting in valuation compression. And so obviously, we have to get those So I think for a period of time, as we've said before, we probably have another 6 to 9 months before we start really seeing that come together, which in theory just provides fewer opportunities looking at return levels that we potentially saw in the last few years. Speaker 600:28:00That's great. Appreciate the time guys. Thanks. Operator00:28:05Thank you. And our next Question coming from the line of John Gibson with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open. Speaker 500:28:16Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Just first off on the Certarus guidance, how much of that Hinges upon incremental MSU growth versus just sort of what you're seeing right now? Speaker 300:28:30Well, throughout the year, it's an interesting question. Let me just think about it. I think when we look at the incremental growth for the remainder of the year, it would be tied to Spending $110,000,000 of capital, which is factored into all of our guidance. So from a number of unit perspective, if you think about it For the whole year, I believe the incremental unit addition is 81. Speaker 500:29:03Is that sort of the target going forward? Or would you look to sort of move over and above that in 'twenty four and beyond? Speaker 200:29:10It's too early to tell, to be honest, John. It's Alan here. But we'll have some insight on that in the next month or 2. Speaker 500:29:18Fair enough. And then last one for me. Just where are you seeing the greatest opportunities if you could rank MSU growth in terms of The renewable side, infrastructure side, energy services work, if you could kind of rank them in terms of opportunities, that would be appreciated. Speaker 200:29:35Yes. You know what, that's a great question. And I'm going to unfortunately put that in the same category, give us a month or 2. We've got to work through with the once we close this, we get some work to do with building the plan for the next Sort of 18 months, if you think of the remainder of this year and next year and where we're going to focus from a sales standpoint with the Certarus team. So we'll come back to you on that. Speaker 300:29:59Yes. And the one thing that I'll just add for purposes of thinking about it going forward, the way we've thought about the business from a growth perspective going forward, which is linked to the MSU growth rate is somewhere between an 8% to 10% CAGR as we look going forward, which is consistent with our communication previously about Sutaris. Speaker 500:30:21Okay, great. I really appreciate the comments and congrats on the great quarter. I'll turn it back. Speaker 200:30:26Thanks, John. Good to talk to you. Operator00:30:29Thank you. One moment for next question. And our next question coming from the line of Patrick Kenny with NBF. Your line is open. Speaker 700:30:39Thank you. Good morning. Alan, I know it's very early days for you, but just Given one of the benefits of the Sertaris transaction is being able to share each other's Rolodex across your customer relationships, Just curious to get your initial thoughts around any low hanging fruit on the commercial front here To extend propane or CNG services to any existing large customer base or region on either side, either in Canada or the U. S? Speaker 200:31:11I think the lawyer sitting to my left is going to tell me that I'm not allowed to have any thoughts or considerations about joint marketing until Yes, I think you're right. I mean, we continue to operate, obviously, as separate businesses. Those are things that we will focus on Once we've got to closing, yes, I'd go back to my original comments and say, look, we're excited to work with the Certarus team to bring the best of their business and the best of ours together. And I think we've got a lot to learn from each other. And joint Rolodex is one of them for sure. Speaker 200:31:44So we're really excited to get started. We just have to dot a few more I's and cross a few more T's. Got you. Speaker 700:31:53And then maybe for Beth, you're always curious to get your live views on FX going forward. And I guess, As you plan to roll in the Seterus cash flows as well, I know a big part of Their EBITDA does come from the U. S. So just maybe your updated thoughts on Speaker 600:32:11how you're managing FX exposure going forward? Speaker 300:32:14Yes. We'll approach FX in a similar way going forward as we have historically, which is we will hedge. And if you look at it, the way that our policy works is depending on how many years out we are, how much we'll hedge. But in the current year or the current year cash flows, we always want to be hedged between 90% to 110%, and that will decrease out into 5 years where it can be sort of from 0% to 15%. So we will approach that similarly. Speaker 300:32:45We want predictable earnings going forward. So we will factor the The same way we factor in our U. S. Business. Speaker 200:32:55Okay. That's perfect. Thank you. Operator00:32:59Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Nelson Ng with RBC Capital. Your line is open. Speaker 800:33:09Great, thanks. Just a quick follow-up question on capital allocation for Beth. So you mentioned Sutaris CapEx and organic growth provides the most value and more value compared to propane M and A. I And obviously, the increase in the share count once the Sartorius transaction closes. Speaker 300:33:39Yes. And I think from an NCIB perspective, when we look at capital allocation, similarly, we've talked about it before, we do look at it from a dynamic capital Operator00:33:47allocation model. So the NCIB Speaker 300:33:47or share buybacks, So the NCIB or share buyback is also factored into there. So we take your point That from a buyback perspective, we will assess that impact when we're allocating capital based on where the share price is as well. So I didn't mean to leave that out when I was talking about allocation capital allocation before. That's certainly something which we said before is part of our thought process and planning as we look at capital allocation on an ongoing basis, which I mean We reassess that basically on a daily basis. Speaker 800:34:26Okay. Thanks, Beth. And then just moving to Sutaris, another question In terms of the guidance of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 of EBITDA, I guess, how much visibility is there? And I think how much of that, let's say, is locked in from your perspective, because I know Alan mentioned that most contracts are more than 12 months. I know like since providing the initial guidance back in February, you've essentially increased your EBITDA guidance for Sartorius by about 25%. Speaker 300:35:04Yes. I think, Nelson, from our perspective, I mean, we're confident in that range, and we were comfortable to include it From a guidance perspective, the increase, when it comes back to looking at specific contracts, not all of the business has 12 month contracts, but We're very comfortable with the fact that those MSUs will be to full capacity, consistent with previously. And it gets back to when we think about the industry And the fact that there's so much more demand than actual supply for the MSUs, from our perspective and the discussions that we've had around the business, We are not concerned that we won't be able to have fully utilized MSUs to deliver those numbers. Speaker 200:35:47Okay. So Speaker 800:35:49I think you've previously mentioned that the low natural gas price was a benefit in Q1. So looking forward for the rest of this year, I guess if natural gas prices increase materially, then that would be a headwind. Anything else that could be a headwind going forward? Obviously, I think there's general expectations for a slowdown in the economy as well. Speaker 300:36:14Yes. I think from a slowdown in the economy, which was Through COVID and how much volume that the Sutaris business did, that's very similar To our propane business, it's very resilient in the face of recessionary conditions. And part of that is even from the oil and gas perspective. Those that use the Sutaris product are the most efficient, so they will be the last to turn off. So in theory, then that business is quite strong going forward. Speaker 300:36:47From a commodity price perspective, The forecast does assume and understands where the current forward curve sits. If the forward curve changes, Yes, it could result in some changes in the numbers, but fundamentally, that's why there's a range of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 Speaker 800:37:05Okay. Thanks, Beth. Operator00:37:13Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Alan McDonald, President and CEO, for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:37:23Well, let me take a second to thank you all for your time and attention for your questions today. It's Great to have this first analyst call. Look forward to working with you over the many quarters to come and sharing hopefully what will be lots of good news As we embark upon this journey together. And let me wrap up with taking an opportunity to thank all our employees here at Superior for their continued contribution to our success, their focus on safely and reliably exceeding our customer expectations. Thank you all very much for participating on the call. Speaker 200:38:01We look forward to speaking with you in the future. Take care. Speaker 300:38:03Thank you.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallSuperior Plus Q1 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xRemove Ads Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckInterim report Superior Plus Earnings HeadlinesSuperior Plus (TSE:SPB) Raised to Outperform at ScotiabankApril 8, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comQ1 EPS Estimates for Superior Plus Reduced by Stifel CanadaApril 8, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comTrump Treasure April 19Thanks to President Trump… A $900 investment across5 specific cryptos… Could gain 12,000% so quickly that, just 12 months later…April 16, 2025 | Paradigm Press (Ad)Superior Plus FY2026 EPS Boosted by National Bank FinancialApril 7, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comSuperior Plus FY2026 EPS Forecast Increased by Raymond JamesApril 7, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comSuperior Plus (TSE:SPB) Price Target Raised to C$9.00April 6, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comSee More Superior Plus Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Superior Plus? 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There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Superior Plus 2023 First Quarter Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please note that today's conference may be recorded. Operator00:00:27I will now hand the conference over to your speaker host, Rob Doran, Vice President of Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:34Thank you, Olivia. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Superior Plus' conference call and webcast to review our 2023 First Quarter Results. On the call today from Superior Plus are Alan McDonald, President and CEO Beth Summers, Executive VP and CFO and Darren Rebar, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. For this morning's call, Alan and Beth will begin with their prepared remarks, and then we will open up the call for questions. Listeners are reminded that some of the comments made today may be forward looking in nature and are based on Superior's current expectations, estimates, judgments, projections and risks. Speaker 100:01:11Further, some of the information provided refers to non GAAP measures. Please refer to Superior's continuous disclosure documents available on SEDAR and Superior's website yesterday for further details. Dollar amounts discussed on today's call are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. I'll now turn the call over to Alan. Speaker 200:01:34Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining the call to discuss our 2023 Q1 results. Let me begin by saying just how proud I am to be here as the newest member of the Superior Plus executive team. Since joining last month, I've spent the majority of my time familiarizing myself with Superior's operations and meeting with members of the Superior team, the investor community and industry thought leaders. Speaker 200:02:05This orientation has been incredibly insightful and I'd like to share some thoughts with you on what I've seen so far. First, the team. There's no question Superior's team is amongst the best in the industry. They've extended me a very warm welcome and the executive team have been great, helping me get up to speed with the operations and providing thoughtful insights on the issues facing the business, the day to day challenges and our opportunities to continue to evolve. The management teams in each of the divisions and the frontline employees have been equally warm in their welcome. Speaker 200:02:43They take great pride in showing how hard we work to create a great experience for our customers, knowing the safe and timely delivery of their energy needs is critical to keeping their homes and businesses functioning. The team has also impressed me with their commitment to safety. Our senior leadership and employees understand That creating a safe working environment is a community effort. It's not about compliance, it's about commitment. And more than anything, watching out for each other and working together to keep our employees, customers and the communities where we operate safe. Speaker 200:03:19The team has made great progress on the integration of Superior's recent acquisitions and their contribution to Superior's performance is not insignificant as demonstrated by Akeva's 1st quarter performance and Superior's year over year EBITDA growth even with the impact of significantly warmer weather. Superior has demonstrated a history of creating value by consolidating regional and local propane distributors. And these acquisitions underscore Superior's core competency in this regard As we look to continue to create value through growth and generating economies of scale, Superior is amongst the best I've seen at acquiring, integrating and generating synergies from acquisitions. Superior is also focused on the future energy needs of our existing and future customers investing in real impactful ESG opportunities. As a leader in portable energy distribution, Superior has a unique vantage point when it comes to reducing our customers' carbon footprints with low carbon and alternative energy options. Speaker 200:04:29The Certarus acquisition is a perfect example of this visionary thinking and commitment to ESG transformation. Certarus is a perfect partner for Superior. Their progress in bringing compressed natural gas and next generation energy offerings such as Renewable Natural Gas and Hydrogen to industrial and commercial customers, we'll continue to grow with the assistance of Superior's expertise in distribution, logistics and sales and marketing as well as its capital investment capacity. As it relates to the status of the Sutaris acquisition, well, we've completed our supplementary information request filings with the Canadian Competition Bureau, and we're working closely with the Bureau as they review the transaction. We're confident the acquisition will close this quarter. Speaker 200:05:20And I'm very pleased to congratulate Curtis Fillipon, the Sutaris' CEO and the entire Sutaris team on an exceptional Q1. We're excited to welcome Curtis and the team into the Superior family, and we're looking forward to working together to continue their success story. Before I turn the call over to Beth, I'd like to touch on important early insights I'm hearing from the investment community and industry thought leaders. Our stakeholders are optimistic. They believe Superior has great potential, a strong team and an impressive asset base. Speaker 200:05:59Superior can lead the industry by effectively delivering 3 things. 1st, organic growth innovate and improve operational capabilities beyond what the propane industry has traditionally seen and drive incremental growth from this impressive asset base. Secondly, continue to create value by acquiring smaller regional and local players and create scale and shareholder value through acquisition. And finally, continue being a leader and the transition to lower carbon and alternative energy options for our existing and future customers investing in the development of ESG friendly service offerings and adding real profitable ESG lines of business across Canada and the United States. Finally, I want to congratulate the Superior team on delivering an exceptional quarter. Speaker 200:06:54The business faced challenges from significantly warmer weather, But they focused on the task at hand, safely and efficiently making customer deliveries, managing our costs and continuing to complete the integration of acquisitions, including Kavs, Kiva and Quaros. So with that, I'll now turn the call over to Beth to discuss the financial results. Beth? Speaker 300:07:16Thank you, Alan, and good morning, everyone. I'm proud to say Superior's 1st quarter adjusted EBITDA of $272,000,000 was a record for us in the Q1, even though we were negatively impacted by the Significantly warmer weather during our key demand months in most of our operating regions. The increase was $22,000,000 compared to the prior year quarter, driven by higher EBITDA from operations, partially offset by a realized loss on foreign currency hedging contracts compared to a gain in the prior year quarter and higher corporate costs. The 1st quarter earnings were $147,100,000 an increase of $6,100,000 compared to the prior year quarter. The primary driver for the increase in net earnings was higher revenue and gross profit, partially offset by higher SD and A, a lower gain on derivatives and foreign currency translation of borrowings and higher income tax and finance expenses. Speaker 300:08:17Now turning to the individual business results. U. S. Propane adjusted EBITDA for the Q1 was $175,900,000 an increase of $13,000,000 compared to the prior year 1st quarter adjusted EBITDA was positively impacted by acquisitions completed in the prior year and to a lesser extent increased prices to offset inflation and the impact of the weaker Canadian dollar on the translation of U. S. Speaker 300:08:47Denominated transactions. The higher adjusted EBITDA was offset in part by a decrease in volumes related to warmer weather. Weather in our U. S. Operating regions was 14% warmer than the prior year quarter and 12% warmer than the 5 year average. Speaker 300:09:06Canadian propane adjusted EBITDA was $65,900,000 which was a 3,700,000 change compared to the prior year quarter. The decrease in EBITDA was primarily due to lower volumes related to warmer weather and the impact of the SKUs benefit in sale of carbon credits in the prior year quarter. This was offset in part by higher margins related to increased pricing to offset the impact of increased labor and the impact from inflation. Weather in Canada was 7% warmer than the prior year quarter and 5% warmer than the 5 year average. Wholesale Propane achieved adjusted EBITDA of $40,200,000 in the Q1. Speaker 300:09:53This was an increase of $21,200,000 compared to the prior year quarter, driven by the contribution from Kiva and to a lesser extent, the impact from higher pricing differentials related to wholesale market fundamentals in California and the Western U. S. Turning to corporate results, the adjusted EBITDA guidance and leverage. Corporate administrative costs for the Q1 were $5,800,000 an increase of $3,200,000 compared to the prior year quarter. This was due to lower LTIP expense in the prior year quarter related to the share price Superior realized a loss on foreign currency hedging contracts of $4,100,000 compared to a gain of $1,500,000 in the prior year quarter as Superior's average hedge rates were lower relative to the average U. Speaker 300:10:47S. CAD rate in the current quarter. Superior's total net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio for the trailing 12 months ended March 31, 2023, was 3.9x, which is within our target range of 3.5x to 4x. The leverage ratio also declined from 4.1x at December 31, 2022, driven by lower average debt levels. We expect leverage to remain in the target range of 3.5x to 4x at the close of the acquisition of Sutaris based on our current leverage and Sutaris' strong first quarter results. Speaker 300:11:28We're updating our 2023 pro form a adjusted EBITDA guidance range from $585,000,000 to $635,000,000 to a range of $620,000,000 to $660,000,000 which includes Sutara's full year adjusted EBITDA in the range of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 I'd also like to reiterate While we're waiting for the Canadian Competition Bureau to complete its review of the Sutaris acquisition, all economic benefits and the cash generated in the Sutaris business belongs to Superior based on the terms of the arrangement agreement. We also still expect to achieve which you'll recall is 2 years ahead of expectations. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Q and A. Operator00:12:27Thank you. And our first question coming from the line of Jerry Ho from Desjardins. Your line is open. Speaker 400:12:55Thanks. Good morning. Maybe just first question on the Seterus closing. Just wondering if you can provide a bit more color In terms of what else is needed, kind of your conversations with the Competition Bureau, additional color on timing and maybe your confidence in closing the deal this quarter would be helpful. Speaker 200:13:18Sure. It's Darren Rebar. Just want to respond to the Competition Bureau aspect of the question. Yes, we continue to work cooperatively With the Competition Bureau, while they're conducting their review, as Alan stated, we've complied with the supplementary information request, And so we're just continuing to work with them at this point. They may need some additional time to conduct their review, But we're very confident the transaction will be closed in the second quarter. Speaker 400:13:49Okay. And then my second question is for Alan. You've taken the helm for a month now. Step back, you provided some of your initial thoughts. Just Wondering kind of high level aspect of the business, whether it's legacy propane or spares that you really liked and on the other hand maybe post estimates that you hope to assess over time? Speaker 200:14:13Hey, Gary. Yes, thanks for the question. It's really early days, But what I would say is the team have been great. And it's never easy trying to brief a new CEO on the breadth of operations like this, especially as you're getting ready for an AGM and closing a big transaction. But I've been hugely impressed with the quality of the team, both here at home office and then in Canada and the U. Speaker 200:14:42S. Their ability to sort of create a collection of assets, I think, is quite Something. So I would say that in addition to the team, I mean, the asset base that we have is really impressive. When you look Next generation, you go, well, there's a lot to work with here in terms of assets and talent. And then you put Sartares in there, Equally impressive group of individuals, great culturally, really enthused about The growth potential and future opportunities and a really good a really strong ESG story. Speaker 200:15:22So for me, I think, Again, I can't stress enough that it's early days, but there's a lot to get your hands around in this business and it's a really positive story. So my focus right now is In conversation with all of you and with other sort of thought leaders across the industry, how do we take this impressive group of assets, Get our most value out of it that we can, allocate our capital really wisely And then create a story for growth from here forward. I think we got a lot to do and a lot of opportunity in front of us. So I couldn't be more positive, frankly. Speaker 400:16:01Okay, great. Thanks for answering the color. My last question Thanks, Sharon. Yes, maybe for Beth. I have a question just on leverage and it relates to your last bit of your prepared remarks. Speaker 400:16:12I assume there's some modest decline in the assumed debt Portion for the Seterus deal, just given they are retaining all the cash post announcement. And with the increased EBITDA expectations now, do you think the leverage will come in maybe lower versus when you ran the math, when the deal was announced? Speaker 300:16:34It's an interesting question. I think the way to think about the incremental cash being held, you're absolutely correct. The over earnings generate more cash. There's obviously CapEx that's being done in the Certarus company. But net overall, from a debt reduction, when you look at the over earnings, you probably have an additional $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 reduction. Speaker 300:16:59I think when you talk about it in the context of leverage after the Sutaris acquisition is closed, It's a leverage neutral transaction as a result of both the debt and the equity coming forward. Where it is going to be more positive at this Point in time, my gut feel would be it's not more of an impact than likely rounding, right, either up or down, but it won't have a turn difference, But it is positive. Speaker 400:17:28Okay. Okay. All right. I just want to make sure I understand that correctly. Okay. Speaker 400:17:31Thanks for your time. Speaker 200:17:35Thanks Gary. Operator00:17:36Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Matthew with IA Capital Markets. Your line is open. Speaker 500:17:45Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just Thinking about the over performance from Sartorius in the quarter, I'm wondering how much you think at this point and how much the team thinks is sort of sustainable going forward and based on the contracts and overall strength in demand spending on MSUs and If there are any sort of tailwinds based on that were abnormal based on maybe the gas price or other things like that? Speaker 300:18:16Sure. So to kick off, just to commend the team at Sutaris We're focusing on both the organic growth as well as the efficiency on the MSUs in that business, which did contribute to the strong performance. To sort of take that amount and split it into a few pieces, I think if you want to think about it, roughly half of the over performance is linked to low commodity price environment. So if you think of it similar to our business, there is the ability to pick up some incremental margin when the commodity price is lower. So that is a contributor and probably in and around think of it the range of half of what we're seeing at this point in time. Speaker 300:19:01The other piece is you have sales pricing improving. Part of that is back to some of the contracts that were reduced in response to COVID and there was a lot of work done by the Sutaris team to reprice those contracts back to levels which would be consistent with pricing prior to COVID. So that also contributed to higher margin per MSU that was being generated. And then one of the other pieces I think is important to flag is the National Grid contract. And that contract, which had roughly 100 MSUs at site, generates higher margins than some of the other contracts. Speaker 300:19:44So it is a good example of how Sutaris has some competitive advantage Because of the size of their fleet, that does help overall generate higher MSU returns overall. So those over earnings, as you said, There is over earnings or I don't want to call them over earnings, but very strong performance for the remainder of the year, which is reflected in the updated guidance number that we provided. Speaker 500:20:11Okay. Thank you. Appreciate the comment on that. So it sounds like there's kind of Over earning and higher returns per MSU and more MSUs at the same time. And as you think about the growth in that business going forward and when you look at the market, Do you think there's the market will sort of absorb any incremental capacity on MSUs? Speaker 500:20:31And do you think that as MSUs are built, The demand is there, that will essentially those will be able to go in the market and generate a pretty quick return? Speaker 300:20:41Yes, absolutely. The market or the demand in the market is much higher right now than the supply. And that also helps drive The higher EBITDA per MSU currently and that's simply because you can be very specific and the Sutaris team can really choose What contracts and the higher margin contracts to allocate the MSUs to? We're confident at this point in time certainly that that market is growing faster than the number of MSU or the North American MSU fleet is growing. Speaker 500:21:15Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'll turn it Speaker 400:21:19Thanks, Matthew. Operator00:21:21Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Steve Hansen with Raymond James. Your line is open. Speaker 600:21:37Yes, good morning guys. Thanks for the time. Apologies if I missed it. I had some technical issues here. But I just wanted to clarify on what, If any supply chain challenges might exist to getting more MSUs to market outside of capital deployment specifically, Are there limitations to getting more MSUs out there? Speaker 600:21:56And just as a follow on, what kind of term are you typically looking for across the average contract in terms of visibility and cadence of earnings? Thanks. Speaker 200:22:07Hey, Steve, it's Alan. I'm going I'll tackle the first part of your question and then I'll have I have to I confess I don't know the second part. This is an emerging industry, obviously. So there's an endless supply of MSUs or trailers, and they're very technically Complex. So I wouldn't want to leave you with the impression that this is simply a matter of producing trailers and getting the business. Speaker 200:22:36There's a lot more to it than that. But As it stands right now, you're looking at about a 9 to 12 month wait or lead time for new MSUs for from our supplier base. So we're working with vendors to make sure that we have the right supply and bring business on a way that we can handle it. And of In terms of contract length, I think Probably suffice to say that this is an emerging business and it's growing very rapidly. There isn't necessarily a standard term that's been traditionally Established, but majority of the contracts would be 12 months or greater. Speaker 600:23:27Okay. That's very helpful. And just as a follow-up, if I may, is around the again emerging nature of the industry. We've seen some evidence that other players are starting to get involved Or more interested, there's even been an acquisition recently in the landscape. And just curious if you're running into competition in any sort of Degree of vigor thus far, and or how do you think about trying to protect your existing market position as it stands? Speaker 600:23:56Or is there just So much room for growth that there's room for plenty of players. Thanks. Yes, Speaker 200:24:03to both. We've got look, There's lots of room for growth. There's it's an emerging industry. So it's complicated. Like I say, it's much more complicated Just the MSU supply, the compression and decompression is almost Virtually proprietary technology, not quite, but we like to think that Certarus does it really well. Speaker 200:24:27So I think it's going to be a balancing act between managing unbelievable customer service, commitment to safety and then being able to do this really effectively. Beth, did you want to add something to that? Speaker 300:24:41Yes. I think one of the items that I would like to add is one of the really nice things about this business is that the mobile storage units really are mobile. So one of the nice things as you have an Increasingly building addressable market, the MSUs can be moved to other parts of North America and other industries and other sectors. So as it grows, there is a lot of places that they can be moved to even if there are specific regions where you have people building and creating some competition from that perspective. So there's certainly a lot of business going around. Speaker 300:25:20And I also think it's important to remind everybody of the fact that these MSUs can also carry both renewable natural gas as well as hydrogen and green hydrogen. So in addition, as the business grows, that's also area from an even more Carbon Positive or Less Carbon Intensive Industry where we can grow into those areas as well. Speaker 600:25:47That's great. And I'll just squeeze one last one, if I may. Just apologize. But on capital allocation priorities, every incremental dollar of growth capital, As you think about it today, how do you think about that going into Certarus versus the traditional core business? Does it go both ways? Speaker 600:26:04Are you skewing it towards Certarus? I mean, how should we think about that given the growth profile we're seeing here at Certarus? Thanks. Speaker 200:26:11Well, I think Beth could speak to the particulars. But philosophically, I mean, I think Superior has done a great job allocating capital and being Thoughtful and opportunistic in terms of its capital allocation. You have opportunities that will exist within The existing Superior businesses are going to be really important. We'll have tuck in opportunities. We obviously had Share buyback and dividend considerations in our capital allocation strategy. Speaker 200:26:44And we're adding to that new growth business. So we're going to continue to do what we've always done and be opportunistic, be mindful of the returns that we're getting and use our capital to drive shareholder value. I don't see any big change in that. Beth, what would you add to that? Speaker 300:27:00Just if we want to think about for the remainder of this year, I think along That path similar to what we've talked about previously, based on returns from an opportunistic perspective, The returns out of Certarus organic growth, that in our mind would be the primary allocation for the remainder of this year. And the reason why is when you think about the M and A opportunities, you still have in certain instances a bit of a valuation gap because of the so quickly increasing cost of capital just resulting in valuation compression. And so obviously, we have to get those So I think for a period of time, as we've said before, we probably have another 6 to 9 months before we start really seeing that come together, which in theory just provides fewer opportunities looking at return levels that we potentially saw in the last few years. Speaker 600:28:00That's great. Appreciate the time guys. Thanks. Operator00:28:05Thank you. And our next Question coming from the line of John Gibson with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open. Speaker 500:28:16Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Just first off on the Certarus guidance, how much of that Hinges upon incremental MSU growth versus just sort of what you're seeing right now? Speaker 300:28:30Well, throughout the year, it's an interesting question. Let me just think about it. I think when we look at the incremental growth for the remainder of the year, it would be tied to Spending $110,000,000 of capital, which is factored into all of our guidance. So from a number of unit perspective, if you think about it For the whole year, I believe the incremental unit addition is 81. Speaker 500:29:03Is that sort of the target going forward? Or would you look to sort of move over and above that in 'twenty four and beyond? Speaker 200:29:10It's too early to tell, to be honest, John. It's Alan here. But we'll have some insight on that in the next month or 2. Speaker 500:29:18Fair enough. And then last one for me. Just where are you seeing the greatest opportunities if you could rank MSU growth in terms of The renewable side, infrastructure side, energy services work, if you could kind of rank them in terms of opportunities, that would be appreciated. Speaker 200:29:35Yes. You know what, that's a great question. And I'm going to unfortunately put that in the same category, give us a month or 2. We've got to work through with the once we close this, we get some work to do with building the plan for the next Sort of 18 months, if you think of the remainder of this year and next year and where we're going to focus from a sales standpoint with the Certarus team. So we'll come back to you on that. Speaker 300:29:59Yes. And the one thing that I'll just add for purposes of thinking about it going forward, the way we've thought about the business from a growth perspective going forward, which is linked to the MSU growth rate is somewhere between an 8% to 10% CAGR as we look going forward, which is consistent with our communication previously about Sutaris. Speaker 500:30:21Okay, great. I really appreciate the comments and congrats on the great quarter. I'll turn it back. Speaker 200:30:26Thanks, John. Good to talk to you. Operator00:30:29Thank you. One moment for next question. And our next question coming from the line of Patrick Kenny with NBF. Your line is open. Speaker 700:30:39Thank you. Good morning. Alan, I know it's very early days for you, but just Given one of the benefits of the Sertaris transaction is being able to share each other's Rolodex across your customer relationships, Just curious to get your initial thoughts around any low hanging fruit on the commercial front here To extend propane or CNG services to any existing large customer base or region on either side, either in Canada or the U. S? Speaker 200:31:11I think the lawyer sitting to my left is going to tell me that I'm not allowed to have any thoughts or considerations about joint marketing until Yes, I think you're right. I mean, we continue to operate, obviously, as separate businesses. Those are things that we will focus on Once we've got to closing, yes, I'd go back to my original comments and say, look, we're excited to work with the Certarus team to bring the best of their business and the best of ours together. And I think we've got a lot to learn from each other. And joint Rolodex is one of them for sure. Speaker 200:31:44So we're really excited to get started. We just have to dot a few more I's and cross a few more T's. Got you. Speaker 700:31:53And then maybe for Beth, you're always curious to get your live views on FX going forward. And I guess, As you plan to roll in the Seterus cash flows as well, I know a big part of Their EBITDA does come from the U. S. So just maybe your updated thoughts on Speaker 600:32:11how you're managing FX exposure going forward? Speaker 300:32:14Yes. We'll approach FX in a similar way going forward as we have historically, which is we will hedge. And if you look at it, the way that our policy works is depending on how many years out we are, how much we'll hedge. But in the current year or the current year cash flows, we always want to be hedged between 90% to 110%, and that will decrease out into 5 years where it can be sort of from 0% to 15%. So we will approach that similarly. Speaker 300:32:45We want predictable earnings going forward. So we will factor the The same way we factor in our U. S. Business. Speaker 200:32:55Okay. That's perfect. Thank you. Operator00:32:59Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Nelson Ng with RBC Capital. Your line is open. Speaker 800:33:09Great, thanks. Just a quick follow-up question on capital allocation for Beth. So you mentioned Sutaris CapEx and organic growth provides the most value and more value compared to propane M and A. I And obviously, the increase in the share count once the Sartorius transaction closes. Speaker 300:33:39Yes. And I think from an NCIB perspective, when we look at capital allocation, similarly, we've talked about it before, we do look at it from a dynamic capital Operator00:33:47allocation model. So the NCIB Speaker 300:33:47or share buybacks, So the NCIB or share buyback is also factored into there. So we take your point That from a buyback perspective, we will assess that impact when we're allocating capital based on where the share price is as well. So I didn't mean to leave that out when I was talking about allocation capital allocation before. That's certainly something which we said before is part of our thought process and planning as we look at capital allocation on an ongoing basis, which I mean We reassess that basically on a daily basis. Speaker 800:34:26Okay. Thanks, Beth. And then just moving to Sutaris, another question In terms of the guidance of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 of EBITDA, I guess, how much visibility is there? And I think how much of that, let's say, is locked in from your perspective, because I know Alan mentioned that most contracts are more than 12 months. I know like since providing the initial guidance back in February, you've essentially increased your EBITDA guidance for Sartorius by about 25%. Speaker 300:35:04Yes. I think, Nelson, from our perspective, I mean, we're confident in that range, and we were comfortable to include it From a guidance perspective, the increase, when it comes back to looking at specific contracts, not all of the business has 12 month contracts, but We're very comfortable with the fact that those MSUs will be to full capacity, consistent with previously. And it gets back to when we think about the industry And the fact that there's so much more demand than actual supply for the MSUs, from our perspective and the discussions that we've had around the business, We are not concerned that we won't be able to have fully utilized MSUs to deliver those numbers. Speaker 200:35:47Okay. So Speaker 800:35:49I think you've previously mentioned that the low natural gas price was a benefit in Q1. So looking forward for the rest of this year, I guess if natural gas prices increase materially, then that would be a headwind. Anything else that could be a headwind going forward? Obviously, I think there's general expectations for a slowdown in the economy as well. Speaker 300:36:14Yes. I think from a slowdown in the economy, which was Through COVID and how much volume that the Sutaris business did, that's very similar To our propane business, it's very resilient in the face of recessionary conditions. And part of that is even from the oil and gas perspective. Those that use the Sutaris product are the most efficient, so they will be the last to turn off. So in theory, then that business is quite strong going forward. Speaker 300:36:47From a commodity price perspective, The forecast does assume and understands where the current forward curve sits. If the forward curve changes, Yes, it could result in some changes in the numbers, but fundamentally, that's why there's a range of $175,000,000 to $185,000,000 Speaker 800:37:05Okay. Thanks, Beth. Operator00:37:13Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Alan McDonald, President and CEO, for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:37:23Well, let me take a second to thank you all for your time and attention for your questions today. It's Great to have this first analyst call. Look forward to working with you over the many quarters to come and sharing hopefully what will be lots of good news As we embark upon this journey together. And let me wrap up with taking an opportunity to thank all our employees here at Superior for their continued contribution to our success, their focus on safely and reliably exceeding our customer expectations. Thank you all very much for participating on the call. Speaker 200:38:01We look forward to speaking with you in the future. Take care. Speaker 300:38:03Thank you.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by