Keyera Corp. Announces 2021 Year End Results

CALGARY, AB, Feb. 16, 2022 /CNW/ - Keyera Corp. (TSX: KEY) ("Keyera") announced its 2021 year-end financial results today, the highlights of which are included in this news release. To view the MD&A and financial statements, visit either Keyera's website or Keyera's filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Fourth Quarter and Year-end Financial Highlights

• Keyera delivered fourth quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("adjusted EBITDA" ¹) of $294 million, and $956 million, an annual record, for the full year 2021. Comparative results for the same periods in 2020 were $168 million and $874 million. This full year result represents a year-over-year increase of 9% from 2020, which was driven largely by a general recovery in industry activity and strong performance from all three business segments.
• Cash flow from operating activities ("CFO") was $97 million in the fourth quarter and $584 million for the full year 2021, compared with $116 million and $688 million for the same periods in 2020. This year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a higher cash requirement to fund inventory.
• Distributable cash flow¹ ("DCF") was $207 million in the fourth quarter, and $669 million for full year 2021, compared with $133 million and $718 million for the same periods in 2020. The year-over-year decrease reflects higher maintenance capital spending and cash taxes.
• Net earnings were $90 million for the fourth quarter and $324 million for the full year 2021, compared to a loss of $75 million and earnings of $62 million for the same periods in 2020. The year-over-year increase was a result of higher operating margin and lower 2021 impairment expense.
• Growth capital spending excluding capitalized interest was $438 million, below the previously provided guidance range of $460 million to $490 million. The difference is due to the timing of approximately $45 million in spending, mostly related to the KAPS project, that was expected to occur in 2021 which will now occur in 2022. This does not affect the timing of project completion. As a result, the capital guidance range for 2022 is being revised upwards to $570 million to $610 million (previously $520 million to $560 million). All other previously provided guidance ranges for 2022 remain unchanged.
• Dividends declared and paid for the year were $1.92 per share, resulting in a dividend payout ratio¹ of 63%, which is well within the company's targeted range of 50 to 70% of DCF.
• The company continues to preserve balance sheet strength, ending the year with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio² of 2.4x, which is stronger than the targeted range of 2.5 to 3.0 times.
• Return on Invested Capital^1,3 for the year was 14% (2020 – 14%).
• Keyera published its first Climate Report, which included targets to reduce its emissions intensity 25% by 2025, and 50% by 2035, for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions relative to 2019 levels.

Business Segment Highlights

• The Gathering and Processing ("G&P") segment delivered realized margin^1,4 of $81 million in the fourth quarter and a record $323 million for the full year 2021, compared to $77 million and $260 million for the same periods in 2020. These results were driven mainly by strong performance at the Pipestone gas plant, which operated above 90% utilization through the second half of 2021.
• The Liquids Infrastructure segment delivered a record quarterly realized margin^1,4 of $110 million in the fourth quarter and a record $409 million for the full year, compared to $98 million and $399 million for the same periods in 2020. These results reflect record deliveries through Keyera's condensate system, continued high demand for fractionation and cavern storage services, and increased seasonal propane loading.
• The Marketing segment contributed a realized margin^1,4 of $124 million in the fourth quarter, and $323 million for the full year, compared to $11 million and $295 million for the same periods in 2020. The fourth quarter result included approximately $10 million of realized hedging gains related to propane inventory. These hedging gains will reduce margins in the first quarter of 2022 when the physical product is sold.

Major Project Update

• Construction on the KAPS pipeline project progressed steadily through the quarter and the project is over 40% complete to the end of January 2022. Construction remains on schedule in support of a first quarter 2023 start-up.
• The project has experienced some modest cost pressures due to inflation. Despite these challenges, the current estimate to complete KAPS is not expected to materially exceed the project sanction cost of $800 million net to Keyera. The project is benefitting from Keyera's proactive effort early in the development phase to lock in the majority of the costs.

Non-Core Asset Sale

Subsequent to the quarter, the company closed the sale of its Hull Terminal. Net proceeds to Keyera were approximately US$40 million, which includes approximately US$32 million for the asset, and US$8 million for the value of the inventory. Hull contributed approximately $1.1 million in realized margin for the Liquids Infrastructure segment in 2021. Proceeds from the sale will be applied to further strengthening the company's balance sheet.

2022 Investor Day

Keyera will be hosting a virtual investor day on the morning of March 29^th, 2022.  Details to join the event will be made available in the coming weeks.

CEO's Message to Shareholders

Reflecting on my first year as CEO, I'm proud of the results we delivered, which reinforce the effectiveness of our strategy and our ability to create value for our customers and shareholders. These efforts, supported by higher commodity prices and a more favourable industry outlook, drove excellent results in all three of our business segments during 2021.

We achieved these results through focused improvements in various aspects of our business. For instance, we:

• Improved our safety performance this year as our total recordable injury frequency ("TRIF") decreased to 0.55 from 0.82 in 2020, while our total hours worked increased by approximately 85% to 5.4 million. We continue to mature our Operational Excellence framework, and reinforce the cultural expectation that each of us is responsible for ensuring no one ever gets hurt at a Keyera work site.
• Demonstrated Environment, Social and Governance ("ESG") leadership by setting meaningful Emissions Reductions Targets to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 emissions intensity 25% by 2025, and 50% by 2035, both relative to 2019 levels. In 2021, we made progress towards these goals by suspending operations at the Ricinus and Brazeau North gas plants and redirecting volumes to other more efficient facilities. We also tied our compensation metrics to ESG based metrics, advanced our Diversity and Inclusion ("DI") initiatives, and further improved our strong ESG Ratings.
• Demonstrated financial discipline by maintaining conservative leverage metrics and financial flexibility; and implementing a new rigorous capital investment criteria, while delivering a Return on Invested Capital of 14%.
• Increased competitiveness through completion of the optimization program in our South Gathering & Processing portfolio, resulting in lower per-unit costs and higher per-unit margins for the segment as customer volumes recovered. At our Alberta EnviroFuels ("AEF") facility, higher reliability led to record production as we achieved a new annual utilization record of 103%. Continued reliability of our facilities remains a high priority.
• Strengthened our value chain by interconnecting the Alder Flats gas plant with the rest of our South Gathering and Processing portfolio. We also brought additional cavern storage into service in our Liquids Infrastructure business segment and completed construction of a direct propane supply pipeline connection to the Heartland Petrochemical complex near Fort Saskatchewan. We continued to make good progress towards bringing our KAPS Natural Gas Liquids ("NGL") and Condensate Pipeline system into service in the first quarter of 2023.

A few words about Keyera's 2021 business segment performance:

In Gathering and Processing, we delivered a record realized margin for the year and processed 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of gas in the fourth quarter, as volumes reached levels not seen since early 2019. These results were driven by strong performance at the Pipestone plant, which operated above 90% utilization through the second half of 2021, higher throughput at our Wapiti gas plant, and positive momentum in our South region where quarterly volumes grew by 15% year-over-year. 

The Liquids Infrastructure segment achieved record margin contributions, both for the quarter and the year, driven by record condensate volumes flowing through our industry-leading condensate system, best-ever contributions from our underground storage business, and consistently strong performance from our fractionation business, which operated at near name-plate capacity for the year. These franchise assets continue to provide highly contracted and stable cash flows and form the cornerstone of our NGL business, whose competitiveness will be further enhanced, when KAPS is complete. 

In our Marketing segment, we delivered $323 million of realized margin, exceeding the top-end of our revised guidance. These results were supported by strong NGL pricing and access to a secure supply of NGL volumes through our upstream network, that we deliver to the highest value markets. 

A look ahead at our priorities for 2022:

We expect continued strong industry tailwinds, and we are well positioned to benefit through our operating leverage and our disciplined approach to running the business. Our main priorities for 2022 are as follows:

• Manage our balance sheet and maintain our strong financial position. We will continue to manage our leverage profile to ensure investment grade credit ratings are maintained. As we fund the KAPS pipeline project in 2022, we expect our net debt to adjusted EBITDA to go above our corporate target range of between 2.5 and 3 times. That said, we expect our leverage to return within the target range in 2023 as capital expenditures are reduced and KAPS and other areas of the business bring on additional margins. In addition, we are actively evaluating options to sell non-core assets to recycle capital into higher return, more strategic opportunities. The sale of Keyera's Hull Terminal was part of this strategy.
• Successful project execution of KAPS and maintenance turnarounds. This means delivering our KAPS project in line with our sanction expectations. The same goes for our fall maintenance outage at AEF, where work will be completed to ensure the long-term reliability of the facility.
• Optimize returns on previously deployed capital. We will accomplish this by increasing utilization, debottlenecking assets with minimal incremental capital, and continuing to improve reliability.
• Further advance our ESG Strategy. We will take another meaningful step towards meeting our emissions targets when we begin supplementing approximately 10% of our annual power consumption through a long-term solar power purchase and environmental offset agreement in the second half of 2022. Continued progress of our DI program remains another key priority, and in the fall of 2022, we plan to release our second ESG Report which will outline our progress.

There are several macro factors that contribute to our positive longer-term view on the growth prospects for Keyera. Canada's ample reserves of cleaner, reliable and cost-efficient natural gas resources will play an important role in the energy transition. We expect to see continued demand growth for natural gas due to fuel-source switching for electrification, expanding egress options to U.S. and Eastern markets, and the start-up of LNG Canada in 2025. For natural gas liquids, we see robust demand growth with the increasing needs to service the petrochemical industry, continued oilsands diluent and solvent demand, and increased capability to access overseas markets. We will continue to focus on reducing our emissions footprint and leveraging our assets to provide services that will allow customers to also reduce theirs. Keyera is in a strong position to play a key role in Canada's energy future.

On behalf of Keyera's board of directors and management team, I would like to thank our employees, customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders for their continued support. We also look forward to sharing a more fulsome update on the business and our strategy at our upcoming virtual Investor Day on March 29, 2022.

Dean Setoguchi
President and Chief Executive Officer
Keyera Corp. 

Fourth Quarter and Year End 2021 Results Conference Call and Webcast

Keyera will be conducting a conference call and webcast for investors, analysts, brokers and media representatives to discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter and year-end of 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time) on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. Callers may participate by dialing 888-664-6392 or 416-764-8659. A recording of the call will be available for replay until 10:00 p.m. Mountain Time (12:00 a.m. Eastern Time) on March 2, 2022 by dialing 888-390-0541 or 416-764-8677 and entering pass code 523095.

Internet users can listen to the call live on Keyera's website at www.keyera.com/news/events. Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on the website for 90 days.

Additional Information

For more information about Keyera Corp., please visit our website at www.keyera.com or contact:

Dan Cuthbertson, Director, Investor Relations
Calvin Locke, Manager, Investor Relations
Rahul Pandey, Senior Advisor, Investor Relations

Email: [email protected] 
Telephone: 403.205.7670
Toll free: 888.699.4853

About Keyera Corp.

Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) operates an integrated Canadian-based energy infrastructure business with extensive interconnected assets and depth of expertise in delivering energy solutions. Its predominantly fee-for-service based business consists of natural gas gathering and processing; natural gas liquids processing, transportation, storage and marketing; iso-octane production and sales; and an industry-leading condensate system in the Edmonton/Fort Saskatchewan area of Alberta. Keyera strives to provide high quality, value-added services to its customers across North America and is committed to conducting its business ethically, safely and in an environmentally and financially responsible manner.

Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures

This news release refers to certain financial and other measures that are not determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") and as a result, may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other entities. Management believes that these non-GAAP and other financial measures facilitate the understanding of Keyera's results of operations, leverage, liquidity and financial position. These measures do not have any standardized meaning under GAAP and therefore, should not be considered in isolation, or used in substitution for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. For additional information on these non-GAAP and other financial measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures for Keyera's historical non-GAAP financial measures, refer below and to Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and Keyera's website at www.keyera.com.

Funds from Operations and Distributable Cash Flow ("DCF")

Funds from operations is defined as cash flow from operating activities adjusted for changes in non-cash working capital. This measure is used to assess the level of cash flow generated from operating activities excluding the effect of changes in non-cash working capital, as they are primarily the result of seasonal fluctuations in product inventories or other temporary changes. Funds from operations is also a valuable measure that allows investors to compare Keyera with other infrastructure companies within the oil and gas industry.

Distributable cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities adjusted for changes in non-cash working capital, inventory write-downs, maintenance capital expenditures and lease payments, including the periodic costs related to prepaid leases. Distributable cash flow per share is defined as distributable cash flow divided by weighted average number of shares – basic. Distributable cash flow is used to assess the level of cash flow generated from ongoing operations and to evaluate the adequacy of internally generated cash flow to fund dividends.

The following is a reconciliation of funds from operations and distributable cash flow to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, cash flow from operating activities:

Payout Ratio

Payout ratio is calculated as dividends declared to shareholders divided by distributable cash flow. This ratio is used to assess the sustainability of the company's dividend payment program.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA is a measure showing earnings before finance costs, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA before costs associated with non-cash items, including unrealized gains/losses on commodity-related contracts, net foreign currency gains/losses on U.S. debt and other, impairment expenses and any other non-cash items such as gains/losses on the disposal of property, plant and equipment. Management believes that these supplemental measures facilitate the understanding of Keyera's results from operations. In particular, these measures are used as an indication of earnings generated from operations after consideration of administrative and overhead costs.

The following is a reconciliation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net earnings:

Realized Margin

Realized margin is defined as operating margin excluding unrealized gains and losses on commodity-related risk management contracts. Management believes that this supplemental measure facilitates the understanding of the financial results for the operating segments in the period without the effect of mark-to-market changes from risk management contracts related to future periods.

The following is a reconciliation of realized margin to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, operating margin:

Adjusted Cash Flow from Operating Activities and Return on Invested Capital ("ROIC")

Adjusted cash flow from operating activities is defined as cash flow provided by operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital, decommissioning liability expenditures and finance costs. Adjusted cash flow from operating activities is used solely for the purpose of calculating ROIC and therefore, management does not use this measure on a stand-alone basis.

The following is a reconciliation of adjusted cash flow from operating activities to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, cash flow from operating activities:

Return on invested capital is defined as adjusted cash flow from operating activities divided by invested capital as defined below. ROIC is used to reflect the profitability of Keyera's in-service capital assets.

Forward-Looking Statements

In order to provide readers with information regarding Keyera, including its assessment of future plans and operations, its financial outlook and future prospects overall, this press release contains certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "plan", "intend", "believe", and similar words or expressions, including the negatives or variations thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this document are forward-looking information, including, without limitation, statements regarding:

• target payout and net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratios;
• future capital expenditures and cash taxes, including the anticipated costs of the KAPS pipeline system;
• industry, market and economic conditions, including but not limited to commodity prices, and any anticipated effects on Keyera;
• Keyera's future financial position and operational performance and future financial contributions and margins from its business segments including, but not limited to, Keyera's expectation that its Marketing business will contribute on average, a "base realized margin" of between $180 million and $220 million annually;
• estimated maintenance and turnaround costs and estimated decommissioning expenses;
• expected costs, in-service dates and schedules for capital projects (including projects under construction/development and proposed projects) and sources of funding for such projects; and
• Keyera's financial priorities and ESG initiatives.

All forward-looking information reflects Keyera's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the applicable forward-looking information is made and in light of Keyera's current expectations. Forward-looking information does not guarantee future performance. Management believes that its assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information contained herein are reasonable based on the information available on the date such information is provided and the process used to prepare the information. However, it cannot assure readers that these expectations will prove to be correct. All forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information.

Readers are cautioned that they should not unduly rely on the forward-looking information included in this press release. Further, readers are cautioned that the forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release. Unless required by law, Keyera does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Further information about the assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting the forward-looking information contained in this press release is available in filings made by Keyera with Canadian provincial securities commissions, including under "Forward-Looking Information" in Keyera's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 and in Keyera's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2021, each of which is available on the company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. 

SOURCE Keyera Corp.