OREANDA-NEWS. August 09, 2013. Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for the three months ended June 30, 2013 was USD 180 million as compared to USD 158 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of USD 22 million. ETE’s net income attributable to partners was  USD 127 million for the three months ended June 30, 2013, as compared to USD 54 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of USD 73 million.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for the six months ended June 30, 2013 was \\$358 million as compared to USD 287 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of USD 71 million. ETE’s net income attributable to partners was USD 217 million for the three months ended June 30, 2013, as compared to USD 220 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, a decrease of USD 3 million.

The Partnership’s key accomplishments during the quarter include the following:

On April 30, 2013, ETE contributed its 60% interest in ETP Holdco Corporation (“Holdco”) to Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (“ETP”) for approximately 49.5 million ETP common units and \\$1.4 billion in cash, less USD 68 million of estimated closing adjustments. ETE used a portion of the proceeds to repay borrowings of USD 1.10 billion on its Senior Secured Term Loan Agreement.

On April 30, 2013, Southern Union Company (“Southern Union”) contributed to Regency Energy Partners LP (“Regency”) all of the issued and outstanding membership interest in Southern Union Gathering Company, LLC, and its subsidiaries.

On May 6, 2013, the Partnership's subsidiaries, Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. and Lone Star NGL LLC, announced that long-term, fee-based agreements have been executed with an anchor tenant to move forward with a liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) export/import project.

On April 1, 2013, ETE redeemed of all of its outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred Units from Regency GP Acquirer L.P. for cash consideration of USD 340 million, including a redemption premium of USD 40 million, plus accrued interest.

The Partnership has scheduled a conference call for 8:30 a.m. Central Time, Thursday, August 8, 2013 to discuss its second quarter 2013 results. The conference call will be broadcast live via an internet web cast, which can be accessed through www.energytransfer.com and will also be available for replay on the Partnership’s website for a limited time.

The Partnership’s principal sources of cash flow are derived from distributions related to its direct and indirect investments in the limited and general partner interests in ETP and Regency, including 100% of ETP’s and Regency’s incentive distribution rights, approximately 99.7 million of ETP’s common units and approximately 26.3 million of Regency’s common units. The Partnership’s primary cash requirements are for general and administrative expenses, debt service requirements and distributions to its partners.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and accompanying schedules include the non-generally accepted accounting principle (“non-GAAP”) financial measures of Distributable Cash Flow. The accompanying schedules provide a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Partnership’s Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered as an alternative to GAAP financial measures such as net income, cash flow from operating activities or any other GAAP measure of liquidity or financial performance.

Distributable Cash Flow. The Partnership defines Distributable Cash Flow for a period as cash distributions expected to be received from ETP and Regency in respect of such period in connection with the Partnership’s investments in limited and general partner interests of ETP and Regency, net of the Partnership’s cash expenditures for general and administrative costs and interest expense. The Partnership’s definition of Distributable Cash Flow also includes distributable cash flow related to Southern Union for the period from March 26, 2012 (Southern Union acquisition date) until Southern Union was contributed to Holdco on October 5, 2012. From October 5, 2012 until ETE’s 60% interest in Holdco was contributed to ETP on April 30, 2013, Distributable Cash Flow reflects dividends expected to be received from Holdco. The Partnership defines distributable cash flow for Southern Union as net income, adjusted for certain non-cash items, less maintenance capital expenditures. Non-cash items include depreciation and amortization, deferred income taxes, non-cash compensation expense, gains and losses on disposals of assets, the allowance for equity funds used during construction, and non-cash impairment charges.

Distributable Cash Flow is a significant liquidity measure used by the Partnership’s senior management to compare net cash flows generated by the Partnership to the distributions the Partnership expects to pay its unitholders. Using this measure, the Partnership’s management can compute the coverage ratio of estimated cash flows for a period to planned cash distributions for such period.

Distributable Cash Flow is also an important non-GAAP financial measure for our limited partners since it indicates to investors whether the Partnership’s investments are generating cash flows at a level that can sustain or support an increase in quarterly cash distribution levels. Financial measures such as Distributable Cash Flow are quantitative standards used by the investment community with respect to publicly traded partnerships because the value of a partnership unit is in part measured by its yield (which in turn is based on the amount of cash distributions a partnership can pay to a unitholder). The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Distributable Cash Flow is net income for ETE on a stand-alone basis (“Parent Company”). The accompanying analysis of Distributable Cash Flow is presented for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 for comparative purposes.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted. The Partnership defines Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for a period as cash distributions expected to be received from ETP and Regency in respect of such period in connection with the Partnership’s investments in limited and general partner interests of ETP and Regency, plus the distributable cash flow related to Southern Union (as described in the definition of Distributable Cash Flow above), dividends expected to be received from Holdco (as described in the definition of Distributable Cash Flow above), net of the Partnership’s cash expenditures for general and administrative costs and interest expense, excluding certain items, such as transaction-related expenses. Due to the cash expenses that were incurred during the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 in connection with the Partnership’s merger and acquisition activities and other transactions, Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 is a significant liquidity measure used by the Partnership’s senior management to compare net cash flows generated by the Partnership to the distributions the Partnership expects to pay its unitholders. Using this measure, the Partnership’s management can compute the coverage ratio of estimated cash flows for a period to planned cash distributions for such period. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, is net income for the Parent Company on a stand-alone basis. The accompanying analysis of Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, is presented for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 for comparative purposes.