HOUSTON, Jan. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hi-Crush Partners LP (NYSE:HCLP), or “Hi-Crush” or the “Partnership”, announced today that the Board of Directors of its general partner has declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.20 per unit on all common units, or $0.80 on an annualized basis, for the fourth quarter of 2017.
“Our business continues to benefit from a steady strengthening of demand for Northern White and in-basin frac sand,” said Laura C. Fulton, Chief Financial Officer of Hi-Crush. “These strong market fundamentals and encouraging outlook establish the backdrop needed for our management team and the Board of Directors to increase the fourth quarter distribution to $0.20 per unit, up from $0.15 per unit in the prior quarter. Following the resumption of our distribution last quarter, we are pleased to deliver on our objective of sustainable and meaningful growth in our distribution, and are expecting increases of approximately 10% per quarter for the foreseeable future, subject to periodic review. Our capital strategy will remain responsive to the market throughout 2018, and the balance between additional distribution growth and unit repurchases will reflect this flexibility.”
Hi-Crush previously announced that it had repurchased 2,030,163 common units in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing $20 million of unit repurchases since announcing its unit buyback program of up to $100 million in October 2017. This represents the previous maximum amount of unit repurchases allowed for under the Partnership’s previous Term Loan Credit Facility and Revolving Credit Agreement. The Partnership’s new $200 million Senior Secured Term Loan Credit Agreement and new $125 million Revolving Credit Agreement permit unlimited repurchases of common units, allowing for execution up to the remaining $80 million authorized by the Board of Directors. The repurchase program does not obligate the Partnership to repurchase any specific dollar amount or number of units, and may be suspended, modified or discontinued by the Board of Directors at any time, in its sole discretion and without notice.
“The increase in our fourth quarter distribution, combined with opportunistic purchases on our unit repurchase program, reflects a healthy balance of sustainable capital return that is consistent with our goal of returning value to unitholders over the near and long-term,” said Robert E. Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer of Hi-Crush. “We remain committed to disciplined capital allocation and are laser-focused on executing our Mine. Move. Manage. strategy to enable continued growth in our business and unitholder returns.”
The distribution will be paid on February 13, 2018 to all common unitholders of record on February 1, 2018.
Distributions to Foreign Investors
The declaration of the distribution is intended to be a qualified notice to nominees under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b), with 100% of the Partnership’s distributions to foreign investors attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, the Partnership’s distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest effective tax rate.
About Hi-Crush
Hi-Crush is a premier provider of proppant and logistics solutions to the North American energy industry. Our portfolio of purpose-built production facilities is capable of producing 13.4 million tons per year of high-quality monocrystalline sand, a specialized mineral used as a proppant during the well completion process, necessary to facilitate the recovery of hydrocarbons from oil and natural gas wells. Our production facilities' direct access to major U.S. railroads enhances our delivery capabilities into consuming basins, while our strategically located owned and operated in-basin terminals as well as our in-basin production facility positions us within close proximity to significant activity in all major oil and gas basins for advantageous truck transportation. Our integrated distribution system, enhanced by our innovative PropStreamTM logistics solution, efficiently delivers proppant the "last mile" into the blender, providing customers surety of supply from mine to well site. For more information, visit www.hicrush.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information in this news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, and contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition, or forecasts of future events. Words such as "may," "assume," "forecast," "position," "predict," "strategy," "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "could," "believe," "project," "budget," "potential," or "continue," and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. They can be affected by assumptions used or by known or unknown risks or uncertainties. Consequently, no forward-looking statements can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Hi-Crush’s reports filed with the SEC, including those described under 1A of Hi-Crush’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and any subsequently filed 10-Q. Actual results may vary materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. You should also understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and should not consider the risk factors in our reports filed with the SEC or the following list to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by such forward looking statements include: the volume of frac sand we are able to sell; the price at which we are able to sell frac sand; the outcome of any pending litigation; changes in the price and availability of natural gas or electricity; changes in prevailing economic conditions; and difficulty collecting receivables. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. Hi-Crush’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and Hi-Crush undertakes no obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor contact:
Investor Relations
ir@hicrush.com
(713) 980-6270
Marc Silverberg, ICR
marc.silverberg@icrinc.com
(646) 277-1293