August 1, 2022 - Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) today reported significant increases to financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (the "2022 Quarter") compared to both the quarter ended June 30, 2021 (the "2021 Quarter") and the quarter ended March 31, 2022 (the "Sequential Quarter"). Total revenues in the 2022 Quarter increased 70.1% to a record $616.5 million compared to $362.4 million for the 2021 Quarter as a result of higher coal sales prices and volumes, which rose 43.3% and 13.9%, respectively, and higher oil & gas royalty prices and volumes, which increased by 64.7% and 27.6%, respectively. Total operating expenses increased to $441.2 million in the 2022 Quarter, compared to $307.4 million in the 2021 Quarter, due primarily to increased coal sales volumes and inflationary cost pressures. Net income for the 2022 Quarter increased to $161.5 million, or $1.23 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, compared to $44.0 million, or $0.34 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, for the 2021 Quarter. EBITDA also increased 105.6% in the 2022 Quarter to $243.8 million compared to $118.6 million in the 2021 Quarter. (Unless otherwise noted, all references in the text of this release to "net income" refer to "net income attributable to ARLP." For a definition of EBITDA and related reconciliation to its comparable GAAP financial measure throughout this release, please see the end of this release.)

Continued robust market fundamentals during the 2022 Quarter pushed coal sales prices, volumes and coal sales revenues higher by 25.1%, 9.4% and 36.9%, respectively, compared to the Sequential Quarter. Increased revenues and lower income tax expense in the 2022 Quarter drove net income higher by 340.6% while EBITDA increased 60.1%, both as compared to the Sequential Quarter.

Total revenues increased 58.2% to $1.08 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2022 (the "2022 Period"), compared to $681.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021 (the "2021 Period"), primarily due to substantial increases in prices and volumes from both coal and oil & gas royalties. Higher revenues, partially offset by increased total operating expenses and income tax expense, led to significantly higher net income, which rose 188.1% to $198.1 million for the 2022 Period, or $1.51 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, compared to $68.8 million, or $0.53 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, for the 2021 Period. EBITDA increased 86.1% in the 2022 Period to $396.2 million compared to $212.9 million in the 2021 Period.

As previously announced on July 26, 2022, the Board of Directors of ARLP’s general partner (the "Board") increased the cash distribution to unitholders for the 2022 Quarter to $0.40 per unit (an annualized rate of $1.60 per unit), payable on August 12, 2022, to all unitholders of record as of the close of trading on August 5, 2022. The announced distribution represents a 300.0% increase over the cash distribution of $0.10 per unit for the 2021 Quarter and a 14.3% increase over the cash distribution of $0.35 per unit for the Sequential Quarter.

"ARLP delivered strong financial and operating performance during the 2022 Quarter, as we again posted significant increases to coal and oil & gas sales volumes and prices, total revenues, net income and EBITDA compared to the 2021 Quarter," said Joseph W. Craft III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Segment Adjusted EBITDA at our coal operations climbed sharply to $222.6 million for the 2022 Quarter as increased coal sales volumes and prices more than offset continued inflationary cost pressures, supply chain challenges and ongoing shipping delays due to poor rail performance. Our royalties businesses also continued to benefit from strong energy markets, once again posting record Segment Adjusted EBITDA during the 2022 Quarter."

Mr. Craft continued, "ARLP also continued to make progress during the 2022 Quarter on its energy transition strategy we outlined last quarter. Adding to our earlier investments in Francis Energy and Infinitum Electric, we recently made a $25.0 million commitment to NGP ETP IV, L.P., a private equity fund sponsored by NGP Energy Capital Management, LLC. NGP ETP IV focuses on investments that are part of the global transition toward a lower carbon economy by partnering with top tier management teams and investing growth equity in companies that drive or enable the growth of renewable energy, the electrification of our economy or the efficient use of energy. In addition, our wholly owned subsidiary, Matrix Design Group, continued to increase sales of its technology services and products and remains on track to meet our expectations for revenue and EBITDA growth this year."

Operating Results and Analysis

ARLP's coal sales prices per ton increased in all regions compared to both the 2021 and Sequential Quarters as a result of continued favorable market conditions. In the Illinois Basin, significantly higher export prices during the 2022 Quarter drove coal sales prices higher by 28.5% and 15.4% compared to the 2021 and Sequential Quarters, respectively. In Appalachia, coal sales prices increased by 62.7% and 32.0% compared to the 2021 and Sequential Quarters, respectively, primarily due to substantially higher export price realizations at all mines in the region as well as increased domestic pricing at our Tunnel Ridge and Mettiki mines. Coal sales volumes were higher by 7.5% in the Illinois Basin compared to the 2021 Quarter as a result of increased sales volumes at our Gibson South and Hamilton mines. In Appalachia, coal sales volumes increased 28.1% and 36.1% compared to the 2021 and Sequential Quarters, respectively, as a result of higher domestic sales volumes from our Tunnel Ridge longwall operation and increased export shipments from our Mettiki and MC Mining operations. ARLP ended the 2022 Quarter with total coal inventory of 1.6 million tons, representing an increase of 0.2 million tons compared to the end of the 2021 Quarter and comparable to the end of the Sequential Quarter.

Segment Adjusted EBITDA Expense per ton increased by 29.2% and 23.1% in the Illinois Basin and Appalachia, respectively, compared to the 2021 Quarter primarily as a result of inflationary pressures on numerous expense items, including labor-related expenses and supply and maintenance costs, increased sales-related expenses due to higher price realizations and reduced recoveries across both regions. Compared to both the 2021 and Sequential Quarters, Segment Adjusted EBITDA Expense per ton in the Illinois Basin increased $1.11 in the 2022 Quarter, reflecting the impact of a $6.5 million non-cash contingent accrual related to our purchase of the Hamilton mine based upon a projection for higher coal sales price realizations in the future.

For our Oil & Gas Royalties segment, significantly higher sales price realizations per BOE and increased volumes in the 2022 Quarter drove Segment Adjusted EBITDA higher by 125.0% to a record $34.6 million compared to $15.4 million for the 2021 Quarter. Compared to the Sequential Quarter, Segment Adjusted EBITDA increased by $6.1 million in the 2022 Quarter primarily due to higher oil & gas prices, which rose by 17.6%.

Segment Adjusted EBITDA for our Coal Royalties segment increased 34.6% to $9.1 million for the 2022 Quarter compared to $6.8 million for the 2021 Quarter as a result of increased royalty tons sold and higher average royalty rates per ton. Compared to the Sequential Quarter, Segment Adjusted EBITDA decreased 11.8% due to lower royalty tons sold, which decreased by 5.1%, and higher selling expenses.

Outlook

"Global energy markets have continued to strengthen since our last earnings release in May," said Mr. Craft. "The economic forces driving the sharp rise in worldwide commodity prices remain generally intact ? resilient energy demand, systemic supply shortages and fall out related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ? and continue to support energy markets. Against this backdrop and as global power generators scramble to bolster low stockpiles in the near term and secure longer term reliable supply, ARLP was able to execute new coal sales commitments for delivery of 24.9 million tons through 2025 at prices above our recent expectations. As mentioned earlier, our coal operations have delivered significant year-over-year per ton margin expansion, and we believe ARLP is positioned to see further margin growth in 2023 and 2024. Our royalty businesses have also benefited from strong commodity markets. We expect our coal royalties segment to continue to benefit from these favorable market conditions and for our oil & gas royalties segment, forward pricing for oil & gas along with increased volumes due to rising drilling and completion activity by operators point to future growth as well. In the 2022 guidance table below, we have increased capital expenditures to add a fifth production unit at our Gibson South mine and another development unit at our Hamilton mine later this year or early next year. As a result, we expect total tons produced and sold in 2023 to be approximately one million tons higher than this year."

Mr. Craft added, "Reflecting ARLP’s strong year-to-date results and our future expectations, our Board elected to increase cash distributions to unitholders to $0.40 per unit as communicated last week. While our Board considers future distributions each quarter, management continues to believe ARLP’s anticipated performance over the remainder of 2022 will support our current target of increasing unitholder distributions by 10.0% to 15.0% per quarter through the end of this year."

To see the full results with financial figures include, click here.