Ferrellgas Partners, L.P.
Q3 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 22 Jun 2021

[Operator:]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. And welcome to the Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Earnings Call for Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. At this time, all participants’ lines are in a listen-only mode. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jim Ferrell. Thank you Please go ahead, sir.

[Jim Ferrell:]

Good morning. And welcome to the Ferrellgas third quarter earnings call. My name is Jim Ferrell and I’m the CEO of the company. On behalf of the men and women who make this company work, I want to say how proud we are the financial performance we continue to achieve. The primary reason for the pride is that our strong showing continues to be due to increasingly sound operating practices as we transform ourselves into a technology-enabled logistics company.

[Brian Herrmann:]

Thank you, Jim, and welcome to our third quarter 2021 earnings call. Thank you all for joining us. I’d like to remind all of you that some statements made during this call may be considered forward-looking, and the various risks uncertainties and other factors could cause actual performance to differ materially from anticipated performance. These factors are discussed in our Form 10-K and other documents filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, we note that the purpose of this call is to discuss the results of operations for the third fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2021. The company produced exceptionally strong results in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, leading to a $25.4 million increase in operating income or a 37.3% growth over the prior year quarter and continuing our strong performance in fiscal 2021. The gallons of propane sold for the quarter were 216.2 million, compared to 246.8 million last year or a 13.9 million increase. Margin per gallon for the quarter was $6.04 or 7% higher than the prior year quarter, attributable to strategic product placement, sound supply chain logistics strategies and a growing customer base. Blue Rhino tank exchange sales continued to increase due to further market share penetration, national markets -- marketing strategies and continued growth and backyard and outdoor appliance usage. Also contributing to a strong gallon performance our right time deliveries that shifted gallons in the last quarter, additional marketing strategies, platforms, improved use or marketing analytics and weather that was 8% colder than prior year quarter. This has resulted in an increase in gross margin dollars of $30.2 million or 30% higher than prior year quarter. Highlighting the company’s delivery efficiency strategies, in response to increase volumes, operating expenses increased to nominal 2.5%, while decreasing 2.7% per gallon.

[Tamria Zertuche:]

Thank you, Brian. Our retail and tank exchange businesses continue to grow. We have strategically added to our customer base with new locations that positively impacted our route density. One of the keys to our success lies in our high performing employees and having a strong operations team throughout the country. We created the Ferrellgas Management Development Program last year to create a pipeline for diverse leadership and to provide Management Development and a Mentorship Program.

[Q -:]

[Operator:]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.