Partnership Takes Strategic Steps to Balance Capital Investment
Opportunities with Weakness in the Crude Oil Market
Global
Partners LP (NYSE: GLP) announced today that the Board of Directors
of its general partner, Global GP LLC, has declared a quarterly cash
distribution of $0.4625 per unit ($1.85 per unit on an annualized basis)
on all of its outstanding common units for the period from October 1 to
December 31, 2015. The distribution will be paid February 16, 2016 to
unitholders of record as of the close of business on February 10, 2016.
The distribution, which primarily reflects continuing weakness in the
crude oil market, represents a decrease of 33.7% from the distribution
of $0.6975 paid in November 2015 and a decrease of 30.5% from the
distribution of $0.6650 paid in February 2015.
“In light of the severe headwinds in the crude oil market, our Board has
made the difficult decision to reduce our quarterly distribution for the
first time since our initial public offering in 2005,” said Eric Slifka,
President and CEO of Global Partners. “We continue to be negatively
impacted by fixed costs associated with our crude oil business,
including railcar leases. As a result, in the first quarter we have
implemented a number of initiatives to reduce expenses and manage our
cash flow. We are pursuing this approach in order to position the
Partnership for the long term.”
During this period of headwinds in the crude market, to capitalize on
the flexibility of its Oregon facility, Global Partners is taking steps
to utilize this location for ethanol transloading. This measure is
substantially related to cleaning of tanks and associated
infrastructure, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of
this year.
As part of its expense management initiatives, the Partnership has
reduced its workforce by approximately 70 people, which equates to
approximately 8% of the Partnership’s headcount excluding employees at
its convenience stores. This reduction includes employees at its
transload facilities in Oregon and North Dakota and corporate offices.
“While any workforce reduction is difficult, we believe these actions
are necessary to work through this challenging crude market,” Slifka
said. “The implementation of all these initiatives helps provide us with
flexibility to invest in our business in the future. We will continue to
monitor market conditions and take other appropriate action as
necessary.”
Separately, as part of the 2015 expansion of its retail gasoline station
and convenience store network with the Warren and Capitol Petroleum
acquisitions, the Partnership continues to evaluate its entire portfolio
for purposes of advancing the disposition and reconfiguration of sites
in order to maximize value.
Global Partners will provide additional details on the measures outlined
in this news release on its fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 financial
results conference call.
About Global Partners LP
A publicly traded master limited partnership, Global is a midstream
logistics and marketing company that owns, controls or has access to one
of the largest terminal networks of petroleum products and renewable
fuels in the Northeast. Global also is one of the largest distributors
of gasoline, distillates, residual oil and renewable fuels to
wholesalers, retailers and commercial customers in New England and New
York. The Partnership is engaged in the transportation of crude oil and
other products by rail across its “virtual pipeline” from the
mid-continental U.S. and Canada to the East and West Coasts for
distribution to refiners and others. With approximately 1,600 locations,
primarily in the Northeast, Global also is one of the largest
independent owners, suppliers and operators of gasoline stations and
convenience stores. Global is No. 180 in the Fortune 500 list of
America’s largest corporations. For additional information, visit www.globalp.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements and information in this press release may constitute
“forward-looking statements.” The words “believe,” “expect,”
“anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could” or
other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, which are generally not historical in nature. These
forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and
beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect on us.
While management believes that these forward-looking statements are
reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future
developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate. All comments
concerning our expectations for future revenues and operating results
are based on our forecasts for our existing operations and do not
include the potential impact of any future acquisitions. Our
forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties
(some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause
actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and
our present expectations or projections.
For additional information regarding known material factors that could
cause our actual results to differ from our projected results, please
see our filings with SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements
after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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