Alliance Resource Partners, L.P (ARLP) has reported 456.90 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $119.60 million, or $1.30 a share in the quarter, compared with $21.48 million, or $0.19 a share for the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 2.72 percent to $527.40 million from $542.15 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 583 basis points over the previous year period to 44.76 percent. Total expenses were 76.43 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 98.85 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 2242 basis points in operating margin to 23.57 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $124.30 million, compared with $6.21 million in the previous year period.
"ARLP finished the year impressively. Significantly lower operating expenses for the 2016 Quarter and the 2016 Year, combined with coal sales volumes in the 2016 Quarter that nearly matched our record shipments achieved in the Sequential Quarter, led ARLP to another strong performance for the 2016 Quarter and Year," said Joseph W. Craft III, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This performance solidified ARLP’s industry leading financial metrics among U.S. coal companies and reflects the remarkable resilience of our employees. Faced with dismal market conditions at the beginning of 2016, our teams successfully responded by capitalizing on opportunities to strengthen our sales contract portfolio and implementing initiatives to reduce operating expenses and minimize capital expenditures by maximizing production at our lowest-cost mines."
Operating cash flow falls marginally
Alliance Resource Partners, L.P has generated cash of $703.54 million from operating activities during the year, down 1.79 percent or $12.80 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $191.79 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $355.92 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $112.89 million on net basis during the year, down 46.43 percent or $97.84 million from year ago.
The company has spent $505.40 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $351.60 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $39.78 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 19 percent or $6.35 million from $33.43 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital remains negative
Working capital of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P was negative $50.20 million on Dec. 31, 2016 compared with negative $108.51 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 0.85 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 0.74 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt comes down significantly
Alliance Resource Partners, L.P has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $662.06 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 27.84 percent or $255.36 million from $917.42 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 30.19 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 38.82 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 17.07 for the quarter from 0.83 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: [email protected]
