Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP) reported Q1 EPS of $2.12, versus $0.69 reported last year. Revenue for the quarter came in at $526.6 million versus the consensus estimate of $520.5 million.

• Increased coal sales volumes, improved coal sales prices and the addition of oil & gas royalty revenues in the 2019 Quarter drove total revenues higher by 15.2% to $526.6 million, compared to $457.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 (the "2018 Quarter").
• Higher revenues, combined with gains related to the AllDale transaction and the redemption of our preferred interest in Kodiak (each described in more detail below) led to increased net income attributable to ARLP, which rose 77.3% to $276.4 million for the 2019 Quarter, or $2.12 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, compared to $155.9 million, or $1.16 per basic and diluted limited partner unit, for the 2018 Quarter.
• EBITDA also increased 57.0% in the 2019 Quarter to $358.8 million compared to $228.5 million in the 2018 Quarter.
• Excluding the impact of the gain related to the AllDale acquisition in the 2019 Quarter and a gain on settlement of litigation in the 2018 Quarter,
• Adjusted EBITDA increased to $188.8 million in the 2019 Quarter, compared to $148.5 million for the 2018 Quarter.

"ARLP opened 2019 with strong financial and operating results, posting increased coal sales and production volumes, higher per ton coal price realizations and lower costs per ton during the first quarter," said Joseph W. Craft III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "With completion of the AllDale transaction in early January, the increased contribution from our oil & gas royalty platform also contributed to ARLP’s increased revenues, net income and EBITDA for the 2019 Quarter."

Market Update and Outlook

"Focusing on the U.S., ARLP’s teams effectively managed around the disruptive weather conditions encountered during the 2019 Quarter," said Mr. Craft. "Unprecedented flooding and high water levels significantly disrupted barge deliveries throughout the river and port systems, delaying the shipment of approximately 750,000 tons of ARLP’s expected deliveries during the 2019 Quarter. Looking ahead, once river and gulf port conditions return to normal, we anticipate ARLP’s delayed shipments will be made up over the next several months. We also expect lower customer inventory levels in the eastern U.S. should support utility coal purchases in the second half of 2019, allowing us to meet our domestic sales target of approximately 32.5 million tons for the year — a 10% gain over 2018 results."

Mr. Craft continued, "Internationally, transportation congestion, falling natural gas prices in Europe, and aggressive discounting by foreign producers have created pressure in the seaborne thermal coal markets, driving all international thermal indexes significantly lower. Although we continue to view long term fundamentals for international coal favorably and expect current market conditions to improve, the timing of this improvement over the balance of 2019 is unclear. In response, we are lowering our 2019 target for export coal sales to approximately 11.0 million tons and delaying our planned growth ramp for Illinois Basin coal volumes by approximately 1.0 million tons this year. ARLP now anticipates full year 2019 results near the lower end of guidance ranges for total coal sales and production tons, revenues, net income and EBITDA. Combining our coal outlook with increased contributions from ARLP’s oil & gas royalty platform, ARLP plans to deliver solid year-over-year growth in 2019 and generate healthy distributable cash flow supporting our continuing goal of increasing quarterly unitholder distributions while maintaining a comfortable coverage ratio."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) click here.