Edmonton, Alberta - April 27, 2009 (TSX: EP.UN) - EPCOR Power Services Ltd., the general partner of EPCOR Power L.P. (the Partnership), today released the Partnership’s quarterly results for the period ended March 31, 2009.
"The Partnership’s first quarter operating cash flows were slightly below our expectations as a result of lower water flows at our BC facilities and lower waste heat availability at the Ontario facilities.", said Brian Vaasjo, President of the General Partner of EPCOR Power L.P. "Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $33.7 million and excluding working capital changes was $32.4 million in the first quarter of 2009. The Partnership reported a net loss of $33.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, which was driven by the accounting recognition of $50.3 million in unrealized losses on the change in fair value of natural gas supply and foreign exchange contracts. Due to various non-cash items that are reported on the income statement which have no current economic impact, the net loss is not a meaningful measure of the Partnership’s operating performance."
"In the first quarter, our focus was on making progress on our two larger growth initiatives. These initiatives include enhancements to our two North Carolina facilities that will reduce environmental emissions and improve the economic performance. The other initiative is the repowering of our North Island facility that will improve plant efficiency. Both projects are on schedule for completion later this year and are expected to be accretive."
Highlights of EPCOR Power L.P.’s operational and financial performance included:
Operational and Financial Highlights
(unaudited) |
Three months ended
March 31 |
| (millions of dollars except per unit and operational amounts) |
2009 |
2008 |
| Power generated (GWh) |
1,299 |
1,253 |
| Weighted average plant availability |
94% |
97% |
| Revenue |
127.6 |
118.1 |
| Net income (loss) from continuing operations |
(32.6) |
53.3 |
| Per unit |
$(0.60) |
$0.99 |
| Net income (loss) |
(33.3) |
53.4 |
| Per unit |
$(0.62) |
$0.84 |
| Comprehensive income (loss) |
(16.6) |
52.5 |
| Cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations |
33.7 |
41.6 |
| Per unit (1) |
$0.63 |
$0.77 |
| Cash distributions |
34.0 |
34.0 |
| Per unit |
$0.63 |
$0.63 |
| Capital expenditures |
17.0 |
3.4 |
| Weighted average units outstanding (millions) |
53.9 |
53.9 |
(1) Cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations per unit is a non-GAAP financial measure that is defined in the interim MD&A.
The March 31, 2009 interim report is shown below. The interim management discussion and analysis and interim consolidated financial statements are available on the EPCOR Power L.P. website (http://www.epcorpowerlp.ca/) and will be available on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com/).