Global Partners LP (GLP) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Global Partners Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. With us from Global Partners are President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eric Slifka, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gregory Hansen, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mark Romain, and Chief Legal Officer, Ms. Kristen Seabrook. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Ms. Seabrook for opening remarks. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today's call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal security laws, including projections and expectations concerning the future financial and operational performance of global partners. No assurances can be given that these projections will be attained or that these expectations will be met. Our assumptions and future performance are subject to a wide range of business risk, uncertainties, and factors, including supply and demand, which could cause actual results to differ materially, as described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Global Partner undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements. Now, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Eric Flicka.

Eric? Thank you, Kristen, and good morning, everyone. Our third quarter results underscore the strength of global's integrated liquid energy model. Our presence across the supply chain provides multiple sources of earnings and the flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions. We saw the benefit of that model this quarter. Solid execution across our terminal network and wholesale business more than offset lower retail fuel volumes as higher pump prices weighed on demand and our station operations held steady. We do not rely on any single segment or market dynamic to drive performance. It's that balance that helps us manage through different market environments and gives Global the ability to capture opportunities across the business. We're also in a strong position to invest in the future. We remain disciplined in how we deploy capital, whether we are investing in our existing assets or pursuing opportunities that strengthen our platform and generate attractive long-term returns for unit holders. Turning to our distribution, last month our board approved our 20th consecutive quarterly distribution increase, raising the quarterly cash distribution to $78.50 per common unit or $3.14 on an annualized basis. The distribution will be paid on November 13th to unit holders of record as of November 9th. We believe that track record reflects the strength and consistency of the business and our priority of returning capital to unit holders. Our commitment to the communities we serve remains an important part of who we are. We have committed more than $200,000 to community action agencies and nonprofits to assist with home heating oil efforts in New England this winter. This builds on our long-standing efforts to help families meet their heating needs with direct contributions that allow these organizations to put the funds where they can have the greatest impact. Now, let me turn the call over to Greg for the financial review. Greg? Thank you, Eric.

And good morning, everyone. As we review the numbers, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons will be with the third quarter of 2025. Net income in the third quarter of 2026 was $52.4 million versus $29 million in the prior year period. EBITDA was $120.8 million in the third quarter versus $97.1 million in 2025. And adjusted EBITDA was $122.9 compared with $98.8 million. Distributable cash flow was $70.1 million in the third quarter of 2016, compared with $53 million, and adjusted DCF was $70.3 million versus $53.3 million. We continue to maintain a healthy distribution coverage at quarter end of 2.3 times. Moving to our segment details, GDSO segment product margin decreased 8.3 million to 210.6 million in the quarter. Product margin from gasoline distribution was down 8 million to 136.8 million, primarily due to a decrease in volume sold. Station operations product margin, which includes convenience store and prepared food sales, sundries, and rental incomes, decreased 300,000. To 73.8 million in the third quarter of 2026. At quarter end, our GDSO portfolio of fueling stations and C-stores consisted of 1,489 sites, exclusive of the 69 sites under our Spring Partners Retail Joint Venture. Turning to our wholesale segment, third quarter product margin increased $33.4 million to $111.4 million, primarily reflecting more favorable market conditions in gasoline and distillates, with product margin from gasoline and gasoline blend stocks increasing $14.3 million to $75.8 million, and product margin from distillates and other oils increasing $19.1 million to $35.6 million. In our commercial segment, product margin increased 0.1 million to 71 million due in part to more favorable market conditions and bunkering. We are pleased with our results in the quarter. Our integrated system provides us with multiple sources of revenue generation, and our team has demonstrated strong execution and capturing value in a dynamic market environment. We continue to expect the current steep backwardation in the forward product pricing curve to increase the cost of carrying our hedged inventory in future periods, and we remain focused on disciplined inventory management, driving growth across our segments, and efficient operations. Turning to the expense side, operating expenses decreased $1.4 million in the third quarter to $131.1 million, reflecting lower expenses associated with our terminal operations, largely in maintenance and repair expenses, offset by higher expenses related to our GDSO operations, mostly in credit card fees. SG&A increased $3.1 million to $79.4 million, consisting of increases in wages and benefits, discretionary incentive comp, and various other expenses, offset by a decrease in maintenance and repair expenses. Interest expense decreased $1.9 million to $31.4 million, partially due to lower average balances on our working capital revolving credit facility. CapEx in the third quarter was $41.9 million, consisting of maintenance CapEx of $19.3 million and expansion CapEx of $22.6 million, primarily related to investments in our gasoline station business. For full year 2026, we now expect maintenance CapEx in the range of $65 million to $75 million, up $5 million from our previous range, with expansion of CapEx, excluding acquisitions, unchanged at $75 million to $85 million. Our current CapEx estimates depend in part on the timing of project completions, availability of equipment and labor, whether in any unforeseen events or opportunities that require additional maintenance or investment. Our balance sheet remains strong. As of September 30th, leverage as defined in our credit agreement as funded debt to EBITDA of approximately 2.8 times, and we maintained ample excess capacity on our credit facilities. We had $99 million outstanding on our working capital revolver and $144.5 million outstanding on our revolving credit facility. During the third quarter, we redeemed all of our outstanding nine-and-a-half Series B fixed-rate preferred units, eliminating $75 million of preferred equity from our capital structure. And subsequent to quarter end, we amended our credit agreement, extending its maturity by more than three years to October 2031, while maintaining our $1 billion working capital revolving credit facility and our $500 million revolving credit facility. Let me turn the call back to Eric for his closing comments. Eric?

Thanks, Greg. As we look forward, our focus is straightforward. Execute well, build on the strengths of our integrated platform, and continuing positioning global for long-term growth. We have a strong foundation, a proven operating model, and a team that knows how to navigate a dynamic market. We're excited about the opportunities ahead and remain focused on creating lasting value for our unit holders. With that, Greg, Mark, and I will be happy to take your questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A.

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Greg Brody with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, Greg. Good morning.

Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing on the customer side in terms of their behavior with consumption and how that compares to what data you're seeing across the U.S.?

Hey, Greg. It's Greg Hansen. Yeah, I mean, I think overall, we definitely saw an impact from, from, sorry, let's turn to call back. Sorry about that. We have a little interference there. Yeah, I think overall, we definitely saw an impact on the consumer from higher retail prices on the fuel volume side. You know, I think we were pleasantly surprised at how well the consumer did inside our C-stores, basically being flat on the C-store, and we did see some higher transaction baskets in the quarter. Our transactions were down, but the basket size actually increased a little bit overall. So we definitely saw people conserving on the fuel side with the high prices overall. But, you know, I think on the C-store side, it was pretty steady overall, which we think is quarter to quarter, which was sort of a win in our book overall.

And just, you know, I would think, is this volatility in, or maybe are these higher prices potentially creating more opportunities for you to acquire mom and pops that are feeling a little strain on the working capital needs here? Or is that, or is that, is that not a factor?

Yeah, Greg, it's Eric Slufka. I don't, you know, I don't think that that's the opportunity. I just think. There is certainly a lot going on. M&A has been very busy. I think there's a lot of opportunity out there. I'm not sure it's being driven by credit issues or pricing, per se. It still is, at the retail level, it's still a very fragmented business, and there's lots of opportunities there. We continue to look at everything that we can find, but we also want to make sure that we're doing deals that are accretive and have good returns, and we're trying to maintain our discipline. It's still competitive. And then when you look at the terminal in business, there are opportunities that are fewer, but, you know, the deals are bigger, and we'll continue to make sure that we're investing through our own network to drive higher returns.

Thanks for the time, guys.

Thanks, Greg.

Thank you. We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Slitka for closing comments.

Thank you again for your time today and for your continued interest in global. We look forward to speaking with you next quarter and wish everybody a great weekend. Thank you all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day.