KILGORE, Texas, April 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (Nasdaq:MMLP) announced today strategic initiatives designed to strengthen the balance sheet by reducing leverage and allowing the Partnership to retain earnings to fund growth opportunities. These initiatives consist of:

• The previously announced marketing of the Partnership’s gas storage assets.
• The active negotiation of the sale of certain non-core assets and/or businesses.
• The announcement of the Partnership’s quarterly cash distribution of $0.25 per unit or $1.00 per unit on an annual basis.

"As we have stated for multiple quarters, the Partnership is committed to strengthening our balance sheet, reducing leverage and increasing our coverage ratio. The cash distribution announcement today, while difficult, assists us as we move forward toward those goals", said Ruben Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Martin Midstream GP LLC, the general partner of the Partnership. "The decision was not made lightly or without considerable debate, as I, as well as the other members of our Board and Executive Management team, realize the implications of such a decision for our unitholders and our Partnership. However, this decision allows us to retain approximately $39.3 million annually enhancing the Partnership’s financial flexibility to pursue desirable growth opportunities that build long-term value for our unitholders."

The Partnership also announced today its financial results for the first quarter of 2019. The Partnership reported a net loss for the first quarter 2019 of $3.7 million, a loss of $0.09 per limited partner unit. The Partnership had a net income from continuing operations for the first quarter 2018 of $13.5 million, or $0.29 per limited partner unit.

"In the first quarter of 2019, the Partnership earned adjusted EBITDA of $30.8 million, which was below guidance by approximately $7.1 million," said Mr. Martin. "Through most of the quarter we experienced extreme weather patterns throughout our geographic footprint that negatively impacted the majority of our business segments.

"Beginning with Sulfur Services, the segment missed guidance by approximately $3.0 million as the fertilizer business experienced weak sales activity up through mid-March as farmers were not able to plant acreage due to weather related disruptions affecting field conditions. Fertilizer activity did increase in late March and we believe will continue to accelerate into the second quarter as the agricultural market deals with a shorter planting season. Within the Natural Gas Services segment, warm winter weather drove propane sales volumes lower than estimated and the weak butane pricing environment that began in the fourth quarter of 2018 carried over into the first quarter of 2019, contributing to an approximate $2.8 million miss for the segment when compared to guidance. And finally, our Transportation and Terminalling and Storage segments modestly missed guidance by approximately $0.6 million and $0.7 million, respectively.

"Based on this performance, the Partnership's distributable cash flow from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2019 was approximately $9.6 million. Distributable cash flow was also negatively affected by approximately $1.9 million of maintenance capital expenditures planned for the second quarter of 2019 that were accelerated into the first quarter for scheduling purposes."

Revenues for the first quarter 2019 were $251.0 million compared to the first quarter 2018 of $307.1 million.

The Partnership had net income from discontinued operations related to its previously owned investment in West Texas LPG Pipeline for the three months ended March 31, 2018 of $1.5 million, or $0.04 per limited partner unit. Distributable cash flow and adjusted EBITDA from discontinued operations were $1.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

Distributable cash flow, distributable cash flow from discontinued operations, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA from discontinued operations are non-GAAP financial measures which are explained in greater detail below under the heading "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information." The Partnership has also included below a table entitled "Reconciliation of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Distributable Cash Flow" in order to show the components of these non-GAAP financial measures and their reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measurement.

Included with this press release are the Partnership's consolidated and condensed financial statements as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and certain prior periods. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the information contained in the Partnership's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2019.

About Martin Midstream Partners

The Partnership is a publicly traded limited partnership with a diverse set of operations focused primarily in the United States Gulf Coast region. The Partnership's primary business segments include: (1) natural gas services, including liquids transportation and distribution services and natural gas storage; (2) terminalling, storage and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products; (3) sulfur and sulfur-based products processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution; and (4) transportation services for petroleum products and by-products.