TransMontaigne Partners L.P. Announces Financial Results

For The Quarter Ended September 30, 2015

Denver, Colorado—TransMontaigne Partners L.P. (NYSE:TLP) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Financial Results

An overview of the financial performance for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2014, includes: 

Distributable cash flow was $17.4 million and $52.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.  We will pay distributions of $12.6 million and $37.9 million, resulting in distribution coverage ratios of 1.37x and 1.38x, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.

Our terminaling services agreements are structured as either throughput agreements or storage agreements.  Most of our throughput agreements contain provisions that require our customers to throughput a minimum volume of product at our facilities over a stipulated period of time, which results in a fixed amount of revenue to be recognized by us.  Our storage agreements require our customers to make minimum payments based on the volume of storage capacity made available to the customer under the agreement, which results in a fixed amount of revenue to be recognized by us.  We refer to the fixed amount of revenue recognized pursuant to our terminaling services agreements as being “firm commitments.”  Revenue recognized in excess of firm commitments and revenue recognized based solely on the volume of product distributed or injected are referred to as “variable.”  Our revenue was as follows (in thousands): 

The amount of revenue recognized as “firm commitments” based on the remaining contractual term of the terminaling services agreements that generated “firm commitments” for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows (in thousands):

Our investments in unconsolidated affiliates include a 42.5% interest in BOSTCO and a 50% interest in Frontera.  BOSTCO is a newly constructed terminal facility located on the Houston Ship Channel.  BOSTCO began initial commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2013; with the completion of its approximately 7.1 million barrels of storage capacity and related infrastructure occurring at the end of the

third quarter of 2014.  Frontera is a terminal facility located in Brownsville, Texas that encompasses approximately 1.5 million barrels of light petroleum product storage capacity, as well as related ancillary facilities.

The following table summarizes our investments in unconsolidated affiliates:

Earnings from investments in unconsolidated affiliates were as follows (in thousands):

Cash distributions received from unconsolidated affiliates were as follows (in thousands):

The increase in distributions received from our investment in BOSTCO for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2014, includes approximately $3.4 million of our share of a one-time gain resulting from a contract buy-out by one of the BOSTCO customers in April of 2015, which we received in cash as a component of our third quarter 2015 distribution from BOSTCO.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Commercial activity.    On October 30, 2015, we entered into a new six-year terminaling services agreement with a subsidiary of NGL Energy Partners LP (“NGL”) for approximately 1.2 million barrels

of new product storage capacity to be constructed at our Collins, Mississippi terminal and approximately 0.1 million barrels of existing storage capacity at this same terminal. The terminaling services agreement with NGL will be effective January 1, 2016 with the majority of the contract revenue coming on-line upon completion of the construction of the new tank capacity, which is expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.  This first phase of our expansion at Collins is expected to cost approximately $43 million.  We are currently negotiating agreements with other potential customers that could support the construction of another 0.8 million barrels of product storage capacity at our Collins terminal.  Our Collins terminal is the only independent terminal capable of receiving from, delivering to, and transferring between the Colonial and Plantation pipeline systems.

On October 26, 2015, we finalized the negotiation of the start of a five-and-half-year terminaling services agreement with a new third party customer for approximately 700,000 barrels of existing asphalt storage capacity at our Port Everglades North, Cape Canaveral, Jacksonville, and Port Manatee, Florida terminals. The new agreement contains an increase to the minimum throughput fee per barrel and commenced November 1, 2015, upon the departure of the previous third party asphalt customer at these terminals.  The new agreement re-contracts all but approximately 270,000 barrels of our asphalt storage capacity in Florida, which was under contract through October 31, 2015. We are in the process of identifying other potential parties to re‑contract this capacity, however, at this time we cannot be certain whether we will be successful in our re‑contracting efforts.

Quarterly distribution.  On October 12, 2015, we announced a distribution of $0.665 per unit for the period from July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015. This distribution is payable on November 6, 2015 to unitholders of record on October 30, 2015.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

TransMontaigne Partners also released the following statements regarding its current liquidity and capital resources:

Attachment A contains additional selected financial information and results of operations.  Attachment B contains a reconciliation of net earnings to the computation of our distributable cash flow and Consolidated EBITDA. 

Conference Call

TransMontaigne Partners L.P. previously announced that it has scheduled a conference call for Thursday,  November 5, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) regarding the above information. Analysts, investors and other interested parties are invited to listen to management’s presentation of the Company’s results and supplemental financial information by accessing the call as follows:

(800) 230-1766

Ask for:

TransMontaigne Partners

A playback of the conference call will be available from 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, November 5, 2015 until 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, November 12, 2015 by calling:

USA:  (800) 475-6701

International:  (320) 365-3844

Access Code:  372619

Attachment A

Selected Financial Information and Results of Operations

The following selected financial information is extracted from our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2015, which was filed on November 5, 2015 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (in thousands, except per unit amounts):

Selected results of operations data for each of the quarters in the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 are summarized below (in thousands):

Attachment B

Distributable Cash Flow

The following summarizes our distributable cash flow for the period indicated (in thousands): 

Distributable cash flow, the distribution coverage ratio and Consolidated EBITDA are not computations based upon generally accepted accounting principles.  The amounts included in the computations of our distributable cash flow and Consolidated EBITDA are derived from amounts separately presented in our consolidated financial statements, notes thereto and “Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5, 2015.  Distributable cash flow and Consolidated EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net earnings or operating income, as an indication of our operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity.  Distributable cash flow and Consolidated EBITDA are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Distributable cash flow and Consolidated EBITDA are presented here because they are widely accepted financial indicators used to compare partnership performance. Further, Consolidated EBITDA is calculated consistent with the provisions our credit facility and is a financial performance measure used in the calculation of our leverage ratio requirement. We believe that these measures provide investors an enhanced perspective of the operating performance of our assets, the cash we are generating and our ability to make distributions to our unitholders and our general partner.

About TransMontaigne Partners L.P.

TransMontaigne Partners L.P. is a terminaling and transportation company based in Denver, Colorado with operations in the United States along the Gulf Coast, in the Midwest, in Houston and Brownsville, Texas, along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and in the Southeast. We provide integrated terminaling, storage, transportation and related services for customers engaged in the distribution and marketing of light refined petroleum products, heavy refined petroleum products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers and other liquid products.  Light refined products include gasolines, diesel fuels, heating oil and jet fuels; heavy refined products include residual fuel oils and asphalt.  We do not purchase or market products that we handle or transport.  News and additional information about TransMontaigne Partners L.P. is available on our website:  www.transmontaignepartners.com.

Forward‑Looking Statements

This press release includes statements that may constitute forward‑looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward‑looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company’s expectations and may adversely affect its business and results of operations are disclosed in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2015. 

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