Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the SunCoke Energy Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is Chad, and I'll be coordinating your call today. During the presentation, you can register to ask a question by pressing star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star followed by two. I'd now like to hand over to Shantanu Agrawal, VP Finance, Finance, to begin. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Chad. Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning to discuss SunCoke Energy's third quarter 2023 results. With me today are Mike Rippey, Chief Executive Officer, Katherine Gates, President, and Mark Marinko, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Following management's prepared remarks, we'll open the call for Q&A. This conference call is being webcast live on the investor relations section of our website, and a replay will be available later today. If we do not get to your questions on the call today, please feel free to reach out to our investor relations team. Before I turn things over to Katherine, let me remind you that the various remarks we make on today's call regarding future expectations constitute forward-looking statements. The cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements in our SEC filings apply to the remarks we make today.
These documents are available on our website as are reconciliations to non-GAAP financial measures discussed on today's call. With that, I'll now turn things over to Katherine.
Thanks, Shantanu. Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Earlier today, we announced SunCoke Energy's third quarter results. Before I turn it over to Mark to review the results in detail, I do want to share a few highlights from Q3. I'd like to start by thanking all of our SunCoke employees for their contributions to our third quarter results. Our Domestic Coke plants operated well and continued to run at full capacity. When compared to last year's record third quarter results, we delivered lower contribution margins on non-contracted blast coke sales. Similarly, our logistics terminals continued to operate well but saw lower volumes in pricing, driven by weaker demand during the quarter. Through our collective efforts, we delivered consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $65.4 million.
You know, we continue to successfully navigate through challenging market conditions with all of our non-contracted blast furnace coke sales finalized for the remainder of the year. Earlier today, we announced a $0.10 per share dividend payable to shareholders on December 1st, 2023. From a balance sheet perspective, we ended the third quarter with a strong liquidity position of $475.9 million. Our gross leverage was approximately 1.91 x on a trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA basis at the end of the quarter. Finally, we continue to execute against our 2023 objectives and remain well positioned to achieve the high end of our full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $250 million-$265 million. With that, I'll turn it over to Mark to review our third quarter earnings in detail. Mark?
Thanks, Katherine. Turning to slide four, net income attributable to SunCoke was $0.08 per share in the third quarter of 2023, down $0.41 versus the prior year period. Tax adjustments of $0.29 per share impacted EPS, primarily due to tax law changes in the U.S. and Brazil in both 2022 and 2023. Excluding the impact of these adjustments, EPS was lower by $0.12 per share quarter-over-quarter, primarily driven by lower contribution margins on non-contracted blast coke sales, partially offset by favorable coal-to-coke yields . Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter 2023 was $65.4 million, a decrease of $18.3 million from record results of third quarter 2022.
The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by the lower contribution margins on non-contracted blast coke sales, partially offset by favorable coal-to-coke yields and lower transloading volumes and pricing in our Logistics segment. Moving to slide five to discuss our Domestic Coke business performance in detail. Third quarter Domestic Coke adjusted EBITDA was $64 million, and coke sales volumes were 1,016,000 tons. While the Domestic Coke fleet has continued to run at full capacity, the decrease in adjusted EBITDA as compared to the record prior year period was primarily driven by lower contribution margin on our non-contracted blast coke sales, partially offset by higher coal-to-coke yields . As Katherine mentioned, we continue to successfully navigate through difficult market conditions, and all our coke sales are finalized for the rest of the year.
Given the solid year-to-date performance of our Domestic Coke segment, we are well positioned to deliver Domestic Coke adjusted EBITDA on the high end of our guidance range of $234 million-$242 million. Now moving on to slide six to discuss our Logistics business. Our Logistics business generated $8.4 million of adjusted EBITDA and handled combined throughput volumes of approximately 5 million tons during the third quarter of 2023, as compared to $12.9 million and 5.7 million tons, respectively, during the same prior year period. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to lower throughput volumes and a lower API 2 price adjustment benefit at CMT. We continue to see volatility in thermal coal pricing, as evidenced by CMT recognizing a limited API 2 price adjustment benefit during the third quarter.
However, we expect the API 2 price adjustment to recover during the fourth quarter. Based on our year-to-date performance and anticipation of continued volatility in the market, we expect to deliver Logistics full-year adjusted EBITDA at the low end of our guidance range of $47 million-$50 million. Now turning to slide seven to discuss our liquidity position for Q3. SunCoke ended the third quarter with a cash balance of approximately $126 million. Cash flow from operating activities generated approximately $94 million. For the quarter, cash flow was favorably impacted by working capital changes, mainly the timing of receivables and payables. We expect this favorability to reverse in the fourth quarter. We paid $8.4 million in dividends at the rate of $0.10 per share this quarter and spent $34.1 million on CapEx.
In total, we ended the quarter with a strong liquidity position of approximately $476 million. With that, I will turn it back over to Katherine.
Thanks, Mark. Wrapping up on slide eight, safety, environmental, and operational performance are top priorities for our company. We remain focused on safely executing against our operating and capital plan for full utilization of our coke-making assets. As mentioned in our second quarter earnings call, we completed the foundry expansion project on time and on budget. This project allows us to grow our foundry market participation while maintaining flexibility to make either blast or foundry coke. We will continue to pursue a balanced, opportunistic approach to capital allocation, as we've demonstrated in the past. We continuously evaluate the capital needs of the business and our capital structure, and we'll make capital allocation decisions accordingly. As mentioned earlier, despite challenging market conditions, we were able to finalize all of our non-contracted blast furnace coke sales for the year.
Finally, based on the reliability and performance of our operating segments, we look to achieve the high end of our full-year consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance of $250 million-$265 million. With that, let's go ahead and open up the call for Q&A.
Thank you, Katherine. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now. If you change your mind, please press star followed by two. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure your device is unmuted locally. Our first question today comes from Lucas Pipes of B. Riley. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, operator. Thank you for taking my questions, just a few quick ones. The first one is on the blast furnace coke side, and you mentioned kind of the weaker contributions there during the quarter. I wondered if you could remind us how those tons are typically priced and what causes variability in the contribution margin. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Lucas. Appreciate the question. The contribution margins are dependent on what the spot blast furnace coke price sales are. This quarter, we've just seen lower contribution margins based on the spot sales that we had remaining for this year.
And Lucas, I would add that—this is Shantanu—is like, you know, we are comparing this against the Q3 2022 last year quarter, right? Which was one of the highest points from a spot market perspective, where the blast coke was trading at. So the comparison is kind of a little bit unfair. And if you look at, you know, our quarterly performance over the last three quarters, it's just more in line with that. So,
Got it
... it's just kind of the comparison is coming off of a really high record quarter of last year.
Got it. Got it. No, that's helpful. What are typically the lags or the lead times in that segment? So are you selling blast furnace spot coke today for Q4, or for Q1 next year, for Q2 next year? How does that kind of typically flow through the business?
It's typically, Lucas, about three to six months.
It's like a quarter-
Got it
... right? Basically, that's what we have said before.
Got it. Got it. And it's essentially like the supply and demand for coke, kind of with that outlook, that kind of sets the price and the margin.
It does, Lucas.
Remind me, is that true for both domestic and export, or should we differentiate between the two?
No, it's the same whether we're selling into the North American market or into the seaborne market.
Is the seaborne market currently open, given where international coke prices are, relative to met coke prices?
I mean, yes, the prices are a little bit depressed on, on the international, you know, seaborne market, right? Like, there is, there's a price at which the product will clear. It is definitely depressed, but, you know, we kind of look at all our options and see what, what, where, where our coke can go.
Okay. Okay, thank you for that. And then, on a couple of questions on slide eight. The first is the foundry coke expansion project, and I wondered two things. First, can you remind us on the timing of that project, and then also the capital intensity of that project? Thank you very much.
Yes. So we completed that project actually at before in Q2. And so that was actually finished a little bit early. We had originally said we would have it done by Q3. So we got that done on time. And we don't give the specifics, but as we said, you know, we expected this to be... Typically, our CapEx is around $80 million-$85 million. We were at $95 million, so we had built in, you know, approximately 12-15 for that project, Lucas.
12-15 million? Got it. And is it operating at full capacity today?
It is. The screener, the screener itself is operating at full capacity. As we had said, you know, our sales are finalized for the year.
Okay. Thank you for that. And then, on slide eight, I don't see a mention of Granite City. Should we assume that project is kind of off the table or low priority at this point?
That would be a no and a no. So we are continuing to work with U.S. Steel on the GPI project. So that is continuing to move forward, and it is a very, very high priority for us. I think, you know, it can be unsatisfying to have to you know, wait to hear an announcement on this type of project. And, you know, Lucas, it's a complex project, but, you know, we've continued to work with U.S. Steel, and they've continued to work with us. And we just, we really have a strong belief that if this is consummated, it's gonna be meaningfully rewarding to our shareholders. And so, you know, it's really, it's worth the time to continue to move forward with U.S. Steel on this.
In light of the strategic process that U.S. Steel is running, has there been more or less activity since August?
We have continued to move forward. The activity remains the same.
Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you very much, and best of luck.
Thanks, Lucas.
The next question is from Nathan Martin, from The Benchmark Company. Please go ahead.
Thanks, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. Just maybe one more, Katherine, on the Granite City GPI opportunity. Can you talk about maybe any of the, the biggest hurdles kind of remaining there on those negotiations?
You know, I would just say, you know, in saying it was complex, I mean, whether we're talking about the capital, we're talking about the siting, we're talking about all of those elements of it, those things just take time. They're absolutely things that we can work through, but they do take time.
Okay, got it. Maybe shifting over to the Domestic Coke segment. Obviously, you maintain your expectations for full-year adjusted EBITDA, the high end of the range. If my math's correct, that only implies EBITDA of around $49 million in the fourth quarter to get you to that high end of the range, which would, should be down about $15 million quarter-over-quarter. So I guess the question is, given all your coke sales are finalized, I'm wondering, what are the headwinds you see in the fourth quarter that cause you to believe, you know, maybe a sequential decline like that is possible? Or maybe are you baking a little bit of conservatism into your guidance?
I appreciate the question. Yeah, no, we're really pleased with our year-to-date performance, and we have a significant amount of planned outage work in the fourth quarter. That's contemplated in our guidance. And I think we've said before, you know, certain of our planned outages are largely expensed. And so this is really, you know, it's not dissimilar to, for example, last year and some of our other fourth quarters, Nathan. And it's actually, it's why, you know, we don't give quarterly guidance. But with those planned outages and the planned work, we still remain well positioned to achieve the high end of our guidance range.
Katherine, just maybe a little bit more on the planned outages. Are those going to affect, you know, or just EBITDA per ton? I mean, clearly, your sales volume guidance stayed around 4 million, so I guess that doesn't necessarily get affected much. How does that kind of affect the operations, outputs?
With these outages, you know, there's higher O&M when they occur. It does affect our EBITDA per ton, but that's fully contemplated in our guidance. It was contemplated at the beginning of the year.
Okay. All right. Okay, maybe I'll move over to the Logistics business. I mean, there, I guess you did adjust your full year guidance to the low end of the prior range, which actually looks like it would imply a $5 million or so quarter-over-quarter EBITDA increase. It would be great to get your thoughts maybe on some puts and takes there in the fourth quarter. Also curious what you guys are assuming for full year throughput. I think original guidance was 22 million tons, with maybe 10 from CMT. Is there any updates on that front?
With respect to, you know, what we're seeing for fourth quarter, you know, as Mark mentioned, you know, the API 2 price adjustment is recovering for us. That's part of what you're seeing coming through, and then we do expect to see higher volumes on Logistics.
Yeah, to add to that, Nate, you know, on a full year basis, our guidance was 10 million tons—approximately 10 million tons for CMT and approximately 12 for other Logistics business. So we are going to be a little bit short of that on a full year basis. You know, so if you look at kind of what we have performed earlier in the year, that's kind of what the Q4 is gonna look like. But overall, the volumes will come in a little bit short, but we are guiding towards the lower end of the EBITDA guidance.
Okay. Yeah, Shantanu, that's kind of was gonna be my next question. So that makes sense that you may be a little short on the shipment guidance standpoint. I guess it would also be helpful, though, if you guys could give some more color around the split in between coal shipments and other shipments at CMT. That was kind of the bulk of the quarter-over-quarter decline it looked like from a shipment perspective. Is it more weakness in coal, or is it some of the other products you guys are moving through the terminal?
It's mostly coal. Yeah, I mean, Nate, I mean, on the CMT side, most of the variability comes from the coal side. The ancillary business is kind of more or less stable from a quarter-to-quarter basis. And, you know, obviously, it comes from what the demand is, and that is kind of reflected in the API 2 pricing, which drives the demand of the coal. So most of the variability comes from the coal.
Okay. Got it. Very helpful. And then maybe just in one last kind of modeling question for me. CapEx, Mark mentioned it was $34 million in the third quarter. I think that puts your year-to-date spend already about $85 million. You maintain guidance of $95 million. It's a pretty big fall off, I guess, in the fourth quarter to roughly $10 million. Is that right? Is that the right way to think about it, or am I missing something?
No, that's the right way to think about it. You know, I mentioned earlier that we have, you know, our own planned outages at our coke plants, and, you know, those are really higher O&M. They're not CapEx heavy. So, you know, that's really what we're seeing in the fourth quarter. So it's-- we're low on CapEx there. But what we have seen is that we've seen the inflationary pressures related to our maintenance CapEx, and that's, you know, throughout the year. We actually have some nominal capital spend on preliminary engineering work on the GPI Project as well. So both that, you know, that inflationary pressure and the GPI Project was not anticipated at the time that we gave our CapEx guidance.
So we actually anticipate CapEx coming in slightly above our guidance of $95 million.
Got it. So slightly above 95, but... Okay, so maybe it's, again, a little more than that $10 million, which would seem like it would be a little bit light just based on your run rates. Okay. Great.
Yeah.
That's very helpful. And then one more thing, actually, Katherine. The tax law changes you guys highlighted, is that just kind of a one-time thing, or is there a new kind of tax rate we should assume going forward?
No, this is absolutely a one-time thing.
Okay, perfect. I appreciate the time and the comments. I'll leave it there. Best of luck in the fourth quarter.
All right. Thanks, Nathan.
We have no further questions in the question queue, so I'd now like to hand back to Katherine Gates, President of SunCoke Energy.
All right. Well, thank you all for joining us today, and thank you for your continued interest in SunCoke.