HollyFrontier Corporation Reports Quarterly Results

• Reported net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders of $148.2 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, and adjusted net loss of $(85.3) million, or $(0.53) per diluted share, for the first quarter

• Reported EBITDA of $281.3 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $47.3 million for the first quarter

HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC) (“HollyFrontier” or the “Company”) today reported first quarter net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders of $148.2 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to a net loss of $(304.6) million, or $(1.88) per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

The first quarter results reflect special items that collectively increased net income by a total of $233.5 million. On a pre-tax basis, these items include a lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustment of $200.0 million and a $51.5 million gain on a tariff settlement, partially offset by severance costs of $7.8 million related to restructuring in our Lubricants and Specialty Products segment and charges related to the Cheyenne Refinery conversion to renewable diesel production, including decommissioning charges of $8.3 million, last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) inventory liquidation costs of $0.9 million and severance charges totaling $0.5 million. Excluding these items, net loss for the current quarter was $(85.3) million ($(0.53) per diluted share) compared to net income of $86.5 million ($0.53 per diluted share) for the first quarter of 2020, which excludes certain items that collectively decreased net income by $391.1 million.

HollyFrontier’s President & CEO, Michael Jennings, commented, “A record earnings quarter in our Lubricants and Specialties business, as well as steady performance from HEP, helped offset the impacts of heavy planned maintenance and winter storm Uri on our refining segment during the quarter. As we enter the summer, our focus remains on safely completing the build-out of our Renewables business on schedule.”

The Refining segment reported Adjusted EBITDA of $(65.8) million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $175.9 million for the first quarter of 2020. This decrease was driven by the impacts of planned maintenance and winter storm Uri on our operations and lower realized margins along with higher laid-in crude costs, which resulted in a consolidated refinery gross margin of $8.00 per produced barrel, a 28% decrease compared to $11.06 for the first quarter of 2020. Crude oil charge averaged 348,170 barrels per day (“BPD”) for the current quarter compared to 392,630 BPD for the first quarter of 2020.

The Lubricants and Specialty Products segment reported EBITDA of $87.1 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $32.3 million in the first quarter of 2020. Excluding the $7.8 million related to restructuring in our Lubricants and Specialty Products segment, Adjusted EBITDA was $94.9 million. This increase was driven by strong base oil margins in the first quarter of 2021.

Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”) reported EBITDA of $96.2 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $64.4 million in the first quarter of 2020.

For the first quarter of 2021, net cash provided by operations totaled $62.3 million. During the period, HollyFrontier declared and paid a dividend of $0.35 per share to shareholders totaling $57.7 million. At March 31, 2021, the Company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $1,193.4 million, a $174.9 million decrease over cash and cash equivalents of $1,368.3 million at December 31, 2020. Additionally, the Company's consolidated debt was $3,126.1 million. The Company’s debt, exclusive of HEP debt, which is nonrecourse to HollyFrontier, was $1,737.8 million at March 31, 2021.

The Company has scheduled a webcast conference call for today, May 5, 2021, at 8:30 AM Eastern Time to discuss first quarter financial results. This webcast may be accessed at: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3081846/EF98CFA2BFD7FDCC6F3E486A1640262F. An audio archive of this webcast will be available using the above noted link through May 19, 2021.

HollyFrontier Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer that produces high value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other specialty products. HollyFrontier owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Utah and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states. In addition, HollyFrontier produces base oils and other specialized lubricants in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands, and exports products to more than 80 countries. HollyFrontier also owns a 57% limited partner interest and a non-economic general partner interest in Holly Energy Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership that provides petroleum product and crude oil transportation, terminalling, storage and throughput services to the petroleum industry, including HollyFrontier Corporation subsidiaries.

The following is a “safe harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements in this press release relating to matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” based on management’s beliefs and assumptions using currently available information and expectations as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, including those contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements use words such as “anticipate,” “project,” “expect,” “plan,” “goal,” “forecast,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “believe,” “may,” and similar expressions and statements regarding our plans and objectives for future operations. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our expectations will prove correct. Therefore, actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed, implied or forecast in such statements. Any differences could be caused by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to successfully close the pending Puget Sound refinery transaction, or, once closed, integrate the operation of the Puget Sound refinery with our existing operations; the extraordinary market environment and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a significant decline in demand for refined petroleum products in markets that the Company serves; risks and uncertainties with respect to the actions of actual or potential competitive suppliers and transporters of refined petroleum products or lubricant and specialty products in the Company’s markets; the spread between market prices for refined products and market prices for crude oil; the possibility of constraints on the transportation of refined products or lubricant and specialty products; the possibility of inefficiencies, curtailments or shutdowns in refinery operations or pipelines, whether due to infection in the workforce or in response to reductions in demand; the effects of current and/or future governmental and environmental regulations and policies, including the effects of current and/or future restrictions on various commercial and economic activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability and cost of financing to the Company; the effectiveness of the Company’s capital investments and marketing strategies; the Company’s efficiency in carrying out and consummating construction projects, including the Company's ability to complete announced capital projects, such as the conversion of the Cheyenne Refinery to a renewable diesel facility and the construction of the Artesia renewable diesel unit and pretreatment unit, on time and within budget; the Company's ability to timely obtain or maintain permits, including those necessary for operations or capital projects; the ability of the Company to acquire refined or lubricant product operations or pipeline and terminal operations on acceptable terms and to integrate any existing or future acquired operations; the possibility of terrorist or cyberattacks and the consequences of any such attacks; general economic conditions, including uncertainty regarding the timing, pace and extent of an economic recovery in the United States; continued deterioration in gross margins or a prolonged economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic could result in an impairment of goodwill and/or additional long-lived asset impairments; and other financial, operational and legal risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and, other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Segment Information

Our operations are organized into three reportable segments, Refining, Lubricants and Specialty Products and HEP. Our operations that are not included in the Refining, Lubricants and Specialty Products and HEP segments are included in Corporate and Other. Intersegment transactions are eliminated in our consolidated financial statements and are included in Eliminations. Corporate and Other and Eliminations are aggregated and presented under the Corporate, Other and Eliminations column.

The Refining segment includes the operations of our El Dorado, Tulsa, Navajo, Woods Cross Refineries and HollyFrontier Asphalt Company LLC (“HFC Asphalt”) (aggregated as a reportable segment). Refining activities involve the purchase and refining of crude oil and wholesale and branded marketing of refined products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. These petroleum products are primarily marketed in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain geographic regions of the United States. HFC Asphalt operates various asphalt terminals in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The Refining segment also included the operations of the Cheyenne Refinery until it permanently ceased petroleum refining operations during the third quarter of 2020.

The Lubricants and Specialty Products segment involves Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc.’s (“PCLI”) production operations, located in Mississauga, Ontario, that include lubricant products such as base oils, white oils, specialty products and finished lubricants and the operations of our Petro-Canada Lubricants business that includes the marketing of products to both retail and wholesale outlets through a global sales network with locations in Canada, the United States, Europe and China. Additionally, the Lubricants and Specialty Products segment includes specialty lubricant products produced at our Tulsa refineries that are marketed throughout North America and are distributed in Central and South America, the operations of Red Giant Oil, one of the largest suppliers of locomotive engine oil in North America and the operations of Sonneborn, a producer of specialty hydrocarbon chemicals such as white oils, petrolatums and waxes with manufacturing facilities in the United States and Europe.

The HEP segment involves all of the operations of HEP, a consolidated variable interest entity, which owns and operates logistics assets consisting of petroleum product and crude oil pipelines, terminals, tankage, loading rack facilities and refinery processing units in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain geographic regions of the United States. The HEP segment also includes a 75% interest in UNEV Pipeline, LLC (an HEP consolidated subsidiary), and a 50% ownership interest in each of Osage Pipeline Company, LLC, Cheyenne Pipeline LLC and Cushing Connect Pipeline & Terminal LLC. Revenues from the HEP segment are earned through transactions with unaffiliated parties for pipeline transportation, rental and terminalling operations as well as revenues relating to pipeline transportation services provided for our refining operations. Due to certain basis differences, our reported amounts for the HEP segment may not agree to amounts reported in HEP's periodic public filings.

Refining Segment Operating Data

The following tables set forth information, including non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) performance measures about our refinery operations. Refinery gross and net operating margins do not include the non-cash effects of long-lived asset impairment charges, lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustments and depreciation and amortization. Reconciliations to amounts reported under GAAP are provided under “Reconciliations to Amounts Reported Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” below.

As of March 31, 2021, our refinery operations included the El Dorado, Tulsa, Navajo and Woods Cross Refineries. In the third quarter of 2020, we permanently ceased petroleum refining operations at our Cheyenne Refinery and subsequently began converting certain assets at our Cheyenne Refinery to renewable diesel production. The disaggregation of our refining geographic operating data is presented in two regions, Mid-Continent and West, to best reflect the economic drivers of our refining operations. The Mid-Continent region continues to be comprised of the El Dorado and Tulsa Refineries, and the new West region is comprised of the Navajo and Woods Cross Refineries. Refining segment operating data for the three months ended March 31, 2020 has been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the revised regional groupings.

Lubricants and Specialty Products Segment Operating Data

The following table sets forth information about our lubricants and specialty products operations.

Supplemental financial data attributable to our Lubricants and Specialty Products segment is presented below:

Reconciliations to Amounts Reported Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Reconciliations of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) and EBITDA excluding special items (“Adjusted EBITDA”) to amounts reported under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in financial statements.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, referred to as EBITDA, is calculated as net income (loss) attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders plus (i) interest expense, net of interest income, (ii) income tax provision and (iii) depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA plus or minus (i) lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustments, (ii) HollyFrontier's pro-rata share of HEP's loss on early extinguishment of debt, (iii) severance costs, (iv) restructuring charges, (v) Cheyenne Refinery LIFO inventory liquidation costs, (vi) decommissioning costs, (vii) acquisition integration and regulatory costs and (viii) gain on tariff settlement.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not calculations provided for under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States; however, the amounts included in these calculations are derived from amounts included in our consolidated financial statements. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as alternatives to net income or operating income as an indication of our operating performance or as an alternative to operating cash flow as a measure of liquidity. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. These are presented here because they are widely used financial indicators used by investors and analysts to measure performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are also used by our management for internal analysis and as a basis for financial covenants.

Set forth below is our calculation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA attributable to our Refining segment is presented below:

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA attributable to our Lubricants and Specialty Products segment is set forth below.

Reconciliations of refinery operating information (non-GAAP performance measures) to amounts reported under generally accepted accounting principles in financial statements.

Refinery gross margin and net operating margin are non-GAAP performance measures that are used by our management and others to compare our refining performance to that of other companies in our industry. We believe these margin measures are helpful to investors in evaluating our refining performance on a relative and absolute basis. Refinery gross margin per produced barrel sold is total refining segment revenues less total refining segment cost of products sold, exclusive of lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustments, divided by sales volumes of produced refined products sold. Net operating margin per barrel sold is the difference between refinery gross margin and refinery operating expenses per produced barrel sold. These two margins do not include the non-cash effects of lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustments or depreciation and amortization. Each of these component performance measures can be reconciled directly to our consolidated statements of income. Other companies in our industry may not calculate these performance measures in the same manner.

Below are reconciliations to our consolidated statements of income for refinery net operating and gross margin and operating expenses, in each case averaged per produced barrel sold. Due to rounding of reported numbers, some amounts may not calculate exactly.

Reconciliation of average refining segment net operating margin per produced barrel sold to refinery gross margin to total sales and other revenues

Reconciliation of average refining segment operating expenses per produced barrel sold to total operating expenses

Reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders to adjusted net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders

Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes non-cash lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustments, HEP's loss on early extinguishment of debt, severance costs, restructuring charges, Cheyenne Refinery LIFO inventory liquidation costs, decommissioning costs, acquisition integration and regulatory costs and a gain on a tariff settlement. We believe this measure is helpful to investors and others in evaluating our financial performance and to compare our results to that of other companies in our industry. Similarly titled performance measures of other companies may not be calculated in the same manner.

Reconciliation of effective tax rate to adjusted effective tax rate

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