UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
        
____________
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): February 24, 2016

ALON USA ENERGY, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Delaware
(State or Other Jurisdiction
of Incorporation)
001-32567
(Commission
File Number)
74-2966572
(IRS Employer
Identification No.)

12700 Park Central Dr., Suite 1600
Dallas, Texas 75251
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (972) 367-3600

____________________________


Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
        
o
 
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o
 
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o
 
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o
 
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))









 
 





Item 2.02.  Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On February 24, 2016, Alon USA Energy, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release (the “Press Release”) reporting its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015. A copy of the Press Release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d)    Exhibits.
Exhibit Number
 
Description
99.1
 
Press Release dated February 24, 2016.







SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date:
February 24, 2016
By:  
/s/ Shai Even
 
 
 
Shai Even 
 
 
 
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer










INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit Number
 
Description
99.1
 
Press Release dated February 24, 2016.







 
NEWS RELEASE
 
 
 
 
Contacts:
Stacey Hudson, Investor Relations Manager
Alon USA Energy, Inc.
972-367-3808
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
 
 
Investors: Jack Lascar/Stephanie Zhadkevich
Dennard § Lascar Associates, LLC
713-529-6600

Media: Blake Lewis
Lewis Public Relations
214-635-3020

Alon USA Energy Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results

Schedules conference call for February 25, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern
DALLAS, TEXAS, February 24, 2016 - Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) (“Alon”) today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015. Net loss available to stockholders for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $(52.5) million, or $(0.75) per share, compared to net income available to stockholders of $6.7 million, or $0.10 per share, for the same period last year. Excluding special items, Alon recorded net loss available to stockholders of $(14.6) million, or $(0.21) per share, for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to net loss available to stockholders of $(0.2) million, or $0.00 per share, for the same period last year.
Net income available to stockholders for the full year 2015 was $52.8 million, or $0.76 per share, compared to net income available to stockholders of $38.5 million, or $0.56 per share, for 2014. Excluding special items, Alon recorded net income available to stockholders of $95.5 million, or $1.37 per share, for the full year 2015, compared to net income available to stockholders of $38.1 million, or $0.55 per share, for 2014.
Paul Eisman, President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased with our overall operational and financial performance in 2015. We achieved the second highest annual adjusted EBITDA in our company’s history, increased our regular dividend by 50% from $0.40 to $0.60 per annum and reduced our interest expense in 2015 by over $30 million compared to 2014. As a result, we reduced our net debt to $322 million, despite high capital spending of over $160 million, substantially related to capital expenditures and turnaround costs. With the Krotz Springs turnaround successfully completed in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the Big Spring turnaround executed in 2014, our assets are prepared to run well in the coming years. Our next major turnaround will not occur until 2019, allowing us to focus on our growth initiatives at both facilities.
“The Big Spring refinery ran well in 2015, setting a new total throughput record for the year. In the fourth quarter, the Big Spring refinery achieved total throughput of approximately 76,000 barrels per day and refinery operating margin of $10.02 per barrel. Relative to the third quarter of 2015, the Big Spring refinery’s fourth quarter results were negatively impacted by seasonal weakness in crack spreads. Also, an outage at Big Spring’s alkylation unit in the quarter impacted gasoline yields and direct operating expenses which were higher than planned at $3.88 per barrel. We also completed a reformer regeneration and catalyst replacement for our diesel hydrotreater unit in the beginning of the first quarter of 2016, which we had postponed from the third quarter of 2015.
“During the fourth quarter of 2015, we successfully completed the planned major turnaround at the Krotz Springs refinery. The turnaround negatively impacted total throughput, which was 41,000 barrels per day, direct operating expense and refinery operating margin. The refinery operating margin was also impacted by the seasonal weakness in crack spreads. In conjunction with the turnaround, we invested nearly $15 million in reliability improvements at the refinery. We continue to progress with our plans to add a sulfuric acid alkylation unit at Krotz Springs.
“Our retail business performed well in 2015 but faced headwinds in the fourth quarter. In addition to seasonal weakness, our performance suffered from severe weather conditions in our markets and weakness in the Midland/Odessa area due to lower economic activity. In October, we opened a new large-format store in El Paso. The performance of the 14 Albuquerque locations acquired in August has exceeded our expectations.

- 1 -



“Our asphalt segment significantly improved in 2015, and we believe the improvements that we have made in our business are sustainable. In 2015, we reduced our direct operating expense by $12 million, which contributed in part to a $28 million improvement in our operating income in 2015 relative to 2014.
“Due to the volatility in oil prices and contraction of crude differentials, the expected cash flows from future operations of our California refining assets, primarily the Bakersfield rail crude offloading facility, have been deferred. As a result, in the fourth quarter of 2015, we have decided to impair our goodwill associated with the California refining assets, resulting in a non-cash bottom-line impact of approximately $39 million.
“We expect total throughput at the Big Spring refinery to average approximately 68,000 barrels per day for the first quarter and 73,000 barrels per day for the full year of 2016. We expect total throughput at the Krotz Springs refinery to average approximately 72,000 barrels per day for the first quarter and 75,000 barrels per day for the full year of 2016.”
FOURTH QUARTER 2015
Special items reduced earnings by $37.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 primarily as a result of a loss on impairment of goodwill of $38.5 million, after-tax losses of $1.2 million related to an asphalt inventory adjustment, after-tax expenses of $1.0 million associated with our employee retention plan and after-tax unrealized losses of $0.8 million associated with commodity swaps, partially offset by after-tax insurance recoveries net of professional fees of $2.6 million and $0.9 million associated with after-tax gains recognized on disposition of assets. Special items increased earnings by $6.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 primarily as a result of after-tax unrealized gains of $9.0 million associated with commodity swaps, partially offset by after-tax environmental charges of $1.6 million, after-tax losses of $0.1 million associated with write-offs of unamortized debt issuance costs and $0.3 million associated with after-tax losses recognized on disposition of assets.
The combined total refinery average throughput for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 116,995 barrels per day (“bpd”), compared to a combined total refinery average throughput of 143,252 bpd for the fourth quarter of 2014. The Big Spring refinery average throughput for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 75,925 bpd, compared to 76,867 bpd for the fourth quarter of 2014. The Krotz Springs refinery average throughput for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 41,070 bpd, compared to 66,385 bpd for the fourth quarter of 2014. The decreased throughput at the Krotz Springs refinery was due to downtime necessary to complete the planned major turnaround during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Refinery operating margin at the Big Spring refinery was $10.02 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $15.12 per barrel for the same period in 2014. This decrease in operating margin was primarily due to the less favorable industry margin environment. The unfavorable contraction in the WTI Cushing to WTI Midland and the WTI Cushing to WTS spreads was greater than the improvement in the Gulf Coast 3/2/1 spread and the cost of crude benefit from the market moving from backwardation into contango.
Refinery operating margin at the Krotz Springs refinery was $1.55 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $4.04 per barrel for the same period in 2014. This decrease in operating margin was primarily due to the negative impact of the planned major turnaround on refinery production.
The average WTI Cushing to WTI Midland spread for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $(0.20) per barrel compared to $5.79 per barrel for the same period in 2014. The average WTI Cushing to WTS spread for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $(0.26) per barrel compared to $4.43 per barrel for the same period in 2014. The average Brent to WTI Cushing spread for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $1.35 per barrel compared to $3.07 per barrel for the same period in 2014. The average LLS to WTI Cushing spread for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $2.08 per barrel compared to $3.16 per barrel for the same period in 2014. The average Brent to LLS spread for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $(0.30) per barrel compared to $0.54 per barrel for the same period in 2014.
The average Gulf Coast 3/2/1 crack spread was $10.90 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $9.04 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2014. The average Gulf Coast 2/1/1 high sulfur diesel crack spread was $7.13 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $4.80 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2014.
The contango environment in the fourth quarter of 2015 created a cost of crude benefit of $0.94 per barrel compared to the backwardated environment creating a cost of crude detriment of $0.68 per barrel for the same period in 2014.
Asphalt margins for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $102.85 per ton compared to $33.53 per ton for the fourth quarter of 2014. On a cash basis (i.e. excluding inventory effects), asphalt margins in the fourth quarter of 2015 were $106.92 per ton compared to $36.51 per ton in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase in asphalt margins was primarily due to a smaller reduction in blended asphalt sales price relative to the reduction in the cost of blended asphalt during the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

- 2 -



Retail fuel sales volume increased to 52.2 million gallons in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 49.7 million gallons in the fourth quarter of 2014. Merchandise margins decreased to 31.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 32.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
FULL-YEAR 2015
Special items reduced earnings by $42.7 million for 2015 primarily as a result of a loss on impairment of goodwill of $38.5 million, after-tax losses of $5.7 million related to an asphalt inventory adjustment and after-tax expenses of $8.0 million associated with our employee retention plan, partially offset by after-tax unrealized gains of $5.6 million associated with commodity swaps, after-tax insurance recoveries net of professional fees of $2.6 million and $1.4 million associated with after-tax gains recognized on disposition of assets. Special items increased earnings by $0.4 million for 2014 primarily as a result of after-tax unrealized gains of $2.8 million associated with commodity swaps and $0.2 million associated with after-tax gains recognized on disposition of assets, partially offset by after-tax environmental charges of $2.0 million and after-tax losses of $0.7 million associated with write-offs of unamortized original issuance discount and debt issuance costs.
Combined refinery average throughput for 2015 was 140,036 bpd, compared to a combined refinery average throughput of 136,378 bpd in 2014. The Big Spring refinery average throughput for 2015 was 74,906 bpd compared to 66,033 bpd for 2014. During 2014, refinery throughput at the Big Spring refinery was reduced as we completed both the planned major turnaround and the vacuum tower project. The Krotz Springs refinery average throughput for 2015 was 65,130 bpd compared to 70,345 bpd for 2014. During 2015, we completed the planned major turnaround at the Krotz Springs refinery, which reduced throughput during the period.
Refinery operating margin at the Big Spring refinery was $14.43 per barrel for 2015 compared to $16.69 per barrel for 2014. This decrease in operating margin was primarily due to the less favorable industry margin environment. The unfavorable contraction in the WTI Cushing to WTI Midland and the WTI Cushing to WTS spreads was greater than the improvement in the Gulf Coast 3/2/1 spread and the cost of crude benefit from the market moving from backwardation into contango.
Refinery operating margin at the Krotz Springs refinery was $7.02 per barrel for 2015 compared to $7.57 per barrel for 2014. This decrease in operating margin was primarily due to the less favorable industry margin environment. The unfavorable contraction in the WTI Cushing to WTI Midland and the LLS to WTI Cushing spreads was greater than the improvement in the Gulf Coast 2/1/1 high sulfur diesel crack spread and the cost of crude benefit from the market moving from backwardation into contango.
The average WTI Cushing to WTI Midland spread for 2015 was $0.39 per barrel compared to $6.93 per barrel for 2014. The average WTI Cushing to WTS spread for 2015 was $(0.06) per barrel compared to $6.04 per barrel for 2014. The average Brent to WTI Cushing spread for 2015 was $3.54 per barrel compared to $6.19 per barrel for 2014. The average LLS to WTI Cushing spread for 2015 was $3.73 per barrel compared to $3.85 per barrel for 2014. The average Brent to LLS spread for 2015 was $0.14 per barrel compared to $3.45 per barrel for 2014.
The average Gulf Coast 3/2/1 crack spread for 2015 was $17.02 per barrel compared to $14.52 per barrel for 2014. The average Gulf Coast 2/1/1 high sulfur diesel crack spread for 2015 was $10.81 per barrel compared to $9.76 per barrel for 2014.
The contango environment in 2015 created a cost of crude benefit of $1.01 per barrel compared to the backwardated environment creating a cost of crude detriment of $0.73 per barrel in 2014.
Asphalt margins for 2015 were $105.70 per ton compared to $43.86 per ton in 2014. On a cash basis (i.e. excluding inventory effects), asphalt margins in 2015 were $109.35 per ton compared to $41.31 per ton in 2014. The increase in asphalt margins was primarily due to a smaller reduction in blended asphalt sales price relative to the reduction in cost of blended asphalt during 2015 compared to 2014.
Retail fuel sales volume increased to 199.1 million gallons in 2015 from 192.6 million gallons in 2014. Merchandise margins increased to 31.9% in 2015 from 31.4% in 2014. Merchandise sales increased to $328.5 million in 2015 from $322.3 million in 2014.
CONFERENCE CALL
Alon has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the Internet on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (11:00 a.m. Central Time), to discuss the fourth quarter and year-end 2015 financial results. To access the call, please dial 877-407-0672, or 412-902-0003 for international callers, and ask for the Alon USA Energy call at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. Investors may also listen to the conference live by logging on to the Alon investor relations website, http://ir.alonusa.com. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through March 10, 2016, and may be accessed by calling 877-660-6853, or 201-612-7415 for international callers, and using the passcode 13629237#. A webcast archive will also be available at http://ir.alonusa.com shortly after the call and will be accessible for approximately 90 days. For

- 3 -



more information, please contact Donna Washburn at Dennard § Lascar Associates at 713-529-6600 or email dwashburn@dennardlascar.com.
Alon USA Energy, Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products, operating primarily in the South Central, Southwestern and Western regions of the United States. Alon owns 100% of the general partner and 81.6% of the limited partner interests in Alon USA Partners, LP (NYSE: ALDW), which owns a crude oil refinery in Big Spring, Texas, with a crude oil throughput capacity of 73,000 barrels per day. In addition, Alon directly owns a crude oil refinery in Krotz Springs, Louisiana, with a crude oil throughput capacity of 74,000 barrels per day. Alon also owns crude oil refineries in California, which have not processed crude oil since 2012. Alon is a leading marketer of asphalt, which it distributes primarily through asphalt terminals located predominately in the Southwestern and Western United States. Alon is the largest 7-Eleven licensee in the United States and operates approximately 300 convenience stores which also market motor fuels in Central and West Texas and New Mexico.
Any statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations regarding future events, results or outcomes. These expectations may or may not be realized. Some of these expectations may be based upon assumptions or judgments that prove to be incorrect. In addition, our business and operations involve numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could result in our expectations not being realized or otherwise materially affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Additional information regarding these and other risks is contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of offers to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

- Tables to follow -


- 4 -



ALON USA ENERGY, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED
EARNINGS RELEASE
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - FINANCIAL DATA
(ALL INFORMATION IN THIS PRESS RELEASE EXCEPT FOR BALANCE SHEET DATA AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2014, AND INCOME STATEMENT DATA FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2014, IS UNAUDITED)
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales (1)
$
782,367

 
$
1,503,231

 
$
4,338,152

 
$
6,779,456

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cost of sales
636,794

 
1,307,198

 
3,515,406

 
6,002,270

Direct operating expenses
63,426

 
73,022

 
255,534

 
281,686

Selling, general and administrative expenses (2)
51,306

 
40,303

 
200,195

 
170,139

Depreciation and amortization (3)
32,232

 
32,562

 
126,494

 
124,063

Total operating costs and expenses
783,758

 
1,453,085

 
4,097,629

 
6,578,158

Gain (loss) on disposition of assets
1,319

 
(471
)
 
1,914

 
274

Loss on impairment of goodwill (4)
(39,028
)
 

 
(39,028
)
 

Operating income (loss)
(39,100
)
 
49,675

 
203,409

 
201,572

Interest expense
(19,876
)
 
(25,670
)
 
(79,826
)
 
(111,143
)
Equity earnings (losses) of investees
1,944

 
(1,123
)
 
6,669

 
1,678

Other income, net
266

 
33

 
417

 
674

Income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit)
(56,766
)
 
22,915

 
130,669

 
92,781

Income tax expense (benefit)
(4,860
)
 
8,459

 
48,282

 
22,913

Net income (loss)
(51,906
)
 
14,456

 
82,387

 
69,868

Net income attributable to non-controlling interest
628

 
7,749

 
29,636

 
31,411

Net income (loss) available to stockholders
$
(52,534
)
 
$
6,707

 
$
52,751

 
$
38,457

Earnings (loss) per share, basic
$
(0.75
)
 
$
0.10

 
$
0.76

 
$
0.56

Weighted average shares outstanding, basic (in thousands)
70,027

 
69,319

 
69,772

 
68,985

Earnings (loss) per share, diluted
$
(0.75
)
 
$
0.10

 
$
0.75

 
$
0.55

Weighted average shares outstanding, diluted (in thousands)
70,027

 
69,842

 
70,714

 
69,373

Cash dividends per share
$
0.15

 
$
0.31

 
$
0.55

 
$
0.53

CASH FLOW DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net cash provided by (used in):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating activities
$
49,755

 
$
49,074

 
$
226,065

 
$
193,658

Investing activities
(81,713
)
 
(24,242
)
 
(160,011
)
 
(108,995
)
Financing activities
27,221

 
(3,439
)
 
(46,888
)
 
(94,201
)
OTHER DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Adjusted net income (loss) available to stockholders (5)
$
(14,635
)
 
$
(219
)
 
$
95,459

 
$
38,100

Adjusted earnings (loss) per share (5)
$
(0.21
)
 
$

 
$
1.37

 
$
0.55

Adjusted EBITDA (6)
$
34,128

 
$
67,066

 
$
366,166

 
$
323,935

Capital expenditures (7)
43,933

 
14,633

 
101,195

 
88,429

Capital expenditures for turnarounds and catalysts
23,938

 
11,081

 
35,348

 
62,473


- 5 -



 
As of December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
BALANCE SHEET DATA (end of period):
(dollars in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents
$
234,127

 
$
214,961

Working capital
78,694

 
126,665

Total assets (8)
2,176,138

 
2,191,644

Total debt (8)
555,962

 
554,457

Total debt less cash and cash equivalents (8)
321,835

 
339,496

Total equity
664,160

 
673,778


- 6 -



REFINING AND MARKETING SEGMENT
 
 
 
 
 
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands, except per barrel data and pricing statistics)
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales (9)
$
627,498

 
$
1,294,459

 
$
3,663,956

 
$
5,937,982

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cost of sales
528,548

 
1,142,721

 
3,034,531

 
5,329,605

Direct operating expenses
57,063

 
63,471

 
227,517

 
241,833

Selling, general and administrative expenses
19,553

 
11,367

 
79,022

 
56,004

Depreciation and amortization
27,253

 
27,089

 
107,619

 
104,676

Total operating costs and expenses
632,417

 
1,244,648

 
3,448,689

 
5,732,118

Gain (loss) on disposition of assets
1,319

 
1

 
1,842

 
(1,255
)
Loss on impairment of goodwill (4)
(39,028
)
 

 
(39,028
)
 

Operating income (loss)
$
(42,628
)
 
$
49,812

 
$
178,081

 
$
204,609

KEY OPERATING STATISTICS:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Per barrel of throughput:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Refinery operating margin – Big Spring (10)
$
10.02

 
$
15.12

 
$
14.43

 
$
16.69

Refinery operating margin – Krotz Springs (10)
1.55

 
4.04

 
7.02

 
7.57

Refinery direct operating expense – Big Spring (11)
3.88

 
3.67

 
3.62

 
4.39

Refinery direct operating expense – Krotz Springs (11)
5.82

 
4.46

 
4.03

 
4.12

Capital expenditures
$
37,926

 
$
7,825

 
$
73,429

 
$
63,148

Capital expenditures for turnarounds and catalysts
23,938

 
11,081

 
35,348

 
62,473

PRICING STATISTICS:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Crack spreads (3/2/1) (per barrel):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gulf Coast (12)
$
10.90

 
$
9.04

 
$
17.02

 
$
14.52

Crack spreads (2/1/1) (per barrel):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gulf Coast high sulfur diesel (12)
$
7.13

 
$
4.80

 
$
10.81

 
$
9.76

WTI Cushing crude oil (per barrel)
$
42.05

 
$
73.37

 
$
48.68

 
$
93.10

Crude oil differentials (per barrel):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WTI Cushing less WTI Midland (13)
$
(0.20
)
 
$
5.79

 
$
0.39

 
$
6.93

WTI Cushing less WTS (13)
(0.26
)
 
4.43

 
(0.06
)
 
6.04

LLS less WTI Cushing (13)
2.08

 
3.16

 
3.73

 
3.85

Brent less LLS (13)
(0.30
)
 
0.54

 
0.14

 
3.45

Brent less WTI Cushing (13)
1.35

 
3.07

 
3.54

 
6.19

Product prices (dollars per gallon):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gulf Coast unleaded gasoline
$
1.25

 
$
1.85

 
$
1.56

 
$
2.49

Gulf Coast ultra-low sulfur diesel
1.29

 
2.20

 
1.58

 
2.71

Gulf Coast high sulfur diesel
1.19

 
2.03

 
1.45

 
2.59

Natural gas (per MMBtu)
2.23

 
3.83

 
2.63

 
4.26



- 7 -



THROUGHPUT AND PRODUCTION DATA:
BIG SPRING REFINERY
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
Refinery throughput:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WTS crude
29,510

 
38.9

 
35,663

 
46.4

 
33,647

 
44.9

 
30,323

 
45.9

WTI crude
43,968

 
57.9

 
35,691

 
46.4

 
38,632

 
51.6

 
32,429

 
49.1

Blendstocks
2,447

 
3.2

 
5,513

 
7.2

 
2,627

 
3.5

 
3,281

 
5.0

Total refinery throughput (14)
75,925

 
100.0

 
76,867

 
100.0

 
74,906

 
100.0

 
66,033

 
100.0

Refinery production:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gasoline
38,600

 
50.8

 
41,015

 
53.0

 
37,519

 
50.0

 
32,932

 
49.7

Diesel/jet
27,812

 
36.6

 
27,074

 
34.9

 
27,651

 
36.8

 
23,252

 
35.1

Asphalt
2,362

 
3.1

 
2,749

 
3.5

 
2,639

 
3.5

 
2,716

 
4.1

Petrochemicals
4,012

 
5.3

 
4,476

 
5.8

 
4,579

 
6.1

 
3,756

 
5.7

Other
3,176

 
4.2

 
2,185

 
2.8

 
2,678

 
3.6

 
3,565

 
5.4

Total refinery production (15)
75,962

 
100.0

 
77,499

 
100.0

 
75,066

 
100.0

 
66,221

 
100.0

Refinery utilization (16)
 
 
100.7
%
 
 
 
97.7
%
 
 
 
99.0
%
 
 
 
97.2
%
THROUGHPUT AND PRODUCTION DATA:
KROTZ SPRINGS REFINERY
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
 
bpd
 
%
Refinery throughput:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WTI crude
8,750

 
21.3

 
28,454

 
42.9

 
22,408

 
34.4

 
28,373

 
40.3

Gulf Coast sweet crude
29,384

 
71.6

 
32,208

 
48.5

 
38,699

 
59.4

 
39,636

 
56.4

Blendstocks
2,936

 
7.1

 
5,723

 
8.6

 
4,023

 
6.2

 
2,336

 
3.3

Total refinery throughput (14)
41,070

 
100.0

 
66,385

 
100.0

 
65,130

 
100.0

 
70,345

 
100.0

Refinery production:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gasoline
18,083

 
43.7

 
31,336

 
46.5

 
30,193

 
45.5

 
32,925

 
45.9

Diesel/jet
16,037

 
38.7

 
26,402

 
39.2

 
27,259

 
41.0

 
30,060

 
41.9

Heavy Oils
654

 
1.6

 
1,199

 
1.8

 
1,165

 
1.8

 
1,146

 
1.6

Other
6,632

 
16.0

 
8,441

 
12.5

 
7,781

 
11.7

 
7,579

 
10.6

Total refinery production (15)
41,406

 
100.0

 
67,378

 
100.0

 
66,398

 
100.0

 
71,710

 
100.0

Refinery utilization (16)
 
 
83.1
%
 
 
 
82.0
%
 
 
 
91.3
%
 
 
 
91.9
%


- 8 -



ASPHALT SEGMENT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands, except per ton data)
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales (17)
$
48,967

 
$
106,572

 
$
257,955

 
$
457,412

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cost of sales (17) (18)
38,081

 
102,280

 
212,166

 
431,931

Direct operating expenses
6,363

 
9,551

 
28,017

 
39,853

Selling, general and administrative expenses
3,280

 
1,499

 
10,517

 
7,874

Depreciation and amortization
1,227

 
1,166

 
4,892

 
4,747

Total operating costs and expenses
48,951

 
114,496

 
255,592

 
484,405

Gain (loss) on disposition of assets

 
(482
)
 

 
1,396

Operating income (loss) (21)
$
16

 
$
(8,406
)
 
$
2,363

 
$
(25,597
)
KEY OPERATING STATISTICS:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Blended asphalt sales volume (tons in thousands) (19)
104

 
104

 
451

 
516

Non-blended asphalt sales volume (tons in thousands) (20)
18

 
24

 
59

 
65

Blended asphalt sales price per ton (19)
$
451.98

 
$
571.30

 
$
486.34

 
$
571.18

Non-blended asphalt sales price per ton (20)
116.61

 
406.17

 
231.00

 
397.91

Asphalt margin per ton (21)
102.85

 
33.53

 
105.70

 
43.86

Capital expenditures
$
901

 
$
1,505

 
$
3,385

 
$
5,777

RETAIL SEGMENT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands, except per gallon data)
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales (1)
$
182,960

 
$
216,657

 
$
774,435

 
$
939,684

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cost of sales (18)
147,223

 
176,654

 
626,903

 
796,356

Selling, general and administrative expenses
28,292

 
27,260

 
109,943

 
105,556

Depreciation and amortization
3,427

 
3,697

 
12,431

 
12,241

Total operating costs and expenses
178,942

 
207,611

 
749,277

 
914,153

Gain on disposition of assets

 
10

 
72

 
134

Operating income
$
4,018

 
$
9,056

 
$
25,230

 
$
25,665

KEY OPERATING STATISTICS:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of stores (end of period) (22)
309

 
295

 
309

 
295

Retail fuel sales (thousands of gallons)
52,155

 
49,732

 
199,147

 
192,582

Retail fuel sales (thousands of gallons per site per month) (22)
58

 
59

 
58

 
57

Retail fuel margin (cents per gallon) (23)
20.0

 
27.6

 
21.3

 
21.6

Retail fuel sales price (dollars per gallon) (24)
$
1.95

 
$
2.73

 
$
2.24

 
$
3.20

Merchandise sales
$
80,958

 
$
80,951

 
$
328,505

 
$
322,262

Merchandise sales (per site per month) (22)
$
87

 
$
91

 
$
91

 
$
91

Merchandise margin (25)
31.1
%
 
32.3
%
 
31.9
%
 
31.4
%
Capital expenditures
$
4,110

 
$
4,654

 
$
18,993

 
$
16,748


- 9 -



(1)
Includes excise taxes on sales by the retail segment of $20,367 and $19,486 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and $77,860 and $75,409 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.
(2)
Includes corporate headquarters selling, general and administrative expenses of $181 and $177 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and $713 and $705 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, which are not allocated to our three operating segments.
(3)
Includes corporate depreciation and amortization of $325 and $610 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and $1,552 and $2,399 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, which are not allocated to our three operating segments.
(4)
During the three months and year ended December 31, 2015, we recognized a goodwill impairment loss of $39,028 related to our California refining reporting unit.
(5)
The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) available to stockholders under United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) to adjusted net income (loss) available to stockholders utilized in determining adjusted earnings per share, excluding the after-tax write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs, after-tax write-off of unamortized original issuance discount, after-tax employee retention expense, after-tax environmental charges, loss on impairment of goodwill, after-tax loss on asphalt inventory adjustment, after-tax insurance recoveries net of professional fees, after-tax unrealized gains (losses) on commodity swaps and after-tax gain (loss) on disposition of assets. Our management believes that the presentation of adjusted net income (loss) available to stockholders and adjusted earnings (loss) per share, excluding these items, is useful to investors because it provides a more meaningful measurement for evaluation of our Company’s operating results.
 
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands)
Net income (loss) available to stockholders
$
(52,534
)
 
$
6,707

 
$
52,751

 
$
38,457

Plus: Write-off of debt issuance costs, net of tax

 
123

 

 
411

Plus: Write-off of original issuance discount, net of tax

 

 

 
265

Plus: Employee retention expense, net of tax
956

 

 
8,007

 

Plus: Environmental charges, net of tax

 
1,634

 

 
1,950

Plus: Loss on impairment of goodwill
38,540

 

 
38,540

 

Plus: Loss on asphalt inventory adjustment, net of tax
1,192

 

 
5,736

 

Less: Insurance recoveries net of professional fees, net of tax
(2,615
)
 

 
(2,615
)
 

Less: Unrealized (gains) losses on commodity swaps, net of tax
772

 
(8,973
)
 
(5,608
)
 
(2,781
)
Less: (Gain) loss on disposition of assets, net of tax
(946
)
 
290

 
(1,352
)
 
(202
)
Adjusted net income (loss) available to stockholders
$
(14,635
)
 
$
(219
)
 
$
95,459

 
$
38,100

Adjusted earnings (loss) per share *
$
(0.21
)
 
$

 
$
1.37

 
$
0.55

*
Adjusted earnings (loss) per share includes the effects of dividends on preferred stock on adjusted net income (loss) available to stockholders necessary to calculate earnings (loss) per share.
(6)
Adjusted EBITDA represents earnings before net income attributable to non-controlling interest, income tax expense (benefit), interest expense, depreciation and amortization, gain (loss) on disposition of assets, loss on impairment of goodwill and unrealized gains (losses) on commodity swaps. Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measurement under GAAP; however, the amounts included in Adjusted EBITDA are derived from amounts included in our consolidated financial statements. Our management believes that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. In addition, our management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA generally eliminates the effects of net income attributable to non-controlling interest, income tax expense (benefit), interest expense, gain (loss) on disposition of assets, loss on impairment of goodwill, unrealized gains (losses) on

- 10 -



commodity swaps and the accounting effects of capital expenditures and acquisitions, items that may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to overall operating performance.
Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on our debt;
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the prior claim that non-controlling interest have on the income generated by non-wholly-owned subsidiaries;
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in or cash requirements for our working capital needs; and
Our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from EBITDA calculations of other companies in our industry, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered a measure of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using Adjusted EBITDA only supplementally.
The following table reconciles net income (loss) available to stockholders to Adjusted EBITDA for the three months and years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014:
 
For the Three Months Ended
 
For the Year Ended
 
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2015
 
2014
 
(dollars in thousands)
Net income (loss) available to stockholders
$
(52,534
)
 
$
6,707

 
$
52,751

 
$
38,457

Net income attributable to non-controlling interest
628

 
7,749

 
29,636

 
31,411

Income tax expense (benefit)
(4,860
)
 
8,459

 
48,282

 
22,913

Interest expense
19,876

 
25,670

 
79,826

 
111,143

Depreciation and amortization
32,232

 
32,562

 
126,494

 
124,063

(Gain) loss on disposition of assets
(1,319
)
 
471

 
(1,914
)
 
(274
)
Loss on impairment of goodwill
39,028

 

 
39,028

 

Unrealized (gains) losses on commodity swaps
1,077

 
(14,552
)
 
(7,937
)
 
(3,778
)
Adjusted EBITDA
$
34,128

 
$
67,066

 
$
366,166

 
$
323,935

Adjusted EBITDA does not exclude a loss of $1,662 and $8,118 for the three months and year ended December 31, 2015, respectively, resulting from a price adjustment related to asphalt inventory.
(7)
Includes corporate capital expenditures of $996 and $649 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and $5,388 and $2,756 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, which are not allocated to our three operating segments.
(8)
During the year ended December 31, 2015, we adopted the FASB’s recently issued accounting guidance simplifying the presentation of debt issuance costs. As a result of adopting this guidance, debt issuance costs that had previously been included as deferred charges in our consolidated balance sheets have been reclassified as a direct deduction from the carrying value of the associated debt. These changes have been applied retrospectively to all periods presented.
(9)
Net sales include intersegment sales to our asphalt and retail segments at prices which approximate wholesale market prices. These intersegment sales are eliminated through consolidation of our financial statements.
(10)
Refinery operating margin is a per barrel measurement calculated by dividing the margin between net sales and cost of sales (exclusive of certain adjustments) attributable to each refinery by its throughput volumes. Industry-wide refining results are driven and measured by the margins between refined product prices and the prices for crude oil, which are referred to as crack spreads. We compare our refinery operating margins to these crack spreads to assess our operating performance relative to other participants in our industry.

- 11 -



The refinery operating margin for the three months and year ended December 31, 2015 excludes realized and unrealized gains on commodity swaps of $9,759 and $59,215, respectively. The refinery operating margin for the three months and year ended December 31, 2015 also excludes insurance recoveries of $10,868. For the year ended December 31, 2015, $3,941 primarily related to inventory adjustments was not included in cost of sales for the Big Spring refinery and the Krotz Springs refinery.
The refinery operating margin for the three months and year ended December 31, 2014 excludes realized and unrealized gains on commodity swaps of $14,552 and $4,660, respectively.
(11)
Refinery direct operating expense is a per barrel measurement calculated by dividing direct operating expenses at our refineries by the applicable refinery’s total throughput volumes.
(12)
We compare our Big Spring refinery’s operating margin to the Gulf Coast 3/2/1 crack spread. A Gulf Coast 3/2/1 crack spread is calculated assuming that three barrels of WTI Cushing crude oil are converted, or cracked, into two barrels of Gulf Coast conventional gasoline and one barrel of Gulf Coast ultra-low sulfur diesel.
We compare our Krotz Springs refinery’s operating margin to the Gulf Coast 2/1/1 high sulfur diesel crack spread. A Gulf Coast 2/1/1 high sulfur diesel crack spread is calculated assuming that two barrels of LLS crude oil are converted into one barrel of Gulf Coast conventional gasoline and one barrel of Gulf Coast high sulfur diesel.
(13)
The WTI Cushing less WTI Midland spread represents the differential between the average price per barrel of WTI Cushing crude oil and the average price per barrel of WTI Midland crude oil. The WTI Cushing less WTS, or sweet/sour, spread represents the differential between the average price per barrel of WTI Cushing crude oil and the average price per barrel of WTS crude oil. The LLS less WTI Cushing spread represents the differential between the average price per barrel of LLS crude oil and the average price per barrel of WTI Cushing crude oil. The Brent less LLS spread represents the differential between the average price per barrel of Brent crude oil and the average price per barrel of LLS crude oil. The Brent less WTI Cushing spread represents the differential between the average price per barrel of Brent crude oil and the average price per barrel of WTI Cushing crude oil.
(14)
Total refinery throughput represents the total barrels per day of crude oil and blendstock inputs in the refinery production process.
(15)
Total refinery production represents the barrels per day of various products produced from processing crude and other refinery feedstocks through the crude units and other conversion units at the refineries.
(16)
Refinery utilization represents average daily crude oil throughput divided by crude oil capacity, excluding planned periods of downtime for maintenance and turnarounds.
(17)
Net sales and cost of sales include asphalt purchases sold as part of the supply and offtake arrangement of $0 and $37,409 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and $24,988 and $136,818 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The volumes associated with these sales are excluded from the Key Operating Statistics.
(18)
Cost of sales includes intersegment purchases of asphalt blends and motor fuels from our refining and marketing segment at prices which approximate wholesale market prices. These intersegment purchases are eliminated through consolidation of our financial statements.
(19)
Blended asphalt represents base material asphalt that has been blended with other materials necessary to sell the asphalt as a finished product.
(20)
Non-blended asphalt represents base material asphalt and other components that require additional blending before being sold as a finished product.
(21)
Asphalt margin is a per ton measurement calculated by dividing the margin between net sales and cost of sales by the total sales volume. Asphalt margins are used in the asphalt industry to measure operating results related to asphalt sales.
Asphalt margin for the three months and year ended December 31, 2015 excludes a loss of $1,662 and $8,118, respectively, resulting from a price adjustment related to asphalt inventory. This loss is included in the operating income (loss) of the asphalt segment.
(22)
At December 31, 2015, we had 309 retail convenience stores of which 298 sold fuel. At December 31, 2014, we had 295 retail convenience stores of which 283 sold fuel.
The 14 stores acquired in mid-August 2015 have been included in the per site key operating statistics only for the period after acquisition.

- 12 -



(23)
Retail fuel margin represents the difference between retail fuel sales revenue and the net cost of purchased retail fuel, including transportation costs and associated excise taxes, expressed on a cents-per-gallon basis. Retail fuel margins are frequently used in the retail industry to measure operating results related to retail fuel sales.
(24)
Retail fuel sales price per gallon represents the average sales price for retail fuels sold through our retail convenience stores.
(25)
Merchandise margin represents the difference between merchandise sales revenues and the delivered cost of merchandise purchases, net of rebates and commissions, expressed as a percentage of merchandise sales revenues. Merchandise margins, also referred to as in-store margins, are commonly used in the retail industry to measure in-store, or non-fuel, operating results.

- 13 -
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