Star Group, L.P. Common Units (SGU) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Access earnings results, analyst expectations, report, slides, earnings call, and transcript.
Overview
The earnings call highlights strong financial performance with increased volumes, revenue, and net income. Despite some challenges like customer attrition and regulatory uncertainties, the company has shown resilience with strategic expansions and acquisitions. The Q&A section reveals management's proactive approach to addressing challenges, albeit with some uncertainty in regulatory impacts. The overall sentiment remains positive due to strong financial metrics and optimistic guidance.
Key Financial Performance
Heating oil and propane volume Increased by 29 million gallons or 12% year-over-year to 283 million gallons, driven by colder temperatures and acquisitions.
Revenue from installation and service Grew nearly 10% year-over-year, attributed to continued investment in these complementary service offerings.
Adjusted EBITDA Increased by $24.8 million or 22.2% year-over-year, fueled by cooler temperatures and operational efforts.
Net loss for Q4 FY 2025 Reduced by $6.4 million year-over-year to $28.7 million, due to a $12.2 million favorable change in derivative instruments and a $3.8 million benefit from real estate sales, partially offset by higher expenses and lower income tax benefits.
Product gross profit for FY 2025 Rose by $57 million or 12% year-over-year to $525 million, driven by increased heating oil and propane volumes and higher per gallon margins.
Delivery, branch, and G&A expenses for FY 2025 Increased by $36.6 million year-over-year, with $10.6 million attributed to weather hedging program expenses and $23 million due to acquisitions.
Net income for FY 2025 Increased by $38.2 million year-over-year to $73.5 million, driven by a $24.8 million rise in adjusted EBITDA and a $32 million favorable change in derivative instruments, offset by higher income tax expenses.
Depreciation and amortization for FY 2025 Increased by $3.9 million year-over-year, largely due to recent acquisitions.
Net interest expense for FY 2025 Increased by $2.8 million year-over-year, primarily due to acquisition-related financing costs.
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Operating Highlights
Heating oil and propane volume: Increased by 29 million gallons or 12% year-over-year due to colder temperatures and acquisitions.
Service and installation revenue: Grew nearly 10% over fiscal 2024.
Acquisitions: Completed 4 transactions in fiscal 2025, adding nearly 12 million gallons of heating oil and propane volume annually.
Adjusted EBITDA: Increased by $24.8 million or 22.2% year-over-year, driven by acquisitions, colder temperatures, and disciplined margin management.
Net customer attrition: Rose modestly, but steps are being taken to manage it through improved customer service.
Operating expenses: Increased by $5 million in Q4, with $4.2 million attributed to acquisitions.
Capital allocation: Invested $81 million in acquisitions, $16 million in unit repurchases, and paid $26 million in distributions in fiscal 2025.
Growth strategy: Focused on heating oil and propane acquisitions, reducing net attrition, and maximizing service profitability.
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Risk or Challenges
Net Customer Attrition: Net customer attrition rose modestly, which could impact customer base and revenue. Lower real estate activity also affected new customer additions.
Weather Conditions: Temperatures were 8% warmer than normal, which could negatively impact heating oil and propane demand. Weather hedging program recorded a $3.1 million expense compared to a $7.5 million benefit in the prior year.
Acquisition Costs: Recent acquisitions increased operating costs by $4.2 million in the fourth quarter and $23 million for the fiscal year, along with higher depreciation, amortization, and acquisition-related financing costs.
Per Gallon Margins: Slightly lower per gallon margins for home heating oil and propane, partially due to the mix of volume from recent acquisitions, impacted profitability.
Operating Expenses: Delivery, branch, and G&A expenses increased by $5 million in the fourth quarter and $36.6 million for the fiscal year, driven by acquisitions and weather hedging program costs.
Weather Hedging Program: The weather hedging program resulted in a $3.1 million expense in fiscal 2025, compared to a $7.5 million benefit in fiscal 2024, reflecting adverse weather conditions.
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Guidance & Outlook
Future acquisitions: The company plans to continue its acquisition program, focusing on both heating oil and propane acquisitions, as part of its strategy to grow and diversify the business in fiscal 2026.
Customer attrition management: Efforts will be made to keep net customer attrition as low as possible through a focus on customer service.
Profitability improvement: The company aims to maximize installation and service profitability over time.
Organizational performance: Plans to take advantage of further opportunities to improve the organization and its performance in fiscal 2026.
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Shareholder Return Plan
Distributions: The company paid $26 million in distributions during fiscal 2025.
Unit Repurchases: The company invested $16 million in unit repurchases during fiscal 2025.
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Key Q&A
Q:What are your thoughts on the regulatory environment in New York and its potential impact on Star Gas?
A:It's very difficult to predict how the regulatory environment will impact the business as it is still in flux and plans are still being determined.
Q:What caused the customer attrition in the fourth quarter, and what are your thoughts on attrition going forward?
A:There is a low level of prospect activity in the marketplace. Loss rates as a percentage of the customer base are at historical low points, and customer satisfaction indexes are positive. However, new customer gains remain a challenge due to lower real estate activity and warmer-than-normal weather. The company is reviewing its sales and marketing structure to attract more customers.
Q:What is the current status of the acquisition pipeline, and are there any significantly large deals?
A:The acquisition pipeline remains active with several tuck-in opportunities and smaller standalone deals under review. There are no significantly large deals currently, but the company is pleased with the nine acquisitions completed over the last two years.
Q:Why was free cash flow lower than expected in the fourth quarter?
A:Free cash flow was impacted by working capital tied up in receivables and inventory. There were no significant differences in receivables or taxes compared to the previous year. Factors include slightly lower EBITDA, higher interest expenses, and timing of inventory and income taxes. There were no significant capital purchases in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year.
Q:Review of Unclear Management Responses
A:The management avoided providing a direct answer to the question about the regulatory environment in New York, citing the difficulty in predicting its impact due to the flux and uncertainty of plans.
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Earnings Word Cloud
The most frequently occurring keywords in this quarter's earning call
Adviser statement
Delivery branch
Depreciation amortization
Heat LLC
Kestrel Heat
LLC conference
LLC home
SEC obligation
Star area
Star competition
Temperatures Star
acquisition Delivery
acquisition attrition
acquisition change
acquisition financing
acquisition gallon
activity shareholder
addition acquisition
addition call
advantage opportunity
amortization interest
base Depreciation
benefit
branch GA
change acquisition
estate
expense change
gallon increase
income tax
increase acquisition
increase base
installation service
interest expense
profitability
propane gallon
volume home
weather hedge
SGU Transcript
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Star Group, L.P. Common Units (SGU) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Positive12-9
The earnings call highlights strong financial performance with increased volumes, revenue, and net income. Despite some challenges like customer attrition and regulatory uncertainties, the company has shown resilience with strategic expansions and acquisitions. The Q&A section reveals management's proactive approach to addressing challenges, albeit with some uncertainty in regulatory impacts. The overall sentiment remains positive due to strong financial metrics and optimistic guidance.
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SGU Report
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does this earnings call transcript come from?
All transcripts are sourced directly from the official live webcast or the company’s official investor relations website. We use the exact words spoken during the call with no paraphrasing of the core discussion.
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Who creates the AI Summary and Key Q&A highlights shown above the transcript?
They are generated by a specialized financial-language model trained exclusively on 15+ years of earnings transcripts. The model extracts financial figures, guidance, and tone with 97%+ accuracy and is regularly validated against human analysts. The full raw transcript always remains available for verification.
