Energy Transfer Equity Reports Second Quarter Results

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, was $158.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of $33.7 million over the three months ended June 30, 2011. ETE's net income attributable to partners was $53.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 as compared to $66.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, was $286.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of $37.2 million over the six months ended June 30, 2011. ETE's net income attributable to partners was $219.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 as compared to $154.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011.

As of and during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, ETE's financial position and operating results were impacted by the following transactions:

• Southern Union Acquisition. On March 26, 2012, ETE completed the acquisition of Southern Union Company (“Southern Union”) for $5.4 billion of cash and ETE Common Units. As such, Southern Union was consolidated in ETE's financial statements as of March 26, 2012 and its cash flows were included in ETE's Distributable Cash Flow from March 26, 2012 to June 30, 2012. The cash portion of the Southern Union acquisition purchase price was $3.0 billion, which was funded with proceeds from a $2.0 billion senior secured term loan and with proceeds from the dropdown transaction discussed below.
• Merger and Finance-related Expenses. In connection with the Southern Union acquisition the following expenses were incurred by ETE during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012:
  • $62.2 million in fees recognized during the first quarter of 2012 related to a bridge loan facility that ETE entered into to initially fund the cash consideration of the Southern Union merger;
  • $8.3 million and $38.2 million in merger-related costs that were accounted for in selling, general and administrative expenses during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, respectively; and,
  • $53.1 million of net merger-related expenses incurred directly by Southern Union that were consolidated in to ETE's operating results during the first quarter of 2012.
• Citrus Dropdown. Concurrent with the Southern Union acquisition, ETE completed the dropdown of Southern Union's 50% interest in Citrus Corp. (“Citrus”) to Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (“ETP”) in exchange for approximately $1.9 billion in cash and $105.0 million of ETP common units. The cash proceeds from ETP were used in part to fund a portion of the Southern Union acquisition and to repay existing indebtedness at Southern Union. Citrus was reflected as an equity method investment on ETE's consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. In connection with this transaction, ETE also relinquished its rights to $220.0 million of the incentive distributions from ETP that it would otherwise be entitled to receive over 16 consecutive quarters.
• Propane Contribution. On January 12, 2012, ETP completed the contribution of its retail propane operations to AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (“AmeriGas”) in exchange for approximately $2.7 billion, consisting of cash and AmeriGas common units, which resulted in the recognition of a $1.1 billion gain on deconsolidation in ETE's consolidated financial statements during the six months ended June 30, 2012, and ETE's consolidated financial statements now reflect ETP's equity method investment in AmeriGas.
• Tender Offer. ETP used the cash proceeds from the propane contribution discussed above to repay borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility and to extinguish approximately $750.0 million in senior notes outstanding through a tender offer. As a result of the tender offer, a loss on extinguishment of debt of $115.0 million was recorded during the six months ended June 30, 2012 and recognized in ETE's consolidated statement of operations.

The Partnership has scheduled a conference call for 8:30 a.m. Central Time, Wednesday, August 8, 2012 to discuss its second quarter 2012 results. The conference call will be broadcast live via an internet web cast, which can be accessed through www.energytransfer.com and will also be available for replay on the Partnership's website for a limited time.

The Parent Company’s principal sources of cash flow are derived from (i) distributions related to its direct and indirect investments in the limited and general partner interests in ETP and Regency Energy Partners LP (“Regency”), including 100% of ETP's and Regency's incentive distribution rights, approximately 52.5 million of ETP's common units and approximately 26.3 million of Regency's common units and (ii) cash flow generated from its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern Union, which was acquired on March 26, 2012. The Parent Company's primary cash requirements are for general and administrative expenses, debt service requirements and distributions to its partners and holders of its Preferred Units.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release and accompanying schedules include the non-generally accepted accounting principle (“non-GAAP”) financial measure of Distributable Cash Flow. The accompanying schedules provide a reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Partnership's Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered as an alternative to GAAP financial measures such as net income, cash flow from operating activities or any other GAAP measure of liquidity or financial performance.

Distributable Cash Flow. The Partnership defines Distributable Cash Flow for a period as cash distributions expected to be received from ETP and Regency in respect of such period in connection with the Partnership's investments in limited and general partner interests of ETP and Regency, net of the Partnership's cash expenditures for general and administrative costs and interest expense. Subsequent to the acquisition of Southern Union on March 26, 2012, the Partnership's definition of Distributable Cash Flow also includes distributable cash flow related to Southern Union. The Partnership defines distributable cash flow for Southern Union as net income, adjusted for certain non-cash items, less maintenance capital expenditures. Non-cash items include depreciation and amortization, deferred income taxes, non-cash compensation expense, gains and losses on disposals of assets, the allowance for equity funds used during construction, and non-cash impairment charges.

Distributable Cash Flow is a significant liquidity measure used by the Partnership's senior management to compare net cash flows generated by the Partnership to the distributions the Partnership expects to pay its unitholders. Using this measure, the Partnership's management can compute the coverage ratio of estimated cash flows for a period to planned cash distributions for such period.

Distributable Cash Flow is also an important non-GAAP financial measure for our limited partners since it indicates to investors whether the Partnership's investments are generating cash flows at a level that can sustain or support an increase in quarterly cash distribution levels. Financial measures such as Distributable Cash Flow are quantitative standards used by the investment community with respect to publicly traded partnerships because the value of a partnership unit is in part measured by its yield (which in turn is based on the amount of cash distributions a partnership can pay to a unitholder). The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Distributable Cash Flow is net income for ETE on a stand-alone basis (“Parent Company”). The accompanying analysis of Distributable Cash Flow is presented for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011 for comparative purposes.

Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted. The Partnership defines Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for a period as cash distributions expected to be received from ETP and Regency in respect of such period in connection with the Partnership's investments in limited and general partner interests of ETP and Regency plus the distributable cash flow related to Southern Union (as described in the definition of Distributable Cash Flow above), net of the Partnership's cash expenditures for general and administrative costs and interest expense, excluding certain items, such as acquisition-related expenses. Due to the cash expenses that were incurred during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 in connection with the Partnership's merger and acquisition activities, Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011 is a significant liquidity measure used by the Partnership's senior management to compare net cash flows generated by the Partnership to the distributions the Partnership expects to pay its unitholders. Using this measure, the Partnership's management can compute the coverage ratio of estimated cash flows for a period to planned cash distributions for such period. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, is net income (loss) for the Parent Company on a stand-alone basis. The accompanying analysis of Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, is presented for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011 for comparative purposes.

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a publicly traded partnership, which owns the general partner and 100 percent of the incentive distribution rights (IDRs) of Energy Transfer Partners and approximately 52.5 million ETP limited partner units; and owns the general partner and 100 percent of the IDRs of Regency Energy Partners and approximately 26.3 million Regency limited partner units. ETE is also the parent of Southern Union Company. The ETE family of companies owns approximately 45,000 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines. For more information, visit the Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. web site at www.energytransfer.com.

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) is a publicly traded partnership owning and operating a diversified portfolio of energy assets. ETP has pipeline operations in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah and West Virginia and owns the largest intrastate pipeline system in Texas. ETP currently has natural gas operations that include approximately 24,000 miles of gathering and transportation pipelines, treating and processing assets, and three storage facilities located in Texas. ETP also holds a 70 percent interest in Lone Star NGL, a joint venture that owns and operates NGL storage, fractionation and transportation assets in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. ETP’s general partner is owned by ETE. For more information, visit the Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. web site at www.energytransfer.com.

Regency Energy Partners LP (NYSE:RGP) is a growth-oriented, midstream energy partnership engaged in the gathering and processing, contract compression, treating and transportation of natural gas and the transportation, fractionation, and storage of natural gas liquids. Regency also holds a 30% interest in Lone Star NGL LLC, a joint venture that owns and operates natural gas liquids storage, fractionation, and transportation assets in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Regency's general partner is owned by ETE. For more information, visit the Regency Energy Partners LP Web site at www.regencyenergy.com.

ENERGY TRANSFER EQUITY, L.P.
DISTRIBUTABLE CASH FLOW
(Tabular amounts in thousands)
(unaudited)

The following table presents the calculation and reconciliation of Distributable Cash Flow and Distributable Cash Flow, as adjusted, of Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR SOUTHERN UNION COMPANY
(Tabular amounts in thousands)
(unaudited)

Supplemental Data

Following is a summary of Southern Union's results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2011. The results of Southern Union shown below include periods prior and subsequent to ETE's consolidation of Southern Union, which began upon the acquisition on March 26, 2012. Amounts shown below for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 include both the pre-acquisition and post-acquisition periods. The results of Southern Union in the post-acquisition period were impacted slightly by the changes in the accounting basis of Southern Union's assets and liabilities to record such assets and liabilities at estimated fair value. This step-up in basis primarily impacted the depreciation, amortization, and interest expense recognized by Southern Union in the post-acquisition periods, which amounts were accordingly reflected in ETE's consolidated financial statements, and will continue to be impacted by the step-up in basis going forward.

Southern Union defines Segment Adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and other non-cash items, such as non-cash compensation expense, unrealized gains and losses on unhedged derivative activities, and other non-operating income or expense items. Segment Adjusted EBITDA reflects amounts for less than wholly owned subsidiaries and unconsolidated affiliates based on Southern Union's proportionate ownership.

Segment Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to measures used by other companies and should be considered in conjunction with net earnings and other performance measures such as operating income or net cash flows provided by operating activities.

The following table presents Southern Union's Segment Adjusted EBITDA for each of the reportable segments reflected in Southern Union's consolidated financial statements, as well as a reconciliation of the total of Segment Adjusted EBITDA for all of Southern Union's segments to Southern Union's net earnings.

Southern Union's Segment Adjusted EBITDA decreased between periods primarily due to the impact of Southern Union's contribution of its investment in Citrus to ETP. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 compared to the same periods in the prior year, the contribution of the investment in Citrus resulted in a net reduction to transportation and storage Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $73.3 million and $49.4 million, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2012, the impact from the contribution of the investment in Citrus was offset by higher earnings from Citrus during the pre-contribution period due to the completion of an expansion project. For the six months ended June 30, 2012, Southern Union's Segment Adjusted EBITDA was also impacted by Southern Union's recognition of merger-related expenses of $2.2 million and $89.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, respectively.

Southern Union's income tax expense decreased between periods primarily due to lower pretax earnings recorded in the period subsequent to the change in control.