Star Group Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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May 7, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Adjusted EBITDA rose to $139 million, a $10.5 million year‑over‑year increase driven by higher per‑gallon margins.
  • Positive Sentiment: Home heating oil and propane volumes increased to 144.5 million gallons in the quarter (+0.4%) and 238 million gallons year‑to‑date (+5.3%), helping product gross profit grow by $19 million for the quarter and $48 million for the first half.
  • Negative Sentiment: Severe, colder‑than‑normal weather raised service demand but reduced operational efficiency, increasing service losses (~$3.4M in the quarter), delivery/branch/G&A expenses, and insurance claims, pressuring margins.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Net income benefited from a non‑cash favorable change in the fair value of derivatives (~$21M), which materially boosted reported earnings but is not an operating cash item.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management closed one small heating‑oil acquisition during the quarter, has additional opportunities under review, and established a $12.5 million weather hedge for fiscal 2027 to manage weather volatility.
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Earnings Conference Call
Star Group Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 4 speakers on the call.

Speaker 2

Good day, and welcome to the Star Group Fiscal 2026 second quarter results conference call. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Witty, the investor relations advisor. Please go ahead.

Operator

Thank you and good morning. With me on the call today are Jeffrey M. Woosnam, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Richard F. Ambury, Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to provide a brief safe harbor statement. This conference call may include forward-looking statements that represent the company's expectations and beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties and may cause the company's actual performance to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this conference call are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

Operator

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations are disclosed in this conference call, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, and the company's other filings with the SEC. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements. Unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, after the date of this conference call. I'd now like to turn the call over to Jeffrey M. Woosnam. Jeff?

Speaker 1

Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss our second quarter and fiscal year to date results. The second quarter was, in many ways, a continuation of conditions experienced in the first. Temperatures across our operating footprint were 6.4% colder than last year and 2.8% colder than normal, resulting in slightly higher volumes of products sold. The severe weather, including several very large snow events, at times impacted our field productivity, thereby raising operating expenses. That said, we were still able to post adjusted EBITDA of $139 million, which represents a year-over-year improvement of $10.5 million. At the same time, we kept net customer attrition to 0.6%, both of which are meaningful accomplishments for the company.

Speaker 1

Lastly, we closed on 1 small heating oil acquisition during the quarter and have several other opportunities under various stages of review. I've often talked on this call about the hard work and dedication of our loyal employees. Never has there been a more appropriate time to reflect on their value to our organization. With the added demand brought on by periods of near record low temperatures combined with significant snowfall, our team worked tirelessly, often through very difficult conditions, to provide our customers with the level of service and responsiveness they have come to expect. I simply could not be more proud and appreciative of their efforts. We are also working to contain the impact from recent increases in wholesale product costs through the use of effective inventory controls, supply chain initiatives, and active margin management.

Speaker 1

While higher prices can create certain challenges for us, the immediate impact of this current escalation has been somewhat muted by the fact that we are coming out of the heating season. Although there is still much work to be done, I'm very pleased with how Star has performed as we cross the midpoint of the year. We believe we are well positioned for the remainder of fiscal 2026 and look forward to the opportunities that summer brings to further invest in our people and business development initiatives. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rich to provide additional comments on the quarter's results. Rich?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. In analyzing our results for the three and six-month periods of fiscal 2026, please keep in mind that service costs and operating expenses were impacted by extreme weather conditions, including, at times, temperatures that were 25% colder than expected for a three-week period and in some areas experienced over 60 inches of snow, which obviously negatively affected our overall operational efficiency. For the second quarter, our home heating oil and propane volume rose by 600,000 gallons or 0.4% to 144.5 million gallons as the additional volume provided from acquisitions and colder weather more than offset the impact of net customer attrition and other factors.

Speaker 3

Temperatures for the fiscal 2026 second quarter were 6.4% colder than last year and 2.8% colder than normal. Our product gross profit increased by $19 million or 7% to $277 million due to a slight increase in home heating oil and propane volume sold and higher home heating oil and propane per gallon margins. Colder weather conditions and numerous snowstorms increased the demand for service, which led to higher service-related expenses, including greater labor and other costs, which increased our service loss by $3.4 million. Delivery, branch, and G&A expenses increased by $5.4 million year-over-year. Delivery-related expenses rose by $4 million, largely due to the extreme weather conditions, while insurance expense increased by $4 million, as well as claims rose due to the severe weather.

Speaker 3

During the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company did not recognize any benefit or expense under its weather hedge versus a $3.1 million expense recorded for the three months ending March 31, 2025. We have previously expensed a cap of about $5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 due to the cold weather. We posted net income of $108 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, or $22 million more than the prior year period, reflecting a $10.5 million increase in adjusted EBITDA and the impact of a non-cash favorable change in the fair value of derivative instruments of $21 million, more than offsetting higher income tax expense of about $10 million and certain other factors.

Speaker 3

Adjusted EBITDA rose by ten and a half million dollars to $139 million as an increase in home heating oil and propane per gallon margins more than offset higher operating expenses I just discussed. Turning to the results for the first half of fiscal 2026. Our home heating oil and propane volume increased by 12 million gallons or 5.3% to 238 million gallons, again reflecting colder temperatures and the additional volume provided from acquisitions, again, more than offsetting net customer attrition and other factors. Temperatures in Star's geographic areas of operations fiscal year to date were 11% colder than the prior year comparable period and 4.1% colder than normal.

Speaker 3

Our product gross profit increased by $48 million or 12% to $457 million due to an increase in the volume of home heating oil and propane sold and higher home heating oil and propane per gallon margins. As previously mentioned, colder weather conditions and numerous snowstorms in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 increased the demand for service, which led to higher service-related expenses. While installation gross profit increased by $1.5 million, the service gross loss rose by $6.1, again, due to higher expenses and an increased demand for service, as well as an increase in propane tank sets. Delivery, branch, and G&A expenses rose by a little over $16 million year-over-year, of which $1.9 million was attributable to our weather hedging program.

Speaker 3

As I previously mentioned, in fiscal 2026, we recorded an expense of $5 million under our weather hedge compared to $3.1 million recorded in fiscal 2025, again reflecting weather conditions in both periods. Recent acquisitions accounted for an increase of $3 million to delivery branch and G&A expenses, while costs associated with the base business rose by $11.3 million, reflecting a 2.7% increase in volume and the impact of the severe weather conditions on operating expenses, including insurance claims.

Speaker 3

We posted net income of $144 million for the first six months of fiscal 2026 or $25 million in the prior year period as an increase in adjusted EBITDA of $27 million and the impact of a favorable change in the fair value of derivatives of $10 million more than offset higher income tax expense of $11 million and other factors. Adjusted EBITDA rose by $27 million to $207 million due to an increase in home heating oil and propane volume sold in the base business, an increase in adjusted EBITDA from acquisitions and higher home heating oil and propane per gallon margins, which more than offset higher operating expenses. Note that for fiscal 2027, we have put in place a twelve and a half million dollar weather hedge.

Speaker 3

Now I'll turn the call back over to Jeff.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Rich. At this time, we're pleased to address any questions you may have. Operator, please open the phone lines for questions.

Speaker 2

We will now begin the question and answer section. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch tone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. As a reminder, if you have a question, please press star then one to be joined into the queue. At this point, there appears to be no callers in the queue, so I'll hand it back to Mr. Woosnam for any closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you for taking the time to join us today and your ongoing interest in Star Group. We look forward to sharing our 2026 fiscal third quarter results in August. Have a great summer.

Speaker 2

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may all disconnect.

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