(Adds background on challenge by federal competition regulator to the Plains deal in paragraphs 9 to 11)
Keyera (KEY.TO) swung to a net loss year over year in the first quarter as it recorded costs related to its recently closed acquisition of Plains' Canadian natural gas liquids business, the company said on Thursday.
Net loss was C$122.0 million, or a loss of $0.53 per share, swinging from a net income of $130.3 million, or $0.57 per share. The result missed the earnings per share consensus estimate of $0.09 as compiled by FactSet.
Adjusted EBITDA was $202.9 million, down from $298.4 million. Excluding transaction costs related to the Plains acquisition, adjusted EBITDA was $232 million.
Distributable cash flow, excluding acquisition-related costs, was $133.3 million, or $0.58 per share, down from $189.6 million, or $0.83 per share.
The company also cited lower contributions from the marketing segment, which was impacted by the outage at the Alberta EnviroFuels facility, more than offsetting record quarterly contributions from the gathering and processing segment.
Keyera reaffirmed its 2026 stand-alone guidance as it remains on track to achieve its target of 7% to 8% fee-based adjusted EBITDA compound annual growth rate between 2024 and 2027.
Growth capital expenditures are expected to be between $400 million and $475 million. Maintenance capital expenditures are expected to range from $140 million to $160 million.
In an update on core growth projects, Keyera said KAPS Zone 4 and KFS Frac III are on track and on budget. The KFS Frac II debottleneck remains on schedule for completion by the end of June and is now expected to cost about $75 million, below the original cost estimate of $85 million.
Keyera faces official pushback on its $5.15-billion acquisition of Plains All American Pipeline's (PAA) Canadian natural gas liquids assets as the Competition Bureau recently said it filed an application with the Competition Tribunal challenging the deal.
The bureau said in a release it believes "the proposed transaction is likely to harm competition in natural gas liquids processing and storage, particularly at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada's primary hub for these services".
The bureau said the referral to the Tribunal follows on an investigation that concluded the acquisition would eliminate a close competitor in the Fort Saskatchewan market and increase market concentration. It also said the merged company would have the "ability to increase prices, impose less favourable contract terms, reduce incentives to expand capacity, and further entrench control over critical infrastructure".