Energy Transfer Partners Reports Quarterly Results for the Period Ended September 30th

• Press Release
• Source: Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.
• On 4:20 pm EST, Monday November 9, 2009

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) today reported EBITDA, as adjusted, distributable cash flow, and net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. EBITDA, as adjusted, for the three months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $281.8 million, a decrease of $51.0 million from the three months ended September 30, 2008. Distributable cash flow for the three months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $155.6 million, a decrease of $54.3 million from the three months ended September 30, 2008. Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $72.5 million, a decrease of $148.6 million from the three months ended September 30, 2008. The decreases in these metrics between the periods were primarily attributable to the impacts of lower natural gas prices and weaker price differentials mainly across Texas.

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Symbol	Price	Change
ETE	29.86	+0.06

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For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, EBITDA, as adjusted, totaled $1.03 billion, a decrease of $34.9 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2008. Distributable cash flow for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $731.7 million, a decrease of $77.5 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2008. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $530.4 million, a decrease of $184.7 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

ETP also announced that it has filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ETP has posted a copy of this Form 10-Q on its website at www.energytransfer.com. The Partnership has scheduled a conference call for 9:00 a.m. Central Time, Tuesday, November 10, 2009 to discuss the third quarter results. The conference call will be broadcast live via an internet web cast, which can be accessed through www.energytransfer.com. The call will be available for replay on the Partnership’s website for a limited time.

EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures used by industry analysts, investors, lenders, and rating agencies to assess the financial performance and the operating results of the Partnership’s fundamental business activities and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, income from operations, cash flows from operating activities, or other GAAP measures. A table reconciling EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow with appropriate GAAP financial measures is included in the summarized financial information included in this release.

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 Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Utah, and owns the largest intrastate pipeline system in Texas. ETP’s natural gas operations include intrastate gathering and transportation pipelines, treating and processing assets, and three storage facilities located in Texas. ETP currently has more than 17,500 miles of pipeline in service and has a 50% interest in joint ventures that have approximately 500 miles of interstate pipeline in service. ETP is also one of the three largest retail marketers of propane in the United States, serving more than one million customers across the country.

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a publicly traded partnership, which owns the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners and approximately 62.5 million ETP limited partners units.

The information contained in this press release is available on the Partnership’s website at www.energytransfer.com.

(1) Based on the declared distribution rate of $0.89375 per Common Unit, distributions to be paid for the three months ended September 30, 2009, are $249.5 million in total, which exceeds net income for the period by $177.0 million. Accordingly, the distributions to be paid to the General Partner, including incentive distributions, further exceeded the net income for the three months ended September 30, 2009, and as a result, a net loss was allocated to the Limited Partners for the period.

(2) Basic and diluted net income per limited partner unit amounts for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 have been restated to reflect the retrospective adoption of certain accounting principles on January 1, 2009. See our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 for a more detailed discussion.

(a) The Partnership has disclosed in this press release EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow which are non-GAAP financial measures. Management believes EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow provide useful information to investors as measure of comparison with peer companies, including companies that may have different financing and capital structures. The presentation of EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow also allows investors to view our performance in a manner similar to the methods used by management and provides additional insight to our operating results.

There are material limitations to using measures such as EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow, including the difficulty associated with using either as the sole measure to compare the results of one company to another, and the inability to analyze certain significant items that directly affect a company’s net income or loss or cash flows. In addition, our calculations of EBITDA, as adjusted, and distributable cash flow may not be consistent with similarly titled measures of other companies and should be viewed in conjunction with measurements that are computed in accordance with GAAP, such as gross margin, operating income, net income, and cash flow from operating activities.

Definition of EBITDA, as Adjusted

The Partnership defines EBITDA, as adjusted, as total partnership earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and other non-cash items, such as compensation charges for unit issuances to employees and other expenses. Non-cash compensation expense represents charges for the value of the grants awarded under the Partnership’s compensation plans over the vesting terms of those plans and are charges which do not, or will not, require cash settlement. Non-cash income or loss such as the gain or loss arising from disposal of assets is not included when determining EBITDA, as adjusted.

EBITDA, as adjusted, is used by management to determine our operating performance and, along with other data, as internal measures for setting annual operating budgets, assessing financial performance of our numerous business locations, as a measure for evaluating targeted businesses for acquisition and as a measurement component of incentive compensation.

Definition of Distributable Cash Flow

The Partnership defines distributable cash flow as total partnership earnings, adjusted for certain non-cash amounts recorded in earnings, less maintenance capital expenditures. Non-cash amounts recorded in earnings include depreciation and amortization, deferred taxes, impairment losses, allowance for equity funds used during construction, and certain realized and unrealized gains and losses. Distributable cash flow also reflects earnings from affiliates on a cash basis.

Distributable cash flow is used by management to evaluate our overall performance. Our partnership agreement requires us to distribute all available cash, and distributable cash flow is calculated to evaluate our ability to fund distributions through cash generated by our operations.

Investor Relations:
Energy Transfer
Brent Ratliff, 214-981-0700
or
Media Relations:
Granado Communications Group
Vicki Granado, 214-504-2260
214-498-9272 (cell)