HF Sinclair (DINO) 10-Q2023 Q3 Quarterly report

On March 14, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), HollyFrontier Corporation (“HollyFrontier”) and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”) announced the establishment of HF Sinclair Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“HF Sinclair”), as the new parent holding company of HollyFrontier and HEP and their subsidiaries, and the completion of their respective acquisitions (the “Sinclair Transactions”) of Sinclair Oil Corporation (now known as Sinclair Oil LLC) and Sinclair Transportation Company LLC (“STC”) from The Sinclair Companies (now known as REH Company and referred to herein as “REH Company”).

References herein to HF Sinclair, “we,” “our,” “ours,” and “us” with respect to time periods prior to March 14, 2022 refer to HollyFrontier and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not include Sinclair Holding LLC, STC or their respective consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, the “Acquired Sinclair Businesses”). References herein to HF Sinclair, “we,” “our,” “ours,” and “us” with respect to time periods from and after March 14, 2022 include the operations of the Acquired Sinclair Businesses. Unless otherwise specified, the financial statements included herein include financial information for HF Sinclair, which for the time period from March 14, 2022 to September 30, 2023 includes the combined business operations of HollyFrontier and its consolidated subsidiaries and the Acquired Sinclair Businesses.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-Q, including, but not limited to, those under “Results of Operations,” “Liquidity and Capital Resources” and “Risk Management” in Part I, Item 2 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and those in Part II, Item 1 “Legal Proceedings” are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements use words such as “anticipate,” “project,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “goal,” “forecast,” “strategy,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “believe,” “may,” and similar expressions and statements regarding our plans and objectives for future operations. These statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions using currently available information and expectations as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Unless specifically noted, all statements concerning our expectations for future results of operations are based on forecasts for our existing operations and do not include the potential impact of any future acquisitions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our expectations will prove to be correct. Therefore, actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed, implied or forecast in these statements. Any differences could be caused by a number of factors including, but not limited to:

Cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are set forth in this Form 10-Q, including without limitation the forward-looking statements that are referred to above. You should not put any undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” included in Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023 and in conjunction with the discussion in this Form 10-Q in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under the headings “Outlook” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources.” All forward-looking statements included in this Form 10-Q and all subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and, other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Within this report, the following terms have these specific meanings:

On March 14, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), HollyFrontier Corporation (“HollyFrontier”) and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”) announced the establishment of HF Sinclair Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“HF Sinclair”), as the new parent holding company of HollyFrontier and HEP and their subsidiaries, and the completion of their respective acquisitions of Sinclair Oil Corporation (now known as Sinclair Oil LLC) and Sinclair Transportation Company LLC (“STC”) from The Sinclair Companies (now known as REH Company and referred to herein as “REH Company”). On the Closing Date, pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of August 2, 2021 (as amended on March 14, 2022, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among HollyFrontier, HF Sinclair, Hippo Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (“Parent Merger Sub”), REH Company, and Hippo Holding LLC (now known as Sinclair Holding LLC), a wholly owned subsidiary of REH Company (the “Target Company”), HF Sinclair completed its previously announced acquisition of the Target Company by effecting (a) a holding company merger in accordance with Section 251(g) of the Delaware General Corporation Law whereby HollyFrontier merged with and into Parent Merger Sub, with HollyFrontier surviving such merger as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (the “HFC Merger”) and (b) immediately following the HFC Merger, a contribution whereby REH Company contributed all of the equity interests of the Target Company to HF Sinclair in exchange for 60,230,036 shares of HF Sinclair common stock, resulting in the Target Company becoming a direct wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (the “HFC Transactions”). At the effective time of the HFC Merger, HollyFrontier became a wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair, and all of HollyFrontier’s outstanding shares were automatically converted into equivalent corresponding shares of HF Sinclair. Pursuant to the HFC Merger, HF Sinclair became the successor issuer to HollyFrontier pursuant to Rule 12g-3(a) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and replaced HollyFrontier as the public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DINO.” See Note 2 and Note 4 for additional information.

References herein to HF Sinclair, “we,” “our,” “ours,” and “us” with respect to time periods prior to March 14, 2022 refer to HollyFrontier and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not include Sinclair Holding LLC, STC or their respective consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, the “Acquired Sinclair Businesses”). References herein to HF Sinclair, “we,” “our,” “ours,” and “us” with respect to time periods from and after March 14, 2022 include the operations of the Acquired Sinclair Businesses. Unless otherwise specified, the financial statements included herein include financial information for HF Sinclair, which for the time period from March 14, 2022 to September 30, 2023 includes the combined business operations of HollyFrontier and the Acquired Sinclair Businesses.

In these financial statements, the words “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer only to HF Sinclair and its consolidated subsidiaries or to HF Sinclair or an individual subsidiary and not to any other person, with certain exceptions. Generally, the words “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” include HEP and its subsidiaries as consolidated subsidiaries of HF Sinclair, unless when used in disclosures of transactions or obligations between HEP and HF Sinclair or its other subsidiaries. These financial statements contain certain disclosures of agreements that are specific to HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not necessarily represent obligations of HF Sinclair. When used in descriptions of agreements and transactions, “HEP” refers to HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries.

On August 15, 2023, HF Sinclair entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with HEP, Navajo Pipeline Co., L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (“HoldCo”), Holly Apple Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of HoldCo (“Merger Sub”), HEP Logistics Holdings, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and the general partner of HEP (“HLH”), and Holly Logistic Services, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company and the general partner of HLH (the “General Partner”), pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into HEP, with HEP surviving as an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (such merger, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, being referred to herein as the “HEP Merger Transaction”).

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, each outstanding common unit of HEP, other than the HEP common units already owned by HF Sinclair and its subsidiaries, will be converted into the right to receive 0.315 shares of HF Sinclair common stock and $4.00 in cash, without interest. Completion of the HEP Merger Transaction is subject to the approval of HF Sinclair stockholders and HEP unitholders and the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions. The HEP Merger Transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, assuming the satisfaction or waiver of all the conditions to the HEP Merger Transaction.

For a description of HF Sinclair’s and HEP’s existing indebtedness, as well as proposed changes thereto associated with the HEP Merger Transaction, see Note 10.

In connection with the HEP Merger Transaction, we incurred $4.2 million and $4.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, in incremental direct acquisition and integration costs that principally relate to legal, advisory and other professional fees and are presented as selling, general and administrative expenses in our statements of income.

Inventories of our Petro-Canada Lubricants and Sonneborn businesses are stated at the lower of cost, using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method, or net realizable value.

Inventories consisting of process chemicals, materials and maintenance supplies and RINs are stated at the lower of weighted-average cost or net realizable value.

Operating leases are recorded in “Operating lease right-of-use assets” and current and noncurrent “Operating lease liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheet. Finance leases are included in “Properties, plants and equipment, at cost” and “Accrued liabilities” and “Other long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheet.

Our lease term includes an option to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on our balance sheet. For certain equipment leases, we apply a portfolio approach for the operating lease ROU assets and liabilities. Also, as a lessee, we separate non-lease components that are identifiable and exclude them from the determination of net present value of lease payment obligations. In addition, HEP, as a lessor, does not separate the non-lease (service) component for operating leases in contracts in which the lease component is the dominant component. HEP treats these combined components as a lease. HEP bifurcates the consideration received for sales-type lease contracts between lease and service revenue, with the service component accounted for within the scope of Accounting Standards Codification 606.

We performed our annual goodwill impairment testing quantitatively as of July 1, 2023 and determined there was no impairment of goodwill attributable to our reporting units.

Our lubricants and specialty products business has sales agreements with marketers and distributors that provide certain rights of return or provisions for the repurchase of products previously sold to them. Under these agreements, revenues and cost of revenues are deferred until the products have been sold to end customers. Our lubricants and specialty products business also has agreements that create an obligation to deliver products at a future date for which consideration has already been received and recorded as deferred revenue. This revenue is recognized when the products are delivered to the customer.

HEP recognizes revenues as products are shipped through its pipelines and terminals and as other services are rendered. Additionally, HEP has certain throughput agreements that specify minimum volume requirements, whereby HEP bills a customer for a minimum level of shipments in the event a customer ships below their contractual requirements. If there are no future performance obligations, HEP recognizes these deficiency payments as revenue. In certain of these throughput agreements, a customer may later utilize such shortfall billings as credit towards future volume shipments in excess of its minimum levels within its respective contractual shortfall make-up period. Such amounts represent an obligation to perform future services, which may be initially deferred and later recognized as revenue based on estimated future shipping levels, including the likelihood of a customer’s ability to utilize such amounts prior to the end of the contractual shortfall make-up period. HEP recognizes the service portion of these deficiency payments as revenue when HEP does not expect it will be required to satisfy these performance obligations in the future based on the pattern of rights exercised by the customer.

Payment terms under our contracts with customers are consistent with industry norms and are typically payable within 30 days of the date of invoice.

We have intercompany notes that were issued to fund certain of our foreign businesses. Remeasurement adjustments resulting from the conversion of intercompany financing amounts to functional currencies are recorded as gains and losses as a component of other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of income. Such adjustments are not recorded to the Lubricants and Specialty Products segment operations, but to Corporate and Other. See Note 15 for additional information on our segments.

Potential interest and penalties related to income tax matters are recognized in income tax expense. We believe we have appropriate support for the income tax positions taken and to be taken on our income tax returns and that our accruals for tax liabilities are adequate for all open years based on an assessment of many factors, including past experience and interpretations of tax law applied to the facts of each matter.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recorded an income tax expense of $480.6 million compared to $706.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. This decrease was principally due to lower pre-tax income during the nine months ended September 30, 2023 compared to the same period of 2022. Our effective tax rates were 21.6% and 22.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The difference between the U.S. federal statutory rate and the effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 is primarily due to the impact of federal tax credits and the relationship between pre-tax results and the earnings attributable to the noncontrolling interest that is not included in income for tax purposes. The difference in the U.S. federal statutory rate and the effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was primarily due to the impact of federal tax credits and the decrease in the state tax rate applied to our deferred tax assets and liabilities as a result of the Sinclair Transactions.

On March 14, 2022, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, HF Sinclair completed its acquisition of the Target Company by effecting (a) the HFC Merger and (b) immediately following the HFC Merger, a contribution whereby REH Company contributed all of the equity interests of the Target Company to HF Sinclair in exchange for shares of HF Sinclair, resulting in the Target Company becoming a direct wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair.

In connection with the closing of the HFC Transactions, HF Sinclair issued 60,230,036 shares of HF Sinclair common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to REH Company, representing 27% of the pro forma equity of HF Sinclair with a value of approximately $2,149 million based on HollyFrontier’s fully diluted shares of common stock outstanding and closing stock price on March 11, 2022. Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, REH Company made a $77.5 million cash payment to HF Sinclair, inclusive of final working capital adjustments, which reduced the aggregate transaction value to approximately $2,072 million. Of the 60,230,036 shares of HF Sinclair common stock, 2,570,000 shares are currently held in escrow to secure REH Company’s RINs credit obligations under Section 6.22 of the Business Combination Agreement. Additionally, on the Closing Date, and immediately prior to the consummation of the HFC Transactions, HEP completed its acquisition of STC, REH Company’s integrated crude and refined products midstream business, and issued 21,000,000 common limited partner units and paid cash consideration of $329.0 million, inclusive of final working capital adjustments, to REH Company in exchange for all the outstanding equity interests of STC (the “HEP Transaction” and together with the HFC Transactions, the “Sinclair Transactions”). Of these 21,000,000 common limited partner units, 5,290,000 units were held in escrow and were released to REH Company in April 2023 upon their satisfaction of the corresponding RINs credit obligations to HF Sinclair to secure REH Company’s RINs credit obligations under Section 6.22 of the Business Combination Agreement.

The Sinclair Transactions were accounted for as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting, with the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective acquisition date fair values at the effective date, with the excess consideration recorded as goodwill.

The following tables present the purchase consideration and final purchase price allocation of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed on March 14, 2022:

The final purchase price allocation resulted in the recognition of $685.9 million in goodwill. Our Refining, Renewables, Marketing and HEP segments recognized $244.0 million, $159.0 million, $163.8 million and $119.1 million of goodwill, respectively. The goodwill recognized is primarily attributable to operating and administrative synergies and net deferred tax liabilities arising from the differences between the estimated fair values of assets and liabilities and the tax basis of these assets and liabilities. There are qualitative assumptions of long-term factors that this acquisition creates for our stockholders, including increased scale and diversification that is expected to drive growth through the expanded refining and renewables businesses and the addition of an integrated branded wholesale distribution network. This goodwill is not deductible for income tax purposes.

The fair value measurements for properties, plants and equipment were based on significant inputs that are not observable in the market and, therefore, represent Level 3 measurements.

The fair value of properties, plants and equipment was based on the combination of the cost and market approaches. Key assumptions in the cost approach include determining the replacement cost by evaluating recent published data and adjusting replacement cost for physical deterioration, functional, and economic obsolescence. We used the market approach to measure the value of certain assets through an analysis of recent sales or offerings of comparable properties. The fair value of crude oil and refined products inventory was based on market prices as of the acquisition date.

The fair value of equity method investments totaled $234.3 million and was based on a combination of valuation methods including discounted cash flows and the guideline public company method.

Accrued liabilities include $70.6 million of RINs credit obligations, including 2022 obligations through the Closing Date, which were valued based on market prices for RINs at the effective date, a Level 2 input. REH Company is financially responsible for satisfaction of RINs credit obligations for all periods prior to the closing. This receivable totaled $68.4 million and was valued based on market prices for RINs at the effective date.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we purchased RINs for an aggregate amount of $3.1 million and $14.9 million, respectively, on behalf of REH Company from third parties at applicable market prices in connection with our provision of services to REH Company under the transition services agreement that we and REH Company entered into at the closing of the Sinclair Transactions. We acted as an agent in these RINs transactions and did not recognize sales or cost of products sold as a result. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recognized sales of $21.2 million related to the sale of RINs to REH Company based on applicable market prices.

All other fair values discussed above were based on significant inputs that are not observable in the market and, therefore, represent Level 3 measurements.

The fair values of all other current receivable and payables were equivalent to their carrying values due to their short-term nature.

We incurred $2.4 million and $10.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and $9.7 million and $48.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, in incremental direct acquisition and integration costs that principally relate to legal, advisory and other professional fees and are presented as selling, general and administrative expenses in our statements of income.

HEP is a publicly held master limited partnership that owns and / or operates logistic and refinery assets consisting of petroleum product and crude oil pipelines, terminals, tankage, loading rack facilities and refinery processing units that principally support our refining and marketing operations, as well as other third-party refineries, in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountains geographic regions of the United States. Additionally, as of September 30, 2023, HEP owned a 50% ownership interest in each of Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC, the owner of a pipeline running from Cushing, Oklahoma to El Dorado, Kansas (the “Osage Pipeline”); Cheyenne Pipeline, LLC, the owner of a pipeline running from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to Cheyenne, Wyoming (the “Cheyenne Pipeline”) and Cushing Connect Pipeline & Terminal LLC (“Cushing Connect”), the owner of a crude oil storage terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma and a pipeline that runs from Cushing, Oklahoma to our Tulsa West and Tulsa East facilities (collectively, the “Tulsa refineries”); a 25.06% ownership interest in Saddle Butte Pipeline III, LLC, the owner of a pipeline from the Powder River Basin to Casper, Wyoming (the “Saddle Butte Pipeline”); and a 49.995% ownership interest in Pioneer Investments Corp., the owner of a pipeline from Sinclair, Wyoming to the North Salt Lake City, Utah Terminal (the “Pioneer Pipeline”).

At September 30, 2023, we owned a 47% limited partner interest and a non-economic general partner interest in HEP. As the general partner of HEP, we have the sole ability to direct the activities that most significantly impact HEP’s financial performance, and therefore, as HEP’s primary beneficiary, we consolidate HEP.

HEP generates revenues by charging tariffs for transporting petroleum products and crude oil through its pipelines, by charging fees for terminalling refined products and other hydrocarbons, and by storing and providing other services at its storage tanks and terminals. Under our long-term transportation agreements with HEP (discussed further below), we accounted for 81% of HEP’s total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. We do not provide financial or equity support through any liquidity arrangements and / or debt guarantees to HEP.

HEP has outstanding debt under its senior secured revolving credit agreement and its senior notes. HEP’s creditors have no recourse to our assets. Furthermore, our creditors have no recourse to the assets of HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries. See Note 10 for a description of HEP’s debt obligations.

HEP has risk associated with its operations. If a major customer of HEP were to terminate its contracts or fail to meet desired shipping or throughput levels for an extended period of time, revenue would be reduced and HEP could suffer substantial losses to the extent that a new customer is not found. In the event that HEP incurs a loss, our operating results will reflect HEP’s loss, net of intercompany eliminations, to the extent of our ownership interest in HEP at that point in time.

As a result of this common unit issuance and our resulting HEP ownership change, we adjusted additional capital and equity attributable to HEP’s noncontrolling interest holders to reallocate HEP’s equity among its unitholders.

As part of HEP’s acquisition of STC, HEP acquired the 25.0% non-operated interest of UNEV Pipeline, LLC (“UNEV”) not already owned by HEP and as such, UNEV, the owner of a pipeline running from Woods Cross, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada and associated product terminals, became a wholly owned subsidiary of HEP.

Our consolidated statements of income reflect lease revenue recognized by HEP for contracts with third parties in which HEP is the lessor.

Lease income recognized was as follows:

Substantially all revenue-generating activities relate to sales of refined product, branded fuel, renewable diesel and excess crude oil inventories sold at market prices (variable consideration) under contracts with customers. Additionally, we have revenues attributable to HEP logistics services provided under petroleum product and crude oil pipeline transportation, processing, storage and terminalling agreements with third parties.