Jones Energy, Inc. Announces 2018 First Quarter Financial and Operating Results

AUSTIN, Texas, May 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jones Energy, Inc. JONE ("Jones Energy" or "the Company") today announced financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.   

Highlights

• Net loss for the first quarter of 2018 of $28.9 million, or a loss of $0.30 per share, non-GAAP adjusted net loss of $30.3 million, or $0.32 per share, and EBITDAX of $29.8 million.¹
• Management and the Board of Directors are reevaluating the Company's financial, operating and drilling plans for 2018 and beyond.

Financial Results

Total operating revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $57.5 million as compared to $41.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017.  Total revenues including the impact of current period settlements of matured derivative contracts were $48.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 as compared to $67.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017.  

Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $66.2 million as compared to $54.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017. 

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company reported a net loss of $28.9 million, or a loss of $0.30 per share attributable to common shareholders as compared to net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.05 per share attributable to common shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Excluding, on a tax-adjusted basis, certain items that the Company does not view as indicative of its ongoing financial performance, and adjusting for non-controlling interest, the Company had adjusted net loss for three months ended March 31, 2018 of $30.3 million, or adjusted net loss of $0.32 per share, as compared to adjusted net income of $3.9 million, or of $0.01 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, and exploration expense ("EBITDAX") for the first quarter 2018 was $29.8 million. This compares to first quarter 2017 EBITDAX of $53.3 million and fourth quarter 2017 EBITDAX of $37.7 million.  

First quarter 2018 lease operating expense ("LOE") was $10.2 million as compared to first quarter 2017 LOE of $8.8 million. On a dollar per boe basis, first quarter 2018 LOE was $5.12 per boe, compared to first quarter 2017 LOE which was $5.18 per boe.

Due to newly adopted revenue recognition accounting standards, the Company will present certain oil and gas transportation costs as a separate expense item in its operating costs on a go forward basis. Historically, these costs were netted against revenue. For the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 the Company had $0.7 million of related oil and gas transportation costs.

Preferred Dividend Update

On April 17, 2018 the Company's Board of Directors declared a contingent dividend on the Company's 8.0% Series A Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock ("Preferred Stock"), payable on May 15, 2017 to holders of record as of May 1, 2018. As a reminder, the Company is currently prohibited from paying cash dividends on the Preferred Stock under the terms of its indebtedness; however, it may choose to issue dividends in Class A Common Stock, which it has done for the past several payment periods. In order for the Company to pay the dividend in full, the price per share of Class A Common Stock, as determined and adjusted pursuant to the Certificate of Designations, must be at or above $0.76 (the "Floor Price")². The Board of Directors has determined that the dividend on the Preferred Stock payable May 15, 2018 will not be paid if the price per share of Class A Common Stock is below the Floor Price, and the right to receive those dividends will accrue for holders of Preferred Stock.

Operating Results

During the first quarter of 2018 Jones Energy produced 1,998 MBoe, or 2,198 Boe/d. Merge production represented approximately 30% of total Company production for the first quarter of 2018. A breakout of first quarter production is shown in the table below.

Eastern Anadarko (Merge)

During the first quarter, the Company spud eight wells and completed nine wells in the Merge, of which four completed wells were Woodford and five completed wells were Meramec targets. Merge production for the first quarter 2018 of 6.8 MBoe/d grew 36% over fourth quarter 2017 production of 5.0 Mboe/d.

At the end of the first quarter, the Company dropped one of its two rigs in the Merge. The Company currently plans to drill all nine wells remaining on the 2018 drilling schedule with the one remaining rig in the Merge.

Western Anadarko (Cleveland)

During the first quarter of 2018, the Company activated a rig in the Western Anadarko, spudding and completing one well, in order to satisfy the Company's drilling obligations. Average daily net production in the Cleveland was 14.4 MBoe/d, which represented 65% of total production in the first quarter of 2018. 

Capital Expenditures
During the first quarter of 2018, the Company made $63.4 million in capital expenditures, of which $11.6 million was related to spending on non-op wells spud in both the fourth quarter of 2017 and first quarter 2018. Operated drilling and completion capital accounted for $49.7 million, 94% of which was spent in the Company's operated Merge program. Maintenance and leasing capital expenditures for the first quarter 2018 totaled $2.1 million.

Updated Operating Plan
Jones Energy is reevaluating its financial, drilling and operating plan for 2018 and beyond. At this time, there are no changes to the previously announced 2018 capital plan. Jones Energy continues to budget $150 million in full year 2018 capital expenditures, but now expects to drill 17 gross (11 net) wells in the Merge, down from the 20 gross (13 net) wells previously announced, two-thirds of which will now be single section laterals and the remainder a mix of 10,000' and 7,500' laterals. Jones Energy expects to complete the HBP program of its operated Merge position in November 2018.

The Company is suspending guidance until the review of its operating and financial plan is complete.

Liquidity and Hedging

As of March 31, 2018, the Company had $231 million of cash and $25 million outstanding on its revolver. The following table summarizes the Company's net commodity derivative contracts outstanding as of May 2, 2018:

The Company will not hold a conference call in conjunction with its first quarter 2018 earnings release and expects to file its 10-Q with the SEC on Friday, May 4, 2018.

About Jones Energy

Jones Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties in the Anadarko basin of Oklahoma and Texas.  Additional information about Jones Energy may be found on the Company's website at: www.jonesenergy.com.

Investor Contact:
Page Portas, 512-493-4834
Investor Relations Associate
Or
Robert Brooks, 512-328-2953
Executive Vice President & CFO

ir@jonesenergy.com

______________________________
¹Adjusted net loss, adjusted net loss per share and EBITDAX are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures that are used by management and external users of our consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies. For additional information, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations" below.

² As defined in the Certificate of Designations for the Company's Preferred Stock and as adjusted in accordance with the terms of the Certificate of Designations.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this press release specifically include the expectations of plans, strategies, objectives and anticipated financial and operating results of the Company, continuing guidance regarding the number of rigs that will be running in 2018, the timing of the development of, and the length of laterals in, the Merge acreage, expectations regarding the Company's HBP program in the Merge, and the cost to drill and complete wells and the resultant impact on the 2018 capital budget.  These statements are based on certain assumptions made by the Company based on management's experience and perception of historical trends, current economic and market conditions, anticipated future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate.  Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements.  These include, but are not limited to, changes in oil and natural gas prices, weather and environmental conditions, the timing and amount of planned capital expenditures, availability and method of funding of acquisitions and divestitures, or the ability to integrate any acquisitions, uncertainties in estimating proved reserves and forecasting production results, operational factors affecting the commencement or maintenance of producing wells, the condition of the capital markets generally, as well as the Company's ability to access them, the proximity to and capacity of transportation facilities, and uncertainties regarding environmental regulations or litigation and other legal or regulatory developments affecting the Company's business and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected as described in the Company's reports filed with the SEC.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made and the Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Jones Energy, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Operations (Unaudited)

Jones Energy, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheet (Unaudited)

Jones Energy, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow Data (Unaudited)

Jones Energy, Inc.
Selected Financial and Operating Statistics

The following table sets forth summary data regarding revenues, production volumes, average prices and average production costs associated with our sale of oil and natural gas for the periods indicated:

Jones Energy, Inc.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations

EBITDAX is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that is used by management and external users of our consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies.

We define EBITDAX as earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization, exploration expense, gains and losses from derivatives less the current period settlements of matured derivative contracts, and the other items described below.  EBITDAX is not a measure of net income (loss) as determined by United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.  Management believes EBITDAX is useful because it allows them to more effectively evaluate our operating performance and compare the results of our operations from period to period and against our peers without regard to our financing methods or capital structure.  We exclude the items listed above from net income (loss) in arriving at EBITDAX because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within our industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures and the method by which the assets were acquired.  EBITDAX has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income (loss) as determined in accordance with GAAP or as an indicator of our liquidity. Certain items excluded from EBITDAX are significant components in understanding and assessing a company's financial performance, such as a company's cost of capital and tax structure, as well as the historical costs of depreciable assets.  Our presentation of EBITDAX should not be construed as an inference that our results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items and should not be viewed as a substitute for GAAP.  Our computations of EBITDAX may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income (loss) as determined in accordance with GAAP to EBITDAX for the periods indicated:

Jones Energy, Inc.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations

Adjusted net income (loss) is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that is used by management and external users of the Company's consolidated financial statements.  We define adjusted net income (loss) as net income (loss) excluding the impact of certain non-cash items including gains or losses on commodity derivative instruments not yet settled, impairment of oil and gas properties, non-cash compensation expense, and the other items described below.  We believe adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted earnings per share are useful to investors because they provide readers with a more meaningful measure of our profitability before recording certain items for which the timing or amount cannot be reasonably determined.  However, these measures are provided in addition to, not as an alternative for, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.  The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) as determined in accordance with GAAP to adjusted net income (loss) for the periods indicated:

(1) In arriving at adjusted net income (loss), the tax impact of the adjustments to net income (loss) is determined by applying the appropriate tax rate to each adjustment and then allocating the tax impact between the controlling and non‑controlling interests.

Jones Energy, Inc.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations

Adjusted earnings per share is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that is used by management and external users of the Company's consolidated financial statements.  We define Adjusted earnings per share as earnings per share plus that portion of the components of adjusted net income (loss) allocated to the controlling interests divided by weighted average shares outstanding.  We believe adjusted earnings per share is useful to investors because it provides readers with a more meaningful measure of our profitability before recording certain items for which the timing or amount cannot be reasonably determined.  However, these measures are provided in addition to, not as an alternative for, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.  The following table provides a reconciliation of earnings per share to adjusted earnings per share for the period indicated:

(1) In arriving at adjusted net income (loss), the tax impact of the adjustments to net income (loss) is determined by applying the appropriate tax rate to each adjustment and then allocating the tax impact between the controlling and non‑controlling interests.