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DATE
Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
CALL PARTICIPANTS
- Investor Relations Manager - Sharon Doyle
- President and Chief Executive Officer - Catherine Gates
- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Shantanu Agrawal
TAKEAWAYS
- Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA -- $69.6 million, increasing from $43.6 million in the prior year period primarily due to the addition of Phoenix Global results and higher terminal handling volumes.
- Net Income -- $0.15 per diluted share, representing an increase of $0.13 compared to the second quarter of 2025.
- Increased Full Year 2026 EBITDA Guidance -- $250 million to $265 million, raised from the previous range of $230 million to $250 million based on solid outlooks for both business segments.
- Domestic Coke Adjusted EBITDA -- $42.5 million, up from $40.5 million last year as favorable coal-to-coke yields outweighed lower sales volumes.
- Domestic Coke Sales Volumes -- 878,000 tons, decreasing from 943,000 tons in the second quarter of 2025 because of the Haverhill One shutdown.
- Industrial Services Adjusted EBITDA -- $34.4 million, compared to $7.7 million in the prior year period, driven by the Phoenix acquisition and higher handling volumes.
- Terminal Handling Volumes -- 6.7 million tons, an increase of approximately 20% over the first quarter of 2026 due to shifting market dynamics between domestic and international coal prices.
- Steel Customer Volumes -- 5.8 million tons serviced during the quarter, reflecting the full integration of the Phoenix Global business.
- Domestic Coke FY EBITDA Guidance -- $172 million to $178 million, increased to reflect improved operating conditions and favorable yields.
- Industrial Services FY EBITDA Guidance -- $110 million to $115 million, raised to incorporate strong performance in the first half of the year.
- Operating Cash Flow Guidance -- $240 million to $260 million, updated from $230 million to $250 million as management expects operations to normalize in the second half.
- Operating Cash Flow (Q2) -- Negative $27.2 million, as the figure was negatively impacted by approximately $65 million in cash receipts that were not received until July.
- Total Liquidity -- $207 million, consisting of $42.7 million in cash and $164.5 million in availability under the company's revolving credit facility.
- Debt Reduction -- $6.5 million used for debt paydown during the quarter as part of the company's capital allocation strategy.
- Capital Expenditures -- $15.9 million spent during the quarter to support asset maintenance and operations.
- Quarterly Dividend -- $0.12 per share, representing the company's 28th consecutive quarterly payment.
- Phoenix Synergies -- $5 million to $10 million, with management confirming these expected annual synergies have already been achieved in 2026.
- Middletown Turbine -- Power production resumed in May 2026 after the facility was returned to service earlier than previously anticipated.
- Coke Capacity Status -- 100%, with management reporting the company is sold out for the full year 2026 across its domestic facilities.
- Coal-to-Coke Yields -- 51% to 52% targeted for the full year, supported by insurance recovery proceeds and full turbine power generation in the second half.
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RISKS
- Agrawal stated, "The increase in adjusted EBITDA was... partially offset by lower Coke sales volumes due to the Haverhill One shutdown," indicating a volume headwind from facility closures.
- Agrawal noted, "higher employee expense accrual driven by the company's strong financial performance," which impacted operating costs during the quarter.
- Gates indicated that while the second quarter was "extraordinary" for terminals, she expected volumes to "normalize to what I would consider to be our normal kind of strong results in the second half," suggesting a sequential decline from peak Q2 levels.
SUMMARY
Management reported an increase in full year 2026 guidance following performance in the industrial services and domestic coke segments. The results were driven by the integration of Phoenix Global and increased terminal volumes resulting from a shift in domestic versus international coal pricing. The company confirmed the return to service of the Middletown turbine and reported that its domestic coke capacity remains fully sold out for the remainder of the fiscal year. Capital allocation remains focused on debt reduction, maintenance expenditures, and the continuation of quarterly dividends as part of a balanced strategy.
- CEO Gates attributed the surge in terminal volumes to supply chain and energy concerns, stating there is "supply chain concern and energy concern with respect to the war in Iran that's probably driving some of these prices higher."
- CFO Agrawal explained that the higher domestic coke yields expected in the second half include "insurance recovery proceeds, which we lost, not having the turbine during the first half of the year."
- Management noted that the Industrial Services segment benefited from seasonal activity, including specific slag sales in the Phoenix business that are not expected to repeat at the same volume in subsequent quarters.
- The company achieved its $5 million to $10 million synergy target for the Phoenix acquisition ahead of schedule, with CEO Gates noting that the company expects to see "full synergies in 2027."
- Domestic coke pricing for certain contracts was favorably impacted by the FOB New Orleans price index, which Agrawal noted saw benefits in "two months out of the three this quarter."
- The Middletown power turbine resumption is expected to provide a full quarter of benefit in both the third and fourth quarters, after only providing partial benefit in May and June.
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
- Adjusted EBITDA: A non-GAAP financial measure representing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, adjusted for items like site closure costs or transaction expenses.
- Coke: A high-carbon fuel and reductant made by heating coal in the absence of air, used primarily in blast furnace steel manufacturing.
- Metallurgical Coal: A grade of coal used to produce coke for the steelmaking process.
- Slag: A byproduct of the steelmaking process that is handled and processed for recovery or sale by industrial services firms.
- Take-or-Pay Contract: A provision in a contract where the buyer is required to either take the product from the supplier or pay a specified penalty if they do not.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Operator: lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. I would like to ask a question during this time, so we press star or follow button number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star 1 again. We'll now turn the conference over to Sharon Doyle, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead.
Sharon Doyle: Thank you. Good morning and thank you for joining us this morning to discuss Suncok Energy's second quarter 2026 results. With me today are Catherine Gates, President and Chief Executive Officer and Shantanu Agrawal, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This conference call is being webcast live on the investor relations section of our website and a replay will be available later. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call for Q&A. If we do not get to your questions on the call today, please feel free to reach out to our investor relations team.
Before I turn things over to Catherine, let me remind you that the various remarks we make on today's call regarding future expectations constitute... Forward-looking statements. The cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements in our SEC filings apply to the remarks we make today. These documents are available on our website as our reconciliations to non-GAAP financial measures discussed on today's call. With that, I'll turn things over to Katherine. Thanks, Sharon. Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Unknown Speaker This morning, we announced Suncoke Energy's second quarter results. I want to share a few highlights before turning it over to Shantanu to discuss the results in detail.
We're very pleased with our second quarter results with strong consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $69.6 million. Our industrial services segment delivered the highest adjusted EBITDA since the acquisition of Phoenix, substantially higher handling volumes at our terminals as compared to the prior year period. Our domestic coke segment benefited from favorable coal-to-coke yields, and the Middletown turbine was returned to service with power production resuming in May. Earlier today, we also announced a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share, payable to shareholders on September 2, 2026. This is our 28th consecutive quarterly dividend. While the dividend is evaluated on a quarterly basis by our board, we expect the dividend to continue as part of our well-balanced capital allocation.
As previously discussed in our first quarter earnings call, we are running at full capacity and sold out for the full year. We are also running at a full capacity We expect continued strong operating performance for both business segments, and with a solid outlook through the second half of the year, we are increasing our full year 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $250 to $265 million. With that, I'll turn it over to Shantanu to review our second quarter earnings.
Shantanu Agrawal: earnings in detail. Shantanu. Thanks, Catherine. Turning to slide four. Net income attributable to Suncorp was 15 cents per share in the second quarter of 2026, up 13 cents versus the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by the addition of Phoenix results and higher terminal handling volumes. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2026 was $69.6 million compared to $43.6 million in the prior year period. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by the addition of Phoenix, higher terminal handling volumes, and favorable cold to coke yields, partially offset by lower Coke sales volumes due to the Haverhill One shutdown and higher employee expense accrual driven by the company's strong financial performance.
Moving to slide five to discuss our domestic Coke business performance in detail. Second quarter domestic coke adjusted EBITDA was $42.5 million and coke sales volumes were 878,000 tons compared to $40.5 million and 943,000 tons in the prior year period. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by favorable coal to coke yields, to improved operating conditions, partially offset by lower Coke sales volumes due to the Haverhill One shutdown. We are pleased with the improvement in our Coke operations during the second quarter and with the return of power production at Middletown earlier than anticipated.
We expect this strong operational performance to continue throughout the second quarter half of the year and are increasing our full-year domestic coke adjusted product guidance range to 172 to 178 million dollars now moving on to slide six to discuss our industrial services results Our industrial services segment generated $34.4 million of adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $7.7 million in the prior year period. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by the addition of Phoenix results and higher terminal handling volumes. Second quarter total terminals handling volumes were 6.7 million tons and steel customer volumes serviced were 5.8 million tons.
We are increasing our full year 2026 industrial services adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $110 million to $115 million, driven by continued solid IEPs. outlook for the second half of the year. Now, turning to slide 7 to discuss our liquidity position for Q2, Suncorp ended the second quarter with a cash balance of $42.7 million and revolver availability of $164.5 million, representing ample liquidity of $207 million. cash used in operating activities was $27.2 million and was negatively impacted by the timing of approximately $65 million of cash receipts at the quarter end, which were subsequently received in July.
We expect operating cash flow to normalize over the remainder of the year and are increasing our full year operating cash flow guidance to $240 to $260 million. During the quarter, we used $6.5 million for debt pay down, spent $15.9 million on CapEx, and paid $10.2 million in dividends at the rate of $0.12 per share. Runco has a strong track record of generating steady free cash flow, and we expect the trend to continue throughout the year. As Catherine mentioned earlier, we intend to continue utilizing our free cash flow to pay down debt, as well as to reward our long-term shareholders via dividends, which is reviewed and approved on a quarterly basis by our board of directors.
Unknown Speaker With that, I'll turn it back over to Catherine. Thanks, Shantanu. Wrapping up on slide eight. As always, safety is our first priority and our team remains committed to maintaining strong safety and environmental performance throughout the year. Robust safety and environmental standards set Suncoke apart and are central to our reliable delivery of high-quality coke and industrial services. We continue to be confident in our operations for 2026 with our profitable long-term Coke business underpinned by the three pillars of Indian Harbor, Middletown and Jewel Foundry, which have consistently delivered excellent performance and results.
With our Haverhill 2 and Granite City Coke making contracts in place and all spot glass and foundry Coke sales finalized were sold out for the full year. We also maintain a positive outlook for our industrial services segment. 2026 will benefit from a full year of Phoenix adjusted EBITDA, as well as solid market conditions at our terminals. As always, we take a balanced yet opportunistic approach to capital allocation. Our focus will remain on utilizing our free cash flow to support our capital allocation priorities, including paying down our revolver balance. We also plan to continue returning capital via the quarterly dividend as approved by our board, which has always been well received by our long-term shareholders.
We continuously evaluate the capital needs of the business, our capital structure, and the need to reward our shareholders, and will make capital allocation decisions accordingly. We're committed to maximizing value for all of our stakeholders, which means operating and investing in our assets in the best and most efficient way possible. We will continue to focus on maintaining the strength of our core businesses, as well as assessing new growth opportunities across all areas of our business. Overall, we see the strong fundamentals of our business and expect our 2026 results to be reflective of that. We are confident that we'll be able to deliver full-year consolidated adjusted EBITDA within our revised guidance range of $250 to $265 million.
Operator: Let's go ahead and open up the call for Q&A. Thank you. If you have a question, please press star 1 in your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, simply press star 1 again. Your first question comes from the line of Henry Hurl of B. Reilly Securities. Your line is open. Unknown Speaker Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Just to start off, in the domestic code this year, for 10 was roughly 48.4, which is still slightly below your revised higher full year guidance of 51 to 52.
Could you help us and walk the drivers to achieve this higher yield up for 10 in the second half of the year?.
Shantanu Agrawal: Thanks, Henry. Yes, there are a couple of things in there. First, you know, the Middletown turbine came back online late part of May. So we still did not have the full benefit of the Middletown turbine power generation for the full quarter. So you're going to see that in the third and the fourth quarter. quarter, the full turbine power generation from Middletown. And the other piece, which is also included in the second half of the year, is the insurance recovery proceeds, which we lost, not having the turbine during the first half of the year. That is also built into our guidance for the second half. Unknown Speaker Got it. Thanks, Shantanu.
And then I believe your terminal handling volumes increased almost 20% quarter over quarter. Unknown Speaker was kind of the main driver or drivers of that significant step up? So, you know, this was really an extraordinary quarter for the terminals, you know, as we've said. And, I mean, we see really a shift in the end of last year and even the beginning of this year. We saw that mismatch where you had higher domestic price. for coal versus internationally, that has certainly shifted. I think that there's supply chain concern and energy concern with respect to the war in Iran that's probably driving some of these prices higher.
When the prices go higher, we see that higher volume come through. And so those things have all converged to really create a very, very strong second quarter for us. Unknown Speaker Understood. Thank you, Catherine, for that color. I think in your prepared remarks, you said that terminal volumes are expected to see strong performance in the second half. mean further growth or kind of remaining at those 2q levels?. Unknown Speaker Yes, very good question. So we see the second half as being strong, but I would refer to it as being strong as opposed to extraordinary.
So, you know, the second quarter really several things converged across all of our terminals to give us those really high volumes that we're very, very pleased with. So we feel very good about the second half, but I would expect those to normalize to what I would consider to be our normal kind of strong results in the second half. And that's really reflective when you look at the guidance that we're giving for industrial services on a full year basis. Unknown Speaker Got it. Understood. I'll turn it over. Thanks, guys, and continued best of luck.
Operator: Thank you. Thanks, Andre. Your next question comes from the line of Nathan Martin of the Benchmark Company. Your line is open.
Nathan Martin: Thanks, operator. Good morning, everyone. Congrats on a strong quarter. Maybe just digging in a little bit more on that last question. You did raise, obviously, industrial services segment guidance by what looks like about 18 million or so at the midpoint, but it actually implies, I guess, average, just to get the dots back down. about 26 million a quarter in the back half. So am I thinking about that correctly, just trying to again reconcile the implied half over half decline, or is there maybe some, you know, conservative conservatism built in? I think you guys had previously guided to terminal volumes of 24 million tons and then Phoenix volumes of 22 million tons.
Is that still what you're seeing for that segment or any other thoughts there would be great?.
Shantanu Agrawal: Yes, thanks, Nate. That's a great question. So a couple of things. I think one thing in what happened in Q2, Catherine mentioned, right, we saw a significant amount of volumes come through in the terminals this quarter, right? And if you look at our Q1 was pretty strong as well in the terminals with the 5.6 million volumes. you know, kind of volumes and we did 6.6 million volume this quarter. So I would say the run rate for the second half is somewhere in the middle of that, you know, more closer to Q1, I would say.
And then the other piece which really, really impacted and helped us in Q2 was some extraordinary kind of, you know, slack. sales that we did on the Phoenix side of the business, which helped drive the number in Q2. These are more seasonal things that it happens in one quarter. You're handling the slag and then you sell those kind of slag into the market. It just depends on the timing. So that helps quite a bit. bid in the Q2 and which should normalize out in Q3 and Q4. And that's why kind of, you know, the full year guidance of 110 to 115 makes sense from that perspective.
Nathan Martin: Okay, that's some good color, Shantanu. I appreciate that. I mean, with Phoenix, are you guys still thinking that $60 million with Just to Do Without for years is a good way to think about that? Or have you been able to institute some cost savings initiatives, et cetera, or higher sales that might see some upside there?. Unknown Speaker So, you know, with respect to the synergies that we expected to realize and we discussed, you know, previously the 5 to 10 million of synergies, we have already achieved that this year. And we have a good portion of the synergies this year, but we would expect to see full synergies in 2020.
So certainly with respect to the integration of the business and the cost side of it, we are right where we expect it to be. Operationally, things are just the same level of discipline, reliability, and rigor that we bring to Koch and Terminals we brought to Phoenix. that strong operational performance and coupling that with the mills and how they've been performing. And you've seen that across the board in terms of results. you know, from our customers, we're just, we're having a very strong year for Phoenix. So I think that thinking about our original sort of 60, 61 million as sort of a baseline when we announced the acquisition of Phoenix, that is the baseline.
But you're certainly seeing stronger performance this year due to our operations. excellence coupled with the mill's strong performance. Catherine, I appreciate that. And then maybe another question as it relates to Covenant. Did you guys receive the price kicker there for the quarter based on where the FOB New Orleans index was? And then are you seeing any benefit in the second half with those prices still elevated because of what's going on in the war in the Middle East?.
Shantanu Agrawal: Yes, that's a great question. Yes. You know, we changed the price index last year and it's FOB New Orleans. We did see the favorable impact of that, not to a great extent. We did see some impact, I think, two months out of the three this quarter. And that price, you know, it's a mix. of how the domestic producers are doing, as well as kind of what the market looks like in Europe. So we expect to see some benefit in Q3 as well, but it can change pretty quickly.
Nathan Martin: Okay, got it, Shantanu. And then I just wanted to come back to the as a coke side, you mentioned that insurance proceeds from Middletown are partly at least driving some of the higher expected adjusted EBITDA per ton in the back half. How much are those proceeds and how should we think about how that flows through?.
Shantanu Agrawal: So, Nate, we are not like laying out, you know, because it's just one plant and how much energy we're going to produce. But if you think about it, what we said was in Q1, the impact of the turbine and the impact of the weather impact on Indiana Harbor and our other coal plants was around $10 million, right? And then we did not have power. You can think about it the way is that we did not have power for five months of the year, right? So roughly, if you can extrapolate that, model that out, that's kind of the insurance proceed that we.
Nathan Martin: need that is built into the second half of the year. Okay. So maybe we're thinking 5 million, kind of half that number, something like that, since part of it was weather. Yes.
Shantanu Agrawal: That was just Q1, right? And that continued into a good part of Q2 as well.
Nathan Martin: Okay. Got it. All right. I'll leave it there. Appreciate the time, everybody. Best of luck in the second half.
Operator: Thank you. With no further questions, I will now turn the call back over to CEO and President Catherine Gates for closing remarks. Unknown Speaker Thank you all for joining us this morning and for your continued interest in Suncoast. Let's continue to work safely today and every day. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.
