NRP 2026년 3분기 실적 발표회: 부채 감소 속에 배당금 $2.34로 인상

핵심 요약

• 내추럴 리소스 파트너스(Natural Resource Partners L.P.)는 순이익 2,700만 달러, 영업활동 현금흐름 4,400만 달러 및 잉여현금흐름 4,500만 달러를 2026년 3분기에 창출했습니다.
• 당 파트너십은 분기 배당금을 보통주 단위당 2.34달러로 인상했으며, 이는 지난 2분기에 대해 8월에 지급된 단위당 0.75달러의 배당금에서 증가한 수치입니다.
• NRP는 해당 분기 동안 1,300만 달러의 부채를 상환했으며, 잔여 1,400만 달러는 다음 달에 상환될 예정이라고 밝혔습니다.
• 광물권(Mineral Rights) 부문은 분기 잉여현금흐름 4,700만 달러 및 최근 12개월간 1억 8,500만 달러를 창출하며 NRP의 핵심 현금 창출원 역할을 유지했습니다.
• 경영진은 현재 여건을 바탕으로 2027년 석탄 가격에 중대한 변화가 없을 것으로 예상하고 있습니다. 또한 소다회의 약한 펀더멘털로 인해 2027년이 2026년보다 더 어려워질 것이라고 덧붙였습니다.
• NRP는 소다회 수요가 회복되거나 침체된 시장에서 의미 있는 공급 조절이 나타날 때까지 시세캄 와이오밍(Sisecam Wyoming)으로부터의 배당 지급 재개를 기대하지 않고 있습니다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 운영 성과

광물권

특정 자산에서의 원료탄 가격 및 판매량 상승과 대금 수금 시점이 부문 현금흐름의 전년 동기 대비 증가를 뒷받침했습니다. 다만 이러한 긍정적 효과는 2025년 3분기에 수취했던 임대계약 변경 수수료로 인해 일부 상쇄되었습니다.

원료탄은 2026년 3분기 기준 약 석탄 로열티 매출의 70% 및 석탄 로열티 판매량의 45%를 차지했습니다.

경영진은 세계 철강 수요가 여전히 약세를 보이며 원료탄 가격 상승을 지속적으로 제한하고 있다고 밝혔습니다. 연료탄 시장 역시 낮은 천연가스 가격과 발전소의 높은 석탄 재고 수준으로 인해 침체된 상태를 유지하고 있습니다. 아울러 높은 디젤 연료 비용은 운용사의 마진 압박을 가중시키고 있습니다.

소다회

소다회 부문의 순이익은 전년 동기 대비 200만 달러 감소했으며, 이는 공급 과잉 상태인 국제 시장의 판매 가격 하락과 판유리 수요 약세에 기인합니다.

경영진은 국제 가격의 하락세가 멈췄으나 대부분의 생산자에게는 여전히 생산 원가를 밑도는 수준이라고 언급했습니다. 미국 국내 가격은 계약 갱신에 따라 낮아지고 국제 가격 대비 프리미엄이 축소되면서 하락할 것으로 예상됩니다.

회사는 시세캄 와이오밍을 여전히 세계에서 가장 생산 비용이 낮은 소다회 사업장 중 하나로 평가하고 있습니다. 관리 파트너사는 안전하고 안정적인 운영을 유지하면서 비용 절감을 추진하고 있습니다.

경영진 전망

경영진은 현재 지표상 2027년 석탄 가격의 중대한 변화는 나타나지 않고 있는 반면, 지정학적 분쟁으로 인해 가격이 상하 양방향으로 움직일 가능성이 있다고 말했습니다.

소다회의 경우 경영진은 시장의 수급 재조정이 몇 분기가 아닌 수년이 걸릴 것으로 예상하고 있습니다. 공장 폐쇄가 시작되었으나 공급 측면의 대응은 여전히 더딘 상황입니다. 미국 국내 계약 가격 하락으로 인해 2027년은 2026년보다 더욱 도전적인 해가 될 것으로 전망됩니다.

향후 배당금은 실적, 유동성 필요량, 출자지분 매입이나 기회주의적 인수합병을 포함한 현금의 대안적 활용방안 등을 고려하여 이사회에서 분기별로 결정할 예정입니다.

리스크 및 주시 사항

• 글로벌 철강 수요 약세가 원료탄 가격 상승을 제한하고 있습니다.
• 낮은 천연가스 가격과 발전소의 높은 석탄 재고가 연료탄 업황에 부담을 주고 있습니다.
• 지정학적 불확실성과 높은 디젤 비용이 원자재 가격, 공급망 비용 및 운용사 마진에 영향을 줄 수 있습니다.
• 글로벌 소다회 공급 과잉과 약한 수요가 가격에 지속적인 압박을 가하고 있습니다.
• 수요가 개선되거나 공급이 크게 축소될 때까지 시세캄 와이오밍의 배당 지급 재개는 기대하기 어렵습니다.
• 분기별 잉여현금흐름과 배당금은 기간 간에 상당한 차이가 발생할 수 있습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 하이라이트

경영진은 잠재적 지분 매입에 관한 질문에 대해 NRP의 내재 가치 추정치 공개를 거부했습니다.

또한 NRP는 재무제표 부채 감축(디레버리징) 이후에도 이산화탄소 포집, 태양광, 지열 및 기타 재생에너지 관련 기회에 대한 접근 방식에는 변화가 없다고 밝혔습니다. 당 파트너십은 소유 토지 전반에서 프로젝트를 개발할 임차인을 지속적으로 모색하고 있습니다.

실적발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문(Transcript)

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Natural Resource Partners L.P. Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand the conference over to Tiffany Sammis, Investor Relations. Tiffany, please go ahead.

Tiffany Sammis

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Natural Resource Partners third quarter 2026 conference call. Today's call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on our website.

Joining me today are Craig Nunez, President and Chief Operating Officer; Chris Zolas, Chief Financial Officer; and Kevin Craig, Executive Vice President.

Some of our comments today may include forward-looking statements reflecting NRP's views about future events. These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from our forward-looking statements. These risks are discussed in NRP's Form 10-K and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. Our comments today also include non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in our third quarter press release, which can be found on our website.

I would like to remind everyone that we do not intend to discuss the operations or outlook for any particular coal lessee or detailed market fundamentals.

Now I would like to turn the call over to Craig Nunez, our President and Chief Operating Officer.

Craig Nunez

Thank you, Tiffany. Good morning, everyone. NRP generated $45 million of free cash flow in the third quarter of 2026 and $166 million of free cash flow over the last 12 months before the investment in our soda ash business earlier this year. Last quarter, I said that [ barring ] something unforeseen, we intended to raise distribution significantly in November. We are delivering on that. A decade of work to pay down debt and derisk the partnership has brought us to the point where we can pay out free cash flow beyond the unitholder tax liability. We generated $45 million of free cash in the quarter. We paid down $13 million of debt, leaving $32 million or $2.34 per unit available to distribute.

Our free cash flow can move around a lot from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year. Our Board will decide on distributions each quarter weighing our results, our liquidity needs and other uses of cash, which could include unit repurchases or opportunistic acquisitions. If the Board decides to retain cash rather than pay it out, we will hold ourselves to the same test as always, more than $1 of intrinsic value per unit for every dollar we keep.

Last quarter, I said our Mineral Rights segment was our most dependable cash generator. It delivered again this quarter, producing $47 million of free cash flow and $185 million over the last 12 months. Spot prices for metallurgical coal bumped up modestly in the quarter before pulling back. Global steel demand remains weak, and that keeps a lid on prices. Similar story with thermal coal. Natural gas is cheap, power plants are sitting on plenty of coal, and we do not see anything on the horizon to change that. The geopolitical backdrop remains bumpy and diesel is up more than 75% this year which raises costs all along the supply chain and squeezes operator margins. For 2027, nothing we are watching points to a material change in coal pricing. If geopolitical conflicts drag on, prices can move in either direction, and I will not pretend to know which.

Now to Soda Ash. The picture is the same as a quarter ago, too much supply, too little demand and no quick fix. Increased natural soda ash exports from China are pushing older synthetic plants to modernize, shutdown or both. Producers are doing what you would expect. Running plants at lower rates, shedding higher-cost capacity, cutting discretionary spending and hunting for efficiencies. International prices have stopped falling, but have settled at levels that are below the cost of production of most producers. As we explained last quarter, domestic prices should move lower as contracts reset and the premium over international prices narrows. That will make 2027 harder than 2026.

Closures are beginning to occur, however, but slowly. We continue to think rebalancing the market will take years, not quarters. Our investment in Sisecam Wyoming is -- holds one of the lowest cost of soda ash operations in the world and low cost is what carries you through a downturn. Our managing partner continues to aggressively pursue cost savings while keeping operations safe and reliable and protecting the plant's competitive position. This cycle may take years to turn, but we are confident in the quality of the asset and its ability to generate competitive returns when the market returns to balance. So to sum it up, Mineral Rights keeps generating strong free cash flow. We have $14 million of debt left to repay next month, and we are finally at the point where we can return the cash this business generates to you, our partners, subject to the Board's quarterly decision.

With that, I'll turn it over to Chris.

Christopher Zolas

Thank you, Craig. In the third quarter of 2026, NRP generated $27 million of net income, $44 million of operating cash flow and $45 million of free cash flow. Of these consolidated amounts, our Mineral Rights segment generated $37 million of net income, $46 million of operating cash flow and $47 million of free cash flow. When compared to the prior year third quarter, our Mineral Rights segment net income decreased $4 million primarily due to increased DD&A expense. Operating cash flow and free cash flow each increased $2 million as compared to the prior year period, primarily due to higher met coal pricing and volumes at certain properties and timing of payments, partially offset by lease amendment fees we received in the third quarter of last year. Regarding our met thermal coal royalty mix, met coal made up approximately 70% of our coal royalty revenues and 45% of our coal royalty sales volumes for the third quarter of 2026.

For our Soda Ash segment, net income for the third quarter decreased $2 million compared to the prior year quarter. This decrease was driven by lower sales prices due to the oversupplied international soda ash market and weakened demand for flat glass. Operating and free cash flow was flat when compared to the prior year period due to not receiving a distribution of third quarters of 2025 and 2026. NRP does not expect distributions from Sisecam Wyoming to resume until the sodas market demand rebounds where there is a significant supply response to this depressed market.

Moving to our corporate and financing results. Net income, operating cash flow and free cash flow for the third quarter of 2026, each improved $1 million as compared to the prior year period. These improvements were due to lower debt resulting in lower interest costs and less cash paid for interest. Regarding our quarterly distributions, in August, we paid the second quarter distribution of $0.75 per common unit. Also during the third quarter of this year, we fully repaid the remaining $13 million balance on our Opco credit facility. As a result, and consistent with our communications throughout the year, the partnership increased the distribution to $2.34 per common unit with respect to the third quarter of 2026.

In our recent earnings release, we have included a reconciliation of this Q3 distribution amount from the operating cash flow we generated in the third quarter.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to our operator for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Robert Lu.

Unknown Attendee

This is Robert Lu. I'm an independent investor in NRP for the last few years. I'm curious, you talked about the potential for share buybacks when you saw that the intrinsic value is below or above the current market price. I'm curious, would you be able to share your thoughts on that and where that might be?

Craig Nunez

No. We will not give you guidance on what we think is the intrinsic value of our units. But thank you for your support.

Unknown Attendee

Yes. Thank you for following through on what you said you do and excited about the news today.

Craig Nunez

You bet. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Balsam with Yellow Gate Capital.

질의응답

Steven Balsam

I just wanted to say congratulations on reaching this point. It's really rare to see such a long-term decision taken and made and follow through consist really been fantastic [indiscernible] on long-term sale trend feels great to get to this point. I'd like to just one question regarding...

Craig Nunez

Thank you for being with us for a long time and supporting us. We couldn't have done it without all of our partners.

Steven Balsam

You bet. I was hoping maybe you guys could comment a little bit on potential activities that you're looking at, whether it be carbon sequestration or any other sort of actions that your debt that are going on with respect to the various properties.

Craig Nunez

I would tell you that our activities with respect to CO2 sequestration, solar, geothermal, all of the renewable type activities that we look at they're not changing at all as a result of the change in our capital structure and the change in our cash allocation strategy, capital deployment strategy here now that we've paid off our debt or about to pay off all of our debt. There's no changes to that. We're attempting to maximize the acreage that we have, find lessees that are willing to come in and and develop projects on our acreage for all the various types of initiatives. And we've been doing that even before we've reached this point with our -- with respect to our capital structure.

Steven Balsam

Excellent. I love the approach and really happy with the approach taken on it as far. And I realize there's nothing -- no statements made about future distribution like the way it was set out in the financials being that variable distribution paid out of free cash flow feels great. Congratulations, again.

Craig Nunez

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Craig Nunez for closing remarks.

Craig Nunez

Thank you, operator. And again, thank all of you for your support over the years. We're still on the journey. But being able to raise our distribution today and pay out a larger share of our free cash flow now that we have practically delever the entire balance sheet. It was a joint effort, and we couldn't have done it without you. So now we got to look ahead and add value in the next period. So with that, thank you, and have a great day.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.