Spark Energy Raises Guidance, Reports Expanded Unit Margins

Spark Energy, Inc. raised guidance in reporting earnings yesterday.

Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2016 has been raised to a narrower range of $80.0 million - $85.0 million. Previously, a range of $75.0 million - $82.0 million had been provided.

For the third quarter of 2016, Spark reported record Adjusted EBITDA of $20.3 million, record Retail Gross Margin of $45.2 million and solid Net Income of $6.8 million. This compares to Adjusted EBITDA of $5.6 million, Retail Gross Margin of $26.7 million and Net Income of $5.9 million for the third quarter of 2015, representing increases of 263%, 69%, and 15%, respectively.

The increase of $18.5 million in Retail Gross Margin is primarily attributable to the acquisitions of Major and Provider, expanded electricity unit margins, and increased retail electricity and natural gas volumes. Favorable supply costs across several of the company's markets were a key driver of these elevated unit margins in the third quarter, Spark said

"We are extremely pleased with our third quarter results," said Nathan Kroeker, Spark Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Not only did we close two significant acquisitions [Major Energy, Provider Power], but we accomplished record third quarter Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin, and also lowered our attrition rate by approximately 24% year-over-year. In addition, we saw strong organic growth of approximately 10,000 RCEs across our legacy businesses."