Description
Amplify Energy is an oil company based in Houston, Texas. It trades as NYSE: AMPY and has 230 employees.
History
Amplify is the successor of Memorial Production Partners, which went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 and was traded as Nasdaq: MEMP. Amplify's CEO beginning May 2018 was Ken Mariani, previously from EnerVest. Midstates Petroleum (previously NYSE: MPO) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which had gone through bankruptcy in 2016, was merged with Amplify in 2019.
In the Memorial Production Partners 2017 bankruptcy, debt was reduced from $1.3 billion to $430 million. Memorial itself had, earlier, emerged from the NGP private equity fund and the Beta field in turn had been originally discovered in 1976 by Royal Dutch Shell. Huntington Beach field as a whole "was once considered the 12th largest in the nation, having produced more than a billion barrels since discovery by the Standard Oil Co. in 1920.
David J. Sambrooks, former CEO of Midstates, received $5.3 million in compensation in 2019, $1.1 million in 2018, $2.7 million in 2017. The 2019 compensation included $3.5 million in severance benefits. Likewise, Scott C. Weatherholt, EVP and general counsel, received $3 million compensation in 2019 (including $1.9 million in severance benefits), $1.6 million in 2018, and $416,000 in 2017.
Before the merger, the company bought back $1.3 million in stock in early 2019, having approved up to $25 million of buyback in 2018. After the mid-2019 merger, another $25 million buyback was approved, and the company purchased $24.9 in stock in late 2019.
Amplify's 2019 gross income was $275.6 million, versus $340 million in 2018. Two dividends were issued in 2019 totaling $15.9 million. The company had a revolving credit line with Bank of Montreal for $450 million; the company had an average of $265 million borrowed. The line of credit was reduced to $285 million in June 2020, and would be reduced monthly until it was at $260 million. In June the company had $264 million used in the line of credit.
Fir Tree Capital Management, a hedge fund founded by Jeff Tannenbaum, owns approximately 27.7% of Amplify's outstanding stock. Brigade Capital Management owns approximately 10.7%.
In 2019, its largest customers were Phillips 66 (27%), Sinclair Oil (21%), and BP America (13%).
CEO Mariani announced his retirement on April 1, 2020. CFO Martyn Willsher was announced as the interim CEO.
On April 20, 2020, the company was notified by NYSE that it was at risk of delisting for its low share price. Amplify had 6 months to cure this, but regained compliance by June 2020.
As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced on May 6, 2020, that it received $5.5 million in federally backed small business loans on April 24 as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The Washington Post highlighted the loan, especially since Amplify is a public company and spent $26 million on stock buybacks; Reuters highlighted Amplify as an energy company that has not indicated it would return the funds before the amnesty deadline. Amplify expected most of that money would be forgiven per the PPP's terms.
