Keyera Lifts Q3 Adjusted EBITDA to C$462 Million as Plains NGL Assets Add C$103 Million

Keyera Corp. reported third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of C$462 million on Tuesday, up from C$281 million a year earlier, as its first full quarter of the Plains Canadian natural gas liquids business lifted Liquids Infrastructure to a record. The company also raised its 2026 Marketing margin guidance by C$80 million and flagged a four-week outage at its AEF iso-octane plant in January. All figures here are in Canadian dollars.

For Alberta producers and the fractionation customers who depend on Fort Saskatchewan, the numbers show how much of Keyera's earnings power now rests on the assets it bought in May. For investors, the quarter shows a larger fee-based business that still carries C$8.12 billion of net debt.

Plains assets supply C$103 million of Keyera's record Liquids Infrastructure margin

Liquids Infrastructure realized margin reached C$272 million, compared with C$147 million in the third quarter of 2025. Keyera said about C$103 million of that came from the acquired Plains assets.

Oil Authority's calculation shows the Plains business supplied roughly 38 percent of the segment's margin in its first full quarter. Keyera closed the purchase on May 12 for C$5.3 billion including closing adjustments, funding it with subscription receipts, cash on hand and previously issued debt financing.

Fee-based realized margin climbed 53 percent to C$398 million.

Gathering and Processing added less. Its realized margin rose to C$125 million from C$112 million, and Marketing moved to C$95 million from C$73 million.

Keyera also reported a net loss of C$68 million, against net earnings of C$85 million a year earlier. The release does not give a cause. Its reconciliation table lists a C$315 million unrealized loss on commodity-related contracts for the quarter, an item adjusted EBITDA leaves out.

Integration is running slightly behind its own target. Keyera has captured or implemented about C$115 million of annualized run-rate synergies against a goal of C$120 million to C$140 million within 12 months of closing. That puts the company between 82 and 96 percent of the way there by Oil Authority's calculation, with the 12-month window ending in May 2027.

Keyera's AEF iso-octane plant stays constrained into 2027

AEF produced 10,000 barrels a day of iso-octane in the quarter, down from 14,000 a year earlier. Keyera said heat exchanger performance at the plant "deteriorated more rapidly than anticipated, further constraining production."

The company plans an interim outage of about four weeks in early January 2027. AEF will then run at reduced rates until permanent replacement equipment is installed in May 2027, and Keyera expects the outages and lower output to cost about C$85 million of 2027 Marketing margin.

"While reliability at AEF remains a challenge, we are focused on executing our plan to restore sustained performance," said Dean Setoguchi, President and CEO, in Keyera's third-quarter results release.

The 2026 Marketing guidance now sits at C$400 million to C$430 million, up from C$320 million to C$350 million. The range assumes about 50 percent average AEF utilization for the rest of 2026, and Keyera will provide 2027 Marketing guidance with its first-quarter 2027 results.

Keyera's C$8.12 billion net debt keeps leverage above target until 2028

Net debt stood at C$8.12 billion at September 30, or 3.6 times adjusted EBITDA. That is above the company's long-term range of 2.5 to 3.0 times, and Keyera said it is focused on returning to that range in 2028.

The 2027 plan reflects that discipline. Growth capital is guided at C$630 million to C$670 million, mostly for KAPS Zone 4, KFS Frac III and the ACE Rail Terminal. Maintenance capital is C$250 million to C$280 million, which includes about C$20 million for the AEF equipment and about C$20 million for one-time IT integration work.

Keyera also expects a debottleneck of the Fort Saskatchewan Condensate System to raise operable capacity by about 15 percent for a modest capital investment, with the added capacity entering service in early 2027.

Regulatory risk from the Plains purchase has not gone away. The Competition Bureau filed an application with the Competition Tribunal in May, saying the deal would cut the number of major integrated providers at the Fort Saskatchewan hub from three to two. Jeanne Pratt, Interim Commissioner of Competition, said at the time: "The Bureau is taking this action to protect competition at a critical energy hub."

Keyera disagrees with the Commissioner's characterization of the deal. Its third-quarter release lists the outcome of the Tribunal proceedings among its risk factors.

Keyera pays its fourth-quarter dividend of C$0.5625 per share on December 31 to shareholders of record on December 15. The AEF outage starts in early January 2027.