"Additionally, our strategically-located asset base and provenbusiness model enabled us to generate additional margin by capitalizing on thefavorable contango market conditions and overall volatility present during thefirst quarter." "PAA ended the quarter with healthy distribution coverage, a solid balance sheetand significant liquidity. Including the proceeds from our $350 million seniornotes offering completed in mid-April, PAA ended the quarter with approximately$1.8 billion in available committed liquidity," continued Armstrong. The portion of the equity compensation expense attributable to the cash portion of the LTIP Plans is approximately $2 million and less than $1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. (2) Gains and losses from derivative activities related to revalued inventory areincluded in the line item "Inventory valuation adjustments net of gains and losses from related derivative activities;" gains and losses from derivative activities not related to revalued inventory are included in the line item "Gains/(losses)from other derivative activities." (3) Gains and losses from derivative activities for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 include gains of approximately $3 million and $2 million,respectively, related to interest rate derivatives, which are included in interest income and other income (expense), net, but do not impact segment profit. Theproportional allocations by segment require judgment by management and will continue to be based on the business activities that exist during each period.
(3) The equity compensation charge for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 excludes the portion of the equity compensation expense represented by grants under the LTIP Plans that, pursuant to the terms of thegrant, will be settled in cash only and have no impact on diluted units. Adjusted segment profit for the Facilities segment for the first quarter of 2009increased 47% over comparable 2008 metrics due primarily to capacity increasesfrom recently completed capital projects, higher average lease rates across thePartnership`s assets and contributions from an LPG storage asset acquired in2008. Adjusted segment profit for the Marketing segment for the first quarter of 2009increased 62% over comparable 2008 metrics, due to an increase in LPG salesmargins and increased profitability resulting from the favorable impact of acontango market structure. The Partnership`s basic weighted average units outstanding for the first quarterof 2009 totaled 124 million (125 million diluted) as compared to 116 million(117 million diluted) in last year`s first quarter.
At March 31, 2009, thePartnership had approximately 128.7 million units outstanding, long-term debt ofapproximately $3.2 billion and a long-term debt-to-total capitalization ratio of47%. The Partnership has declared a quarterly distribution of $0.905 per unit ($3.62per unit on an annualized basis) payable May 15, 2009 on its outstanding limitedpartner units. This distribution payment represents increases of approximately4.6% and 1.4%, respectively, over the quarterly distributions paid in May 2008and February 2009. Prior to its May 7 conference call, the Partnership will furnish a currentreport on Form 8-K, which will include material in this press release andfinancial and operational guidance for the second quarter and full year 2009. Acopy of the Form 8-K will be available on the Partnership`s website at. Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresIn this release, the Partnership`s EBITDA disclosure is not presented inaccordance with generally accepted accounting principles and is not intended tobe used in lieu of GAAP presentations of net income or cash flows from operatingactivities.
EBITDA is presented because we believe it provides additionalinformation with respect to both the performance of our fundamental businessactivities as well as our ability to meet our future debt service, capitalexpenditures and working capital requirements. We also believe that debt holderscommonly use EBITDA to analyze Partnership performance. In addition, we presentselected items that impact the comparability of our operating results asadditional information that may be helpful to your understanding of ourfinancial results. We consider an understanding of these selected itemsimpacting comparability to be material to our evaluation of our operatingresults and prospects. Although we present selected items that we consider inevaluating our performance, you should also be aware that the items presented donot represent all items that affect comparability between the periods presented.Variations in our operating results are also caused by changes in volumes,prices, exchange rates, mechanical interruptions, acquisitions and numerousother factors. These types of variations are not separately identified in thisrelease, but will be discussed, as applicable, in management`s discussion andanalysis of operating results in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.