New Fortress Energy Announces First Quarter 2019 Results

New Fortress Energy LLC (NASDAQ: NFE) (“New Fortress Energy” or the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2019.

Business Highlights

• Commercial
  • Total Committed volumes of 2.5mm gallons per day (“GPD”) as of Q1 2019, an increase from 960k GPD in Q1 2018⁽¹⁾
  • Total In Discussion volumes of 14.4mm GPD as of Q1 2019, an increase from 950k GPD in Q1 2018⁽²⁾
• Development
  • NFE had 14 projects under development with total remaining project cost of ~$356mm, as of Q1 2019^(3),(4)
  • Construction of the Old Harbour terminal in Jamaica is complete and first gas was delivered in March, with full ramp expected during Q2 2019⁽⁵⁾
  • NFE held a groundbreaking ceremony for the micro fuel handling facility in San Juan, Puerto Rico in March
• Financial
  • Cash on hand, including restricted cash, as of March 31, 2019 was $417mm which, combined with expected cash flows from operations, is expected to fully fund all downstream Committed project costs⁽⁶⁾
  • During Q1 2019, NFE drew down the remaining available balance of our credit facility resulting in total debt outstanding at the end of the quarter of $499mm, excluding deferred financing costs

Financial Overview

• Revenue for Q1 2019 increased vs. Q1 2018 due to added volumes sold through our Montego Bay facility to the Bogue power plant, as well as new commercial and industrial consumer contracts coming online⁽⁷⁾
• Cost of goods sold was higher due to LNG costs associated with a spot market cargo purchase that was largely consumed during Q1 2019
• Operation and Maintenance cost was higher during Q1 2019 due to a non-cash charge incurred associated with straight-lining our FSRU bareboat charter
• SG&A for Q1 2019 was higher than Q1 2018 largely due to increased costs associated with headcount, new customer screening, transaction costs, and professional fees, as well as non-cash compensation expense

(in millions, except Average Volumes)			Q1 2018			Q1 2019
Revenues			$25.7			$30.0
Net Income/(Loss)			($10.9)			($60.3)
Operating Margin*			$3.1			($7.9)
Average Volumes (k GPD)			282			320

*Operating Margin is a Non-GAAP financial measure. For definitions and reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results, please refer to the exhibit to this press release.

^{Please refer to our Q1 2019 Investor Presentation for further information about the following terms:}

^{1) “Committed Volumes” means our expected volumes to be sold to customers under binding contracts, non-binding letters of intent, non-binding memorandums of understanding, binding or non-binding term sheets or have been officially selected as the winning provider in a request for proposals or competitive bid process. We cannot assure you if or when we will enter into binding definitive agreements for the sales of volumes under non-binding letters of intent, non-binding memorandums of understanding, non-binding term sheets or based on our selection as the winning provider under a request for proposals or competitive bid process. Some but not all of our contracts contain minimum volume commitments, and our expected volumes to be sold to customers reflected in our “committed volumes” is substantially in excess of such minimum volume commitments.}

^{2) “In Discussion Volumes” or similar words refer to expected volumes to be sold to customers for which (i) we are in active negotiations, (ii) there is a request for proposals or competitive bid process, or (iii) we anticipate a request for proposals or competitive bid process will soon be announced based on our discussions with the potential customer. We cannot assure you if or when we will enter into contracts for sales of additional volumes, the price at which we will be able to sell such volumes, or our costs to purchase, liquefy, deliver and sell such volumes. Some but not all of our contracts contain minimum volume commitments, and our expected sales to customers reflected in our “in discussion volumes” is substantially in excess of potential minimum volume commitments.}

^{3) “In Development” or similar statuses means that we have taken steps and invested money to develop a facility, including procuring land rights and entitlements, negotiating or signing construction contracts, and undertaking active engineering, procurement and construction work. Our development projects are in various phases of progress, and there can be no assurance that we will continue progress on each development as we expect. If we are unable to enter into favorable contracts or to obtain the necessary regulatory and land use approvals on favorable terms, we may not be able to construct and operate these assets as expected, or at all. Additionally, the construction of facilities is inherently subject to the risks of cost overruns and delays}

^{4) “Remaining project cost” and similar terms means the remaining project budget that we estimate the referenced development project or projects will require in order to reach “operational” status or full commercial operations, as of a particular date. References to a particular quarter mean the last day of that quarter and references to a particular date mean that date. Such project cost is an estimate based on our contracts for each development project, negotiations in progress for the work related to such development project, and our experience developing other similar projects.}

^{5)”First gas” or “operational” means illustrative date on which gas may first be made available to our projects, including our facilities in development. Full commercial operations of such projects will occur later than, and may occur substantially later than, the First LNG or First Gas date. We cannot assure you if or when such projects will reach the date of delivery of the First LNG, delivery of First Gas, or full commercial operations. Actual results could differ materially from the illustration and there can be no assurance we will achieve our goal.}

^{6) Our expected cash flows from operations are based on (i) the volumes of LNG that we aspire to produce, deliver and sell, based on management’s internal estimates of committed and in discussion volume, (ii) an assumed margin on the sale of LNG and (iii) our assumed costs related to shipping, logistics and regasification. Downstream committed project costs include the terminals and facilities we have contractually committed to build downstream of our LNG shipping supply chain, so does not include upstream facilities such as liquefiers.}

^{7) Please note that commercial and industrial customer contracts are the same as the “small scale” customers we refer to in our periodic filings, including our forthcoming report on Form 10-Q.}

Additional Information

For additional information that management believes to be useful for investors, please refer to the presentation posted on the Investor Relations section of New Fortress Energy’s website, www.newfortressenergy.com, and the Company’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K, which will be available on the Company’s website. Nothing on our website is included or incorporated by reference herein.

Earnings Conference Call

New Fortress Energy’s management will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time. A copy of the earnings release will be posted to the Investor Relations section of New Fortress Energy’s website, www.newfortressenergy.com.

All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (866) 953-0778 (from within the U.S.) or (630) 652-5853 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference access code “New Fortress Energy First Quarter Earnings Call”.

A simultaneous webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.newfortressenergy.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the website and download any necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available from 11:30 A.M. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 through 11:30 A.M. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 by dialing (855) 859-2056 (from within the U.S.) or (404) 537-3406 (from outside of the U.S.); please reference access code “7179717”.

About New Fortress Energy LLC

New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ: NFE) is a global energy infrastructure company founded to help accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy. The company funds, builds and operates natural gas infrastructure and logistics to rapidly deliver fully integrated, turnkey energy solutions that enable economic growth, enhance environmental stewardship and transform local industries and communities. New Fortress Energy is majority-owned by a fund managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

Operating margin is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to (loss) income from operations, net income/(loss), cash flow from continuing operating activities or any other measure of performance or liquidity derived in accordance with GAAP. We believe this non-GAAP measure, as we have defined it, provides a supplemental measure of financial performance of our current liquefaction and regasification operations. This measure excludes items that have little or no significance on day-to-day performance of our current liquefaction and regasification operations, including our corporate SG&A and other (income) expense.

As operating margin measures our financial performance based on operational factors that management can impact in the short-term and provides an assessment of controllable expenses, items associated with our capital structure and beyond the control of management in the short-term, such as depreciation and amortization, taxation, and interest expense are excluded. As a result, this supplemental metric affords management the ability to make decisions to facilitate meeting current financial goals as well as achieve optimal financial performance of our current liquefaction and regasification operations.

The principal limitation of this non-GAAP measure is that it excludes significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in our financial statements. A reconciliation is provided for the non-GAAP financial measure to our GAAP net income/(loss). Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure to our GAAP net income/(loss), and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” including the expected ramp of volumes in our Old Harbour terminal, our expected cash flows (and the underlying committed volumes), our expected funding of downstream committed project costs, and our expectations about downstream committed project costs. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as “expects,” “may,” “will,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. These forward-looking statements represent the Company’s expectations or beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the results described in this press release will not be achieved. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risk that our construction or commissioning schedules will take longer than we expect, the risk that our expectations about the price at which we sell LNG, the cost at which we produce, ship and deliver LNG, and the margin that we receive for the LNG that we sell are not in line with our expectations, risks that our operating or other costs will increase and our expected funding of projects may not be possible, and risks that our downstream committed projects costs are greater than we expect so the expected funding of such projects may not be possible. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such factors. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in the prospectus included in the registration statement filed with the SEC in connection with the Company’s initial public offering, which could cause its actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.

Exhibits – Financial Statements

New Fortress Energy LLC
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
As of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018
(Unaudited, in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share amounts)
						March 31,				December 31,
						2019				2018
Assets
	Current assets
	Cash and cash equivalents					$ 359,450				$ 78,301
	Restricted cash					30				30
	Receivables, net of allowances of $727 and $257, respectively					31,647				28,530
	Finance leases, net					993				943
	Inventory					27,002				15,959
	Prepaid expenses and other current assets					12,380				30,017
	Total current assets					431,502				153,780
	Investment in equity securities					4,552				3,656
	Restricted cash					57,521				22,522
	Construction in progress					343,963				254,700
	Property, plant and equipment, net					102,012				94,040
	Finance leases, net					91,910				92,207
	Deferred tax asset, net					78				185
	Intangibles, net					42,297				43,057
	Other non-current assets					42,784				35,255
Total assets						$ 1,116,619				$ 699,402
Liabilities
	Current liabilities
	Term loan facility					$ 488,331				$ 272,192
	Accounts payable					28,223				43,177
	Accrued liabilities					53,921				67,512
	Due to affiliates					7,598				4,481
	Other current liabilities					16,672				17,393
	Total current liabilities					594,745				404,755
	Deferred tax liability, net					94				-
	Other long-term liabilities					12,378				12,000
Total liabilities						607,217				416,755
Commitments and contingences
Stockholders’ equity
	Members’ capital, no par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 67,983,095
	shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018					-				426,741
	Class A shares, 20,837,272 shares, issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2019;
	0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018					102,265				-
	Class B shares, 147,058,824 shares, issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2019;
	0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018					-				-
	Accumulated deficit					(25,571)				(158,423)
	Accumulated other comprehensive (loss)					-				(11)
	Total stockholders' equity attributable to NFE					76,694				268,307
	Non-controlling interest					432,708				14,340
	Total stockholders' equity					509,402				282,647
		Total liabilities and stockholders' equity				$ 1,116,619				$ 699,402

New Fortress Energy LLC
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
For the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
(Unaudited, in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts)
						Three Months Ended March 31,
						2019				2018
Revenues
	Operating revenue					$ 26,138				$ 22,263
	Other revenue					3,813				3,446
	Total revenues					29,951				25,709
Operating expenses
	Cost of sales					33,349				20,765
	Operations and maintenance					4,499				1,844
	Selling, general and administrative					49,749				11,869
	Depreciation and amortization					1,691				696
	Total operating expenses……………………………………………………………………………………………………………					89,288				35,174
	Operating loss					(59,337)				(9,465)
Interest expense						3,284				1,603
Other (income) expense, net						(2,575)				32
	Loss before taxes					(60,046)				(11,100)
Tax expense (benefit)						246				(187)
	Net loss					(60,292)				(10,913)
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest						46,735				-
	Net loss attributable to stockholders					$ (13,557)				$ (10,913)
Net loss per share – basic and diluted						$ (0.96)
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic and diluted						14,094,534
Other comprehensive loss:
Net loss						$ (60,292)				$ (10,913)
Unrealized (gain) on available-for-sale investment						-				(929)
Comprehensive loss						(60,292)				(9,984)
Comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interest						46,735				-
Comprehensive loss attributable to stockholders						$ (13,557)				$ (9,984)

		New Fortress Energy LLC
		Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
		For the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
		(Unaudited, in thousands of U.S. dollars)
					Three Months Ended March 31,
					2019				2018
Net loss					$ (60,292)				$ (10,913)
Adjustments for:
	Amortization of deferred financing costs				981				174
	Depreciation and amortization				1,849				857
	Deferred taxes				201				(193)
	Change in value of Investment in equity securities				(896)				-
	Equity-based compensation				19,037				-
	Other				204				168
(Increase) in receivables					(3,102)				(1,826)
(Increase) in inventories					(11,043)				(5,180)
Decrease (Increase) in other assets					15,684				(7,433)
Increase in accounts payable/accrued liabilities					3,567				5,668
Increase in amounts due to affiliates					3,117				457
(Decrease) Increase in other liabilities					(355)				255
	Net cash used in operating activities				(31,048)				(17,966)
Capital expenditures					(136,281)				(41,208)
Principal payments received on finance lease, net					284				238
	Net cash used in investing activities				(135,997)				(40,970)
Proceeds from borrowings of debt					220,000				-
Payment of deferred financing costs					(4,400)				-
Repayment of debt					(1,250)				(1,457)
Proceeds from IPO					274,948				-
Payment of offering costs					(6,105)				-
Capital contributed from Members					-				20,150
Collection of subscription receivable					-				50,000
	Net cash provided by financing activities				483,193				68,693
					316,148				9,757
					100,853				118,331
					$ 417,001				$ 128,088
plant and equipment					$ (32,946)				$ 5,574

Non-GAAP Measure
(Unaudited, in thousands of U.S. dollars)
We define Non-GAAP operating margin as GAAP Net income/(loss), adjusted for selling, general and administrative expense, depreciation and amortization, interest expense, other (income) expense and tax expnse (benefit).
				Three Months Ended March 31,
				2019		2018
Net income/(loss)				$ (60,292)		$ (10,913)
Add:
	Selling, general and administrative			49,749		11,869
	Depreciation and amortization			1,691		696
	Interest expense			3,284		1,603
	Other (income) expense, net			(2,575)		32
	Tax expense (benefit)			246		(187)
Non-GAAP operating margin				$ (7,897)		$ 3,100

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190515005286/en/

Source: Business Wire (May 15, 2019 - 6:50 AM EDT)

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