Cheniere's adjusted profit, revenue more than double on soaring LNG demand

11/3/2022

(Reuters) - U.S. LNG company Cheniere Energy Inc on Thursday reported a third-quarter loss on derivative contracts while delivering revenue and adjusted profit that more than doubled on surging LNG demand.

The top U.S. exporter of LNG said it took a $5.49 B loss on derivatives and foreign exchange from mark-to-market declines in the value of its long-term gas contracts.

Shares fell more than 3% in early trading to $172.50.

Cheniere reported a net loss of $2.39 B for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from a loss of $1.08 B in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue rose to $8.85 billion for the three months, from $3.20 B a year earlier, on higher volumes and prices for its LNG.

Company Chief Executive Jack Fusco said he was confident "in a strong finish to 2022" and expects that expansion projects now under way in Texas and Louisiana will add to its future results.

Third-quarter earnings benefited from higher-margin LNG sales into the spot market and from a partial payment from Chevron Corp to exit a terminal contract, Jefferies analyst Sam Burwell said in a note.

Its LNG volumes increased by 12% during the third quarter versus a year earlier, and its number of cargoes shipped rose by 11% to 156, the company said.

Its outlook for 2022 consolidated adjusted profit remains at up to $11.5 B and full-year 2022 distributable cash flow at up to $8.6 billion, each of which were increased by about $1.2 B in September.

Cheniere owns liquefaction terminals capable of producing about 45 MMtpy of LNG at Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas.

The company is adding seven mid-scale liquefaction trains at Corpus Christi, called the Stage 3 project, which will have a production capacity of over 10 MMtpy of LNG.

Cheniere is also developing two additional liquefaction trains at that facility that could produce another 3 MMtpy.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru and Scott DiSavino in New York; editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and Jonathan Oatis)