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spk00: Good morning and welcome to Genie Energy's fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by A0. After today's presentation by Genie Energy's management, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Brian Siegel of Hayden IR.
spk02: Thank you. With me today are Michael Stein, Genie Energy's CEO, and Avi Golden, its CFO. We'll discuss operational and financial results for the three months of the year ended December 31st, 2022. Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call, whether general or specific in nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those discussed in the reports that we file periodically with the FCC. G&E assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that we have made or may make or to update the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we forecast. During their remarks, management makes reference to adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. Management believes that its measure of adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to both management and investors that supplement our core operating results. Our earnings release, which is posted on the Gini.com IR page, includes a reconciliation of consolidated adjusted EBITDA to its nearest comparable gap measures, consolidated net income and income from operations, for all periods presented. In addition, adjusted EBITDA for applicable segments are reconciled in the earnings released to their respective segments income from operations for all periods presented. I will now turn the conference over to Michael Stein, GENIE's Chief Executive Officer.
spk04: Thank you, Brian. Welcome to GENIE Energy's year-end 2022 earnings call. This quarter capped off a very strong year in which we delivered record fourth quarter and full year gross margins and profits. While energy prices remained high, we saw less volatility than in previous quarters, and we were able to continue to benefit from the combination of being well-positioned from a risk management perspective and our limited customer acquisition efforts at GRE. Looking at our two segments, Gini Retail Energy, or GRE, generated a record Q4 gross profit margin of 44.4% and adjusted EBITDA of $20.9 million. During the quarter, our retail book grew modestly as we largely remained on the sidelines in terms of customer acquisition, excluding a small acquisition of book customers in the Midwest and Northeast. GE Renewables, or GRU, revenue growth reflected an increase in the services we provided to third-party customers. Additionally, we made some investments in resources to support our vertically integrated strategy to develop and own solar power generation projects. From a capital allocation perspective, we redeemed $8.4 million in par value of preferred stock while paying our regular 7.5 cent quarterly common dividend and the base dividend on the outstanding preferred stock for a total of approximately $10.5 million in capital return to stockholders during the quarter. Now I'll provide a quick overview of our business and strategy. GRE owns and operates retail energy providers, or REPs, that service a portfolio of retail customers in 17 of 28 deregulated states and Washington, D.C. We actively manage our REPs and their customer bases, both geographically and within geographies. In response to evolving market conditions, we will invest in customer acquisition in both during some periods, while reducing our growth investment or obligations to customers during other periods to drive higher margins as we did in calendar 2022. Underlying our strategy is our risk mitigation team, which, among other things, hedges our forward obligations to preserve margins during times of price volatility. In terms of customer acquisition, our programs seek to increase market share in existing territories, expand into new areas, and offer additional products and services to our customer base. Our Genie Renewable segment seeks to generate outsized returns from multiple high-growth solar energy generation. Our businesses currently provide services to third-party solar farm owners and operators ranging from a full suite of solar procurement and installation services to customer acquisition, billing, and management services. As we move forward with our own projects, the strength of our vertical integration strategy will become more evident as we provide these services to our internally owned projects. Transitioning to our 2023 outlook, we currently believe we can generate a $40 to $50 million range, well above our pre-2022 normalized $25 to $30 million range. In addition, we expect we can materially grow our customer base, and we will continue to be on the lookout for fairly valued M&A opportunities. Looking to the first quarter at GRE, wholesale energy costs are stabilizing at lower levels relative to the past year, while many of the utilities we compete against are locked into higher supply costs. Accordingly, we moved back into customer acquisition mode in many jurisdictions and expect to see double-digit customer growth over Q4 with continued solid gross margins and profits. Looking to the full year for GRU, We expect to complete construction of at least a few GENIE-owned projects while continuing to evaluate a large pipeline of potential opportunities. We expect GRU to grow into a major national player in consultative energy services spaces. The work we are doing now will set us up with assets that can provide attractive returns for many years to come. In summary, we had record bottom line results for 2022. We have also taken several steps forward in our efforts to generate long-term growth in our emerging renewables businesses. And finally, we continue to fulfill our commitment to return capital to our stockholders. Now I'll turn the call over to Avi for his discussion of our Q4 financial results.
spk05: Thank you, Michael, and thanks to everyone on the call for joining us this morning. My remarks today cover our financial results for the three and 12 months ended December 31st, 2022. Throughout my remarks, when discussing the quarterly results, I will compare the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2021 to the seasonal factors that are characteristic of our retail energy business. The fourth quarter is typically characterized by seasonally reduced levels of customer consumption as it falls between the third quarter's peak cooling months and the first quarter's peak heating months. With our strong fourth quarter results, GD capped off an exceptional year, highlighted by record levels of gross profit, income from operations adjusted without earnings per share. Throughout the year, we executed on our strategy of optimizing the value of our market position and built the foundation for future growth of our retail energy and renewables businesses, all while further enhancing our already strong balance sheet and returning significant value to our common stockholders. Now let's look at the quarter and full year results. Fourth quarter consolidated revenue jumped 17.6% to $81 million from $69 million in 2021. At GRE, fourth quarter revenue increased by 13% to $77 million. Increased per unit electricity and gas revenues more than compensated for the decrease in electricity volume sold. As we discussed in recent quarters, in most of 2022, we moderated our meter acquisition spend as part of our larger strategy to manage consumption in a rising commodity price environment. At Genie Renewables, first quarter revenue climbed to $4.4 million from $1.3 million as the number of our Genie Solar projects critical milestones in the quarter. Full-year 2022 consolidated revenue decreased 2.4% to $316 million from $323 million in 2021. At GRE, full-year revenue decreased 2.5% to $304 million from $312 million as a decrease in electricity meters served was substantially but not wholly offset by higher per unit electricity and gas revenues. At Junior Renewables, full-year 2022 revenue climbed to $11.6 million from $7.6 million on commercial solar sales. Now turning to gross profit. Consolidated gross profit in the fourth quarter increased to $35 million from $24 million, powered by a strong increase in per-unit electricity margins driven by our successful efforts to maximize the value of our former commodity positions. For the same reason, consolidated gross profit for the full year increased to $155 million from $92 million. Lower spending at Genie Retail was partially offset by higher expenses with Genie Renewables during the fourth quarter, driving a 4.2% decrease in consolidated SG&A to $17.2 million from $17.9 million. Full-year SG&A increased 11% to $75 million from $67.5 million. The SG&A increase was driven in part by higher sales expense at GRE and investment within renewables. While sales activity was moderated in the year at Gini Retail, the year-ago period was still impacted by COVID-related sales restrictions. Consolidated income from operations in the fourth quarter increased to $15.5 million from $5.8 million. At GRE, income from operations increased to $20.6 million from $8.3 million, reflecting especially strong margins in electricity sales as we monetized our forward commodity positions. And at renewables, the fourth quarter loss of operations widened to $1 million in 2022 from $439,000 in 2021 as we continued to invest in the people and resources to pursue the robust opportunities within this segment. At full-year 2022, consolidated income from operations increased to $77.8 million from $24.1 million. At GRE, full-year income from operations increased to $92.6 million from $34.7 million, primarily reflecting the robust margin on electricity and gas sales. At GE Renewables, the full-year loss from operations was $3.5 million compared to income from operations of $251,000 in 2021, again reflecting the investments we are making to accelerate growth opportunities in solar. The same strategy led to our substantial increases in consolidated income from operations also generated record fourth quarter and full year levels of adjusted EBITDA. Fourth quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased to $18.5 million from $7.3 million, and for the full year 2022, adjusted EBITDA nearly tripled to $83.2 million from $27.8 million in 2021. For the fourth quarter of 2022, net income attributable to Gini Commons stockholders decreased to $16.2 million from $27.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The decrease resulted entirely from $28.7 million contributed by discontinued international operations in the year-ago quarter compared to $4.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full year 2022, net income attributable to Gini Commons stockholders increased to $85.9 million from $27.6 million. Discontinued international operations contributed $30.4 million in 2022, compared to $11.7 million in 2021. Earnings per diluted share in the fourth quarter decreased to $0.61 from $1.06 in the fourth quarter of 2021, as diluted EPS from discontinued operations fell to $0.17 from $1.10 in the year-ago quarter. The fourth quarter, diluted EPS from continual operations increased to $0.44 from a loss of $0.04 in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per diluted share in the full year 2022 increased to $3.26 from $1.05 in 2021. Diluted EPS from continuing operations increased to $2.28 from $0.62, while diluted EPS from our discontinued international operations increased to $0.98 from $0.43 a year earlier. Turning now to the balance sheet. At December 31st, cash, restricted cash, and marketable equity securities totaled $105.1 million. Working capital was $128.4 million, and non-current liabilities totaled just $4.8 million. During 2022, GD paid $9.2 million in common and preferred stock dividends, repurchased $4.4 million of our common stock in the open market, and redeemed $11.4 million of our preferred stock. To wrap up, our strong fourth quarter capped off a historically strong 2022. We further strengthened our balance sheet and returned approximately $25 million to shareholders in dividends, buybacks, and redemptions in preferred stock. As Michael mentioned, we are looking forward to an exciting 2023 with strong financial performance and growth across all of our businesses. We expect to continue to leverage our strong balance sheet and the current favorable market conditions to pursue growth opportunities in both our retail and renewable businesses, even as we further strengthen our balance sheet and continue to turn value to shareholders of our common stock. Now, operator, back to you for Q&A.
spk00: We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star one on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Your first question for today is coming from Aaron Shafter at Great Mountain Capital Management.
spk03: Hi, guys. Congrats on another really strong quarter. I noticed that it was explained that the difference between Q4 and 2022 and Q4 and 2021, the difference in earnings per share was because of discontinued operations. But I didn't see that in the general press release. And I'm wondering why it wasn't included in the general press release, because it it paints a better picture. Then you don't have to drill down so much into the gross margins and the operating margins and et cetera, et cetera, to see that it was a really strong quarter. We probably could have done a better job of marketing ourselves. You're right.
spk04: You know, we're a pretty straightforward group. So sometimes we don't really think of like, you know, moving numbers around that would make them look better even when, uh, in reality, maybe it's even more, uh, more indicative of how well the business is doing.
spk01: Right.
spk03: I mean, I don't see it as moving numbers around. I just see it as like, you know, making the, clarifying the situation. So like when, uh, uh, headlines cross the wires and people see, uh, that, um, earnings per share decreased a bunch, they don't think that it was because of a problem and when actually operations were, you know, managed very, very well. My other sort of complaint is that I'm wondering if you'd rethink holding or releasing earnings and holding the conference call on the day after when daylight savings kicks in and People are still a little bit foggy.
spk04: I hear that, especially for Avi Golden, who's actually on the West Coast right now, who's speaking at five in the morning, but duly noted.
spk03: Okay. So you mentioned how much preferred shares were redeeming. I'm wondering if you've got a ballpark figure about how much in preferred shares is still left out there.
spk04: There's about $7 million worth of preferred shares still outstanding. I expect that at some point this year, you know, assuming we have a normal, you know, strong year as we expect, I assume by the end of the year there'll be none left.
spk03: Okay. And the big thing in the news in the markets lately is the failures of SVB and Signature Bank. I'm wondering if Jeannie has any exposure to that. And even if not, are you reviewing your bank deposit policies in light of the market turmoil?
spk04: Yeah, scary stuff what's going on. Thank God we did not have any deposits with Signature or SVB. You know, we tend to put our deposits with even larger financial institutions than those and the ones that are a little bit more run-of-the-mill as opposed to, you know, more niche kinds of players. And, you know, our money is in, you know, very safe triple A rate kinds of instruments. But, yes, of course, we're constantly reviewing and, you know, You know, we've been exchanging a flurries of emails over the weekend just to make sure we're all on the same page about where things stand. And, you know, we feel pretty good about it. Thank God.
spk03: Okay. That's a great quarter.
spk01: Thank you.
spk00: Your next question is coming from Sugi Gawar, a private investor.
spk01: Yes. Hello, can you hear me? Yes. Oh, excellent. Yeah, thanks for the great order. And I've been a shareholder for a long time. So like one question is like I'm trying to understand the solar farms you're building out. Is it like, can you give an example? Let's say we take just like a cooked up example using a $2 million investment. And how would it affect like the balance sheet and the income statements? If it makes sense.
spk04: Sure, absolutely. Avi, you want to take that one? I think the question is, if we're putting in, let's say, a $2 million investment into a solar farm, how does the results that flow from that affect the P&L and the balance sheet? You want to take that, Avi? Absolutely. Absolutely.
spk05: So when we're talking about the solar farms that we're expecting to own and operate, the ones that are going to be part of our long-term portfolio. So initially, let's say if we're investing what we expect to be ultimately, let's say $2 million worth of equity, that's after recapitalizing for the tax equity that might come in, the other incentives, and the potential debt that we might put on the facility. So if you think about it during the construction phase, we might be spending more than that unless we seek to find construction financing as well. And then once we recapitalize the solar field to take the equity piece down to what needs to be filled in from those other sources, and let's say it's in this case, it would be the 2 million. That would be our equity investment. And then you would see revenue from the sale of power, revenue from the sale of solar energy credits that were generated offset by costs of maintaining the facility, which would then fall to taxes at any cost of financing. And that would be cash flow to GD that would flow from the facility. So depending on the nature of the facility and the location in which it's placed, what we're expecting and what we're seeing in the marketplace is that you could end up owning these facilities with anywhere from, let's call it 15 to 30% equity at the end. So let's using an example for $2 million, you could have a relatively large solar facility that did require some additional upfront investment, but then got recapitalized down to only $2 million worth of equity. I hope I'm answering the question. It's, you know, there's a few different pieces that are moving around there, but that would be sort of a straw man example. Okay.
spk01: So, you know, from the, what I'm trying to understand is like when you start getting the money back, so let's say we use like a 10 cent lower our rate, what kind of money can we expect to make off that? like from the $2 million?
spk05: So we're looking at returns to equity on the types of investments that we're looking at. Our targets are always north of double digits, and we're seeing as high as 20%, 25% in some opportunities that we're looking at. So that's a way of thinking about what types of returns GED is targeting for what ends up being the equity portion.
spk04: So yeah, just to add to what Avi's saying. So if, let's say, we are looking at a project and it has, let's say, somewhere between that 15% to 25% IRR, you got to think also about the tax incentives and the renewable energy certificates a lot of which comes back in the earlier years. So your payback on the investment might be a lot shorter than, let's say, six or seven or eight years. But once you've gotten your money back, let's say, potentially in three years, you know, then you're looking at a, you know, kind of a return on no equity. It might be a smaller percentage of the original equity, but again, your equity is fully out of the picture at that point.
spk01: Yeah, that's nice. And so it's like initially when you build it out, it's like it goes like an asset like real estate on the balance sheet. And does that make sense?
spk04: Yeah, it's a capital asset on the balance sheet, yeah. Okay, great.
spk01: And I have another question about the cash. like you still have a lot of cash sitting in the abroad, like in UK. And so when do you expect to, you know, get all that back to you?
spk04: We expect a lot to come back over the next, you know, during 2023. Exactly when and how much, you know, still to be determined. But we're still expecting a decent amount of cash coming from those wind-downs over the next, what's called, six to nine months.
spk01: All right. Great. All right. That's very good. And one other question I had is, like, now we are going to pay a lot of taxes. So have you considered, you know, like, reducing the cost basis of your Raphael stock?
spk04: I'm not sure if we can comment, but we are looking at all different options about how to minimize our tax, you know, tax exposure.
spk01: Oh, okay. All right. Yeah, once, like, thanks for the nice quarter and the dividends. We appreciate that. That's all I have.
spk04: Thanks for being a shareholder.
spk00: Again, if you have a question, please press star then 1. This concludes our question and answer session and conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
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