Venture Global, Inc. Class A common stock

Welcome to the Venture Global Inc. First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. I will now hand it to Michael Pasquarello, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, for a brief introduction.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Venture Global Inc.' 's First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. I'm joined this morning by Mike Sable, Venture Global's CEO, Executive Co-Chairman, Founder. Jack Thayer, our CFO, and other members of Venture Global's Senior Management Team. Before we begin, I would like to remind all listeners that our remarks, including answers to your questions, may contain forward-looking statements. Natural results could differ materially from what is described in these statements. I encourage you to refer to the disclaimers in our earnings presentation, which is available on the Investors section of our website. Additionally, we may include references to certain non-GAAP metrics, such as consolidated adjusted EBITDA. The reconciliation of these metrics to the most relevant GAAP measures can be found in the appendix of the earnings presentation posted on our website. Finally, the guidance in this presentation is only effective as of today. In general, we will not update guidance until the following quarter, and we will not update or affirm guidance other than through broadly disseminated public disclosure. I will now turn the call over to Mike Saban.

Thank you, Michael. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We are pleased to share our first quarter 2025 results and update our guidance for 2025, which we believe will be a strong year for the company. I will begin the call with an overview of our first quarter 2025 key accomplishments and results before shifting to our LNG projects individually. I will then make some remarks on the LNG industry broadly before turning over the call to Jack, who will provide a more detailed overview of our financial results and updated guidance for fiscal year 2025. Following all prepared remarks, we will open the call to Q&A. Turning to page six of the presentation, I am happy to report that Venture Global performed well during the first quarter of 2025, generating $2.9 billion of revenue, $1.1 billion in income from operations, and $1.3 billion of consolidated adjusted EBITDA, representing increases of 105%, 75%, and 94%, respectively, compared with the first quarter of 2024. Our projects exported a total of 234 TPTU of LNG, a new record high for the company, which is an increase of 113 TPTU or 93% from the fourth quarter of 2024. This impressive performance and increase in LNG production are attributable to the project execution discipline and operational excellence of the venture global team. On page seven, We provide greater detail on our quarterly results, which we achieved as we wrapped up commissioning and rectification work on our Calcasieu Pass project, continued construction and commissioning on both phases of our Plaquemines project, and progressed our subsequent projects, including CP2. At Calcasieu Pass, we exported 34 commissioning cargoes during the first quarter, and we are proud to report that Calcasieu Pass achieved its commercial operation date, or COD, on April 15, 2025. Although this milestone occurred after the end of the first quarter, we wanted to highlight this important achievement for the company and our team who worked exceptionally hard to execute very challenging rectification work without a single recordable safety incident. Blackman's exported 29 commissioning cargoes during the first quarter, and we continued to see strong performance from this facility with all 18 local traction trains activated during the quarter demonstrating production levels of approximately 140% of main plate capacity. This gives us confidence that following completion of our construction and commissioning, Blackman's will be able to perform at the upgraded capacity of 27.2 MTPA that FERC recently authorized. At present, Blackman's is producing LNG from 22 liquefaction trains, and we expect to have started up all 24 of the phase one liquefaction trains by the end of May. Turning to CP2, the project received a non-FTA export authorization from the US Department of Energy on March 19th, locking in an essential permit ahead of our final investment decision, or FID, for phase one of the project, which is anticipated for the middle of this year. We also recently entered into a $3 billion bank loan facility from a syndicate of 20 global banks, which will help fund capital expenditures associated with the project until FID, at which time we will pivot to a traditional construction loan. In addition, CP2 upsized its 20-year SPA with new fortress energy from 1.0 MTPA to 1.5 MTPA, bringing CP2's 20-year SPA total to 9.75 MTPA. We believe we are making good progress on the contracting front and anticipate further updates on SPAs during the second quarter of 2025, both with other existing SPA counterparties as well as with potential new customers. Furthermore, Burke issued its final supplemental environmental impact statement for CP2 on May 9th, this past Friday, recommending approval of the project. This is the second instance of Burke finding that CP2 would have no significant air quality impact and positions Burke to approve the project and issue notice to proceed with construction imminently. Our business is scaling rapidly. With 18 liquefaction trains now commercially operating at Capsule Pass, another 36 trains delivered at Plaquemines, with 22 activated thus far, and another 36 trains purchased for CP2, Venture Global will be capable of providing over 67 MTPA of peak production across our first three projects once complete, before considering the significant brownfield expansions we have previously announced. As we noted last quarter, Changes in natural gas prices, both domestic and international, could impact our consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance. We have seen the spread between domestic and international prices for gas and LNG compressed since our previous report, which naturally influences how we think about guidance for the remainder of the year. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2025, we are revising our guidance from our previously reported range but now expect that our consolidated adjusted EBITDA for 2025 will be between $6.4 and $6.8 billion. This reflects a $6 per MMBTU to $7 per MMBTU fixed liquefaction fee range for available cargoes, which is consistent with recently executed transactions in current market forward prices and provides Venture Global with additional margin that we can reinvest into our asset base. We will continue to update our guidance each quarter to reflect shifts in market forwards, especially during the commissioning phases of our projects. As Jack will cover later in the call, our 2025 guidance will become less sensitive to movements in market prices as the year progresses and we continue to contract our available cargoes. Shifting gears a bit, I would now like to focus on Capsule Pass, which is covered by page nine of the presentation. As mentioned, during the first quarter of 2025, Calcasieu Pass was able to export 34 commissioning cargoes and realized a weighted average fixed to confection fee of $8.80 per MMBTU. While producing these cargoes, the facility simultaneously navigated all remaining work related to commissioning, carryover completions, rectification work, reliability testing, and other unfinished items, and commenced commercial operations on April 15th just 68 months after FID, outpacing other projects that took FID before Capsule Pass. Our Q1 2025 operating and maintenance costs at Capsule Pass reflect the incremental expenses of completing this significant work. Importantly, having completed this work, Capsule Pass is performing with materially improved reliability and availability levels. Since COD, the facility has delivered cargoes on schedule to all foundational customers, and we look forward to operating the facility safely and reliably for the full duration of our customers' largely 20-year SBA tenors. For the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2025, based on liquefaction fees achieved from cargoes sold on a forward basis to date, which includes some commissioning cargoes from the beginning of April, We anticipate capturing a weighted average liquefaction fee of $2.21 for MMVTU across all forward-sold Calk Shoe Pass production. Including the 34 cargoes exported from the facility in this quarter, we now anticipate exporting between 145 and 150 cargoes by the end of the year, an increase of two cargoes to the top of our previously reported range, and an increase of six cargoes to the lower end of our range. reflecting our confidence in the production capacity of the rectified equipment. I will sum up my remarks and capture you pass with a brief note on safety, which is our top priority. Today, our team has achieved a total recordable incident rate TRIR of 0.10, far outperforming the national industry average of 1.9. We are very proud of our team for maintaining the safety record, especially while pushing towards DOD. Moving on to Plaquemines and flipping to page 10 in the presentation, I'll focus on the construction and commissioning progress achieved at phases one and two of our 20 MTPA nameplate project south of New Orleans. During the first quarter of 2025, the Venture Global team achieved an extraordinary, safe startup of the first 18 liquefaction trains at the facility. This enabled Plaquemines to export 29 commissioning cargoes meeting the top of our previously projected range, and realize a weighted average fixed liquefaction fee of $7.26 per MBTU. All major equipment and materials, including all 36 liquefaction trains, have been delivered to the site. And today, LMG has been produced from 22 trains, while the remainder of the facility is simultaneously constructed. As detailed in our prior report, Blackman's has engineered permitted, procured, and installed approximately 400 megawatts of temporary power at the facility. This proactive measure has allowed Plaquemines to mitigate contractive delays, especially with respect to the Power Island, and continue progressing commissioning and startup activities. Although we are very encouraged by the progress at Plaquemines thus far, we recognize the challenging and highly variable construction and commissioning process laying ahead. For 2025, including the 29 cargoes exported from Plaquemines in this quarter, we now anticipate the facility exporting between 222 and 239 cargoes by the end of the year, which represents a slight increase to the lower end of our previously reported range. Plaquemines has contracted 89 of these remaining cargoes thus far, capturing a weighted average fixed liquefaction fee of $7.46 per MMBTU, Again, I want to highlight the leading safety performance at Plaquemines. Today, our team has achieved a TRIR of only 0.21, roughly one-tenth of the national average TRIR of 1.9. Collectively across Cockachew Pass and Plaquemines, we contracted 45 more cargoes for export in 2025 since our prior report and have contracted 198 of a potential 326 cargoes for roughly 60% of our total Q2 through Q4 2025 production. We believe this strategy allows us to de-risk our LNG production and reduce sensitivity to movement and market prices. And I want to turn to our next project, CP2, which is covered on page 11. CP2 is a 20 million ton per annum nameplate facility consisting of 36 of our factory built with traction trains. Based on the performance of similar trains at Calkshue Pass, the design improvements implemented at Plaquemines, and the performance of those trains to date, we believe CP2 will be capable of peak production of 28 MTPA once completed and commissioned. Further, we currently estimate more than 550 cargoes will be exported during the construction and commissioning of the project's two phases. BP2 received conditional approval to export LNG to non-FTA nations from the U.S. Department of Energy on March 19, 2025, including a lengthy process with the DOE standing multiple administrations. We appreciated the support of the Trump administration in lifting the Department of Energy's pause on issuing new LNG export approvals and swiftly resuming the LNG export authorization process. On May 9, FERC issued the final environmental impact statement for the project, reconfirming their positive analysis on the project and setting it up for final approval by the Commission, which should result in the issuance of notices to proceed with onsite construction this summer. Subject to obtaining FERC approval, we anticipate mobilization to site and beginning site works and dredging by the middle of this year. As I mentioned at the beginning of the call, We recently entered into a $3 billion bank loan facility from a syndicate of 20 banks to fund CP2 manufacturing, procurement, and engineering ahead of an FID construction financing to be closed after receiving notice to proceed from FERC. These asset level non-recourse financings will fund CapEx associated with CP2 going forward, which represents a considerable majority of our planned capital expenditures. Our investments, in the project to date have advanced CP2 considerably. We have deployed approximately $5 billion thus far with our key equipment suppliers and contractors, and we believe this preparation will enable CP2 to reach first LNG production on pace or even faster than our first two projects. Turning to page 13 on the LNG industry broadly. I would like to address some of the recently announced tariffs and highlight several factors that mitigate risks to our business. Our exposure to tariffs can be broadly bifurcated in two categories. One, exposure related to tariffs imposed by the United States, which could potentially increase the cost of raw materials and fabricated modules we use to construct our facilities. And two, retaliatory tariffs imposed by foreign nations on LNG imports, which could put downward pressure on demand for U.S. produced LNG. Beginning with tariffs imposed by the United States, our Takashi Pass and Plaquemines projects are not exposed to any material import tariffs. Takashi Pass has declared commercial operations, and Plaquemines has taken delivery of all major equipment. With respect to CP2, our investments to date have allowed us to procure, deliver, and stockpile a significant amount of raw materials, components, and in some cases, fully fabricated modules. Caveatting that the tariff landscape is evolving, there is no assurance as to the ultimate impact on our business. We believe our total exposure amounts to roughly only 1% of our total budget for the CP2 project before considering any potential exemptions for materials relating to LNG facility construction. Shifting to tariffs imposed by foreign nations, while we cannot estimate the ultimate impact of these levies given the rapidly evolving geopolitical situation, We remain in close contact with our customers and stakeholders as the tariff conversation evolves. I will now turn it over to our CFO, Jack Thayer, to walk through our first quarter 2025 financials, as well as our guidance for the remainder of the year.