Genie Energy Ltd.
Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 11 Mar 2021

[Operator:]

Good morning and welcome to Genie Energy's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Earnings Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. In its presentation, Genie Energy's management team will discuss operational and financial results for the three and 12-month period ended December 31st, 2020. Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call, either in the prepared remarks or in the Q&A session, whether general or specific in nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those which the company anticipates. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, specific risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Genie Energy files periodically with the SEC. Genie Energy assumes no obligation either to update any forward-looking statements that may have -- that have made or may make or to update the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that they forecast.

[Michael Stein:]

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Genie Energy's fourth quarter and full year 2020 earnings call. Today, we will discuss our operational and financial results for the three and 12 months period ended December 31st, 2020. Also I'll discuss the impact of Winter Storm Uri that struck Texas in February, the volatility in Japan's wholesale markets as well as our operational and strategic responses to those of events. Avi Goldin, our Chief Financial Officer, will follow with a deeper dive into the quarter's and full year's financial results. Following Avi's remarks, we will be glad to take your questions. We capped an outstanding 2020 with solid fourth quarter results. Let's start by looking at the most fundamental of our KPIs, our customer base. Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, we were able to increase our global customer base by 66,000 RCEs during the year to reach 440,000 RCEs at year end, a 17% increase and a record for our company. In the fourth quarter, historically our slowest sales quarter, RCEs decreased slightly from 442,000. Here in the U.S. GRE's customer acquisition program, specifically face-to-face sales channels has been constrained since last spring by COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person solicitation. On the flip side, churn has also been lower, because the COVID-related sales restrictions apply equally to our competitors. Nevertheless, we added 28,000 domestic RCEs during the year to end the year with 337,000 RCEs, despite a fourth quarter decline from 350,000 RCEs.

[Avi Goldin:]

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 at December 31, 2020. Throughout my remarks I will compare fourth quarter 2020 results to the fourth quarter of 2019 and full year 2020 results to full year 2019. Focusing on the year-over-year and quarterly comparison rather than sequential comparisons removes some consideration of the seasonal factors that are characteristic of our retail energy business. From a reporting perspective, please note the following two changes in our presentation of results. During the fourth quarter, we acquired the outstanding interest in Orbit Energy, our REP business in the U.K. and began consolidating its results on October 8th. Our earnings release provides pro forma revenue and income from operations for our GRE International division that includes the results for Orbit in all periods presented and reconciliations of those measures to the corresponding GAAP measures. Because we have concluded our exploration activity OpEx, we no longer report Genie Oil and Gas as a separate segment. It’s costs primarily related to the fourth quarter well test and the shutdown of operations that affect are reported within our corporate results. Turning now to the fourth quarter and full year results. Genie's fourth quarter was comparable to the year ago quarter and capped off a very strong 2020, highlighted by record levels of consolidated revenue and income from operations, which drove significant top and bottom line improvements over 2019. Fourth quarter 2020 consolidated revenue increased by $21 million to $103 million, primarily reflecting the consolidation of Orbit Energy in the fourth quarter of this year. Quarterly revenue at Genie Retail Energy or GRE, our domestic REP segment decreased $4 million to $70 million, primarily on decreased gas sales. Both revenue per therm sold and meters served decreased compared to the year ago quarter, the latter because we have focused our efforts on acquiring more profitable electric meters in recent years. Electricity sales were relatively flat as increased consumption per meter was offset by decreased revenue per kilowatt hour sold. At GRE International, the segment that comprises our REP operations outside of the US, revenue in the fourth quarter increased by $26 million to $32 million reflecting the inclusion of Orbit results, following its consolidation and increases in meters served at Lumo Energia, our Scandinavian REP.

[Operator:]

Showing no questions. This concludes our question-and-answer session and conference call. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.