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Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) reported Q1 earnings that easily beat analyst estimates and raised its full-year guidance, but the stock trades -3.3% Tuesday as most oil and gas equities are slammed alongside lower crude oil prices.
Q1 net income swung to a profit of $5.43B, or $22.10/share, from an $865M loss, or a $3.41/share loss, in the year-earlier quarter, primarily due to changes in fair value of the company’s derivative portfolio of ~$4.7B before tax compared to the negative $3.4B of changes in fair value in the prior-year period, as well as increased total margins per MMBtu of liquefied natural gas delivered.
Q1 consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased to $3.6B from $3.15B in the year-ago quarter, due primarily to increased total margins per MMBtu of LNG delivered.
Cheniere Energy (LNG) said it set a new quarterly liquefied natural gas production record, delivering 619T Btu of LNG compared with 592T Btu in the year-earlier period.
Because of Cheniere’s (LNG) hedging at the end of last year and earlier this year, Q1 earnings were insulated from the impact of falling gas prices, Mizuho analyst Robert Mosca said.
Cheniere (LNG) raised full-year guidance for adjusted EBITDA to $8.2B-$8.7B and distributable cash flow to $5.7-$6.2B.
The company said it expects to conduct planned maintenance at the Sabine Pass LNG plant this summer, but no dates or duration were provided.
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