New Fortress Energy posts quarterly loss as all segments show weak performance

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(Reuters) – New Fortress Energy posted a loss in the first quarter on Wednesday, as the U.S. LNG firm struggled with weak performance across its segments, sending the shares down nearly 19% in extended trading.

The company also closed the sale of its Jamaican assets and operations to Excelerate Energy for $1.06 billion. The New York-based company had pushed its first-quarter results announcement from Monday as it intended to announce completion of the deal.

“The closing of the sale of our Jamaican assets to Excelerate is a significant milestone for the company as we streamline our operations and paydown corporate debt through asset sales,” said CEO Wes Edens.

New Fortress, valued at $1.93 billion according to LSEG data, had long-term debt worth $8.9 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Last year, it began exploring options like bringing in strategic partners or selling assets, after it deferred a shareholder dividend to preserve cash and worked out a deal with bondholders to push back maturities.

Its financial woes stem from its inability to secure LNG for its power-generation assets in Latin America on long-term agreements because its credit was not rated investment-grade and had to acquire the gas at higher prices.

New Fortress’ total revenue fell to $470.5 million in the first quarter, from $690.3 million during the same reporting period a year earlier.

At its terminals and infrastructure unit, operating margin declined 78.7% to $74.6 million during the quarter.

Operating margin at the ships segment fell to $31.4 million during the January-March period, from $34.2 million a year earlier.

The company reported a net loss of $197.4 million, or 73 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a net income of $56.7 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)