NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA) reported a second quarter 2018 net loss of $0.09 per share on revenue of $56.4 million.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

(Throughout this release, 2Q18 results are compared to 2Q17 results unless otherwise noted)

• Genie Retail Energy's (GRE) income from operations increased to $3.3 million compared to a loss from operations of $9.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA* increased to $3.8 million compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA of $8.9 million. GRE's results in the year ago quarter were impacted by a legal accrual of $9 million;
• Consolidated loss from operations was $2.3 million compared to $13.6 million. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.8 million compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA of $11.9 million;
• Net loss per share decreased to $0.09 per basic and diluted share from $0.55;
• GRE's churn rate decreased to 5.7% from 6.3%;
• Genie Energy reclassified its drilling assets as 'held for sale' reflecting management's decision to explore strategic options for its Atid drilling services start-up. The reclassification resulted in an impairment charge of $2.3 million;
• Genie Energy's Board of Directors has declared a second quarter dividend of $0.075 per share.

COMMENTS OF MICHAEL STEIN, CEO OF GENIE ENERGY

"Genie Energy's results for the three months ended June 30 were solid and consistent with our expectations. We continue to focus on Genie Retail Energy's operations, and achieved encouraging improvements in revenue, gross profit and income from operations even with our continued investment in international expansion.

"Looking ahead, we are focused on continuing the expansion of Genie Retail Energy both domestically and overseas. Orbit Energy, our retail energy JV operating in Great Britain, is ramping up its customer acquisition programs. We also expect to begin acquiring customers in an additional international market later this year."

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

*Adjusted EBITDA for all periods is a non-GAAP measure intended to provide useful information that supplements the core operating results in accordance with GAAP of Genie Energy or the relevant segment. Please refer to the Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure at the end of this release for an explanation of Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

** Genie Energy's Afek Oil & Gas subsidiary accounts for its oil and gas exploration activities under the "successful efforts" method of accounting. Under this method, acquisition costs, costs of drilling exploratory wells, and exploratory-type stratigraphic test wells are capitalized on the balance sheet as "Capitalized exploration costs – unproved oil and gas property" pending determination of whether the well has found proved reserves. Exploration costs, other than exploration drilling costs, are charged to expense in the statement of operations as "Exploration expense".

*** Genie Energy accounts for its investment in Genie UK, its joint venture operating in the UK, under the equity method of accounting. Under this method Genie Energy records its share in the net income or loss of the joint venture. Therefore, revenues generated, and expenses incurred by the joint venture are not reflected in Genie Energy's consolidated revenues and expenses.

BALANCE SHEET HIGHLIGHTS

At June 30, 2018, Genie Energy had $124.4 million in total assets, including $44.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. Liabilities totaled $50.7 million and working capital (current assets less current liabilities) totaled $45.0 million.

DIVIDEND ON GENIE ENERGY COMMON STOCK

Genie Energy's Board of Directors has declared a 2Q18 dividend of $0.075 per share of Class A and Class B common stock with a record date of August 15, 2018. The dividend will be paid on or about August 24, 2018. The distribution will be treated as an ordinary dividend for income tax purposes.

RESULTS BY SEGMENT

Genie Retail Energy (GRE)

Genie Retail Energy's customer base as measured in residential customer equivalents (RCEs) decreased to 283,000 at June 30, 2018 from 289,000 a year earlier and 285,000 at March 31. Meters served decreased to 363,000 from 430,000 a year ago and from 373,000 at March 31. The year over year decreases reflect the regulatorily mandated relinquishment of certain low-income customers in New York served by retail energy providers (REPs) to the incumbent utilities as well as GRE's strategic decision to pull back customer acquisition efforts in certain territories to reduce regulatory risk.

Gross meter acquisitions during the quarter totaled 57,000 compared to 98,000 in the year ago quarter and 55,000 in the prior quarter. The year over year decrease resulted in part from a refocusing of customer acquisition programs to emphasize higher value customers while reducing regulatory risk in certain jurisdictions. This shift has led to a steady increase in average consumption per meter in recent quarters.

GRE's average monthly customer churn decreased to 5.7% from 7.6% in the first quarter and from 6.3% in the year ago quarter. The decreases primarily reflect lower rates of new customer acquisitions in recent periods – new customers exhibit higher churn rates than longer tenured customers - and the impact of customer retention programs, and, sequentially, the relinquishment of certain customers in New York State during the first quarter of 2018.

Meters enrolled in offerings with fixed rate characteristics constituted approximately 36% of GRE's total load during June 2018 – an increase from 29% in June 2017 - reflecting the growing popularity of fixed rate programs.

GRE generated all of Genie Energy's revenue and gross profit.

GRE's revenue increased to $56.4 million from $50.2 million reflecting higher commodity prices and the impact of the settlement of class-action lawsuits related to the 'polar vortex' of the winter of 2013-2014. In connection with those settlements, GRE reduced 2Q17 revenue by $3.6 million for estimated payments to customers.

Revenue from electricity sales increased to $48.5 million from $44.5 million reflecting the $3.1 million reduction in revenue in 2Q17 for the legal settlements, and a 9.0% increase in revenue per kilowatt hour sold.

Natural gas sales increased to $7.4 million from $5.3 million primarily reflecting a 42.0% increase in revenue per therm sold and a 2Q17 revenue reduction of $0.5 million for the legal settlements.

GRE's gross margin percentage increased to 28.5% from 24.1% as revenue per unit of both electricity and gas sold increased more rapidly than their respective costs.

GRE's SG&A expense decreased to $12.1 million from $21.5 million as a result of the $5.4 million in expense incurred for the settlement of the class-action lawsuits in 2Q17 and the reduced level of customer acquisitions in the current quarter.

GRE's income from operations increased to $3.3 million compared to a loss from operations of $9.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $3.8 million from negative Adjusted EBITDA of $8.9 million. The improved results were driven by the legal settlements in the year ago quarter, the strengthened gross margins and the reduction in customer acquisition expense.

Afek and Atid

In November 2017, Genie Energy's Afek Oil and Gas subsidiary suspended drilling operations in Northern Israel based on preliminary analysis of results from its Ness 10 exploratory well. Subsequent analysis by an outside consultant indicates that a zone within the Ness 10 well contains evidence of hydrocarbons at levels sufficient to warrant additional testing. Accordingly, Afek requested and received a renewal of its exploratory license from the Ministry of Energy for the Northern portion of its former license area. Afek is in the process of securing the permits and other regulatory approvals needed to perform the testing.

During the second quarter, the management of Genie Energy determined to explore strategic options for its Atid drilling services start-up. Reflective of that decision, the company's drilling assets were reclassified as 'held for sale' resulting in an impairment charge of $2.3 million.

Following the quarter close, Genie reached a tentative agreement in principle to restructure Atid, its drilling services start-up. Under the terms of the tentative agreement, Genie Energy would retain a minority stake in Atid with the remainder owned by Chairman Howard Jonas and Atid's CEO. The arrangement would reduce Genie Energy's exposure to the costs of the venture while retaining access to Atid's expertise and services.

GENIE ENERGY EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

This release is available for download in the "Investors" section of the Genie Energy website (www.genie.com/investor-relations) and has been filed on a current report (Form 8-K) with the SEC.

At 8:30 AM Eastern time today, August 6, 2018, Genie Energy's management will host a conference call to discuss financial and operational results, business outlook and strategy. The call will begin with management's remarks followed by Q&A with investors.

To participate in the conference call, dial toll-free 1-888-348-6472 (from the US) or 1-412-902-4240 (international) and request the Genie Energy conference call.

The call replay will be available for seven days at 1-844-512-2921 (US toll free) or 1-412-317-6671 (international). The replay PIN is: 10122371. A recording of the call - in MP3 format - will also be available for playback on the "Investors" section of the Genie Energy website.

Investors can sign up through the Genie Energy website http://genie.com/investors/email-alerts/ to have earnings releases and other press releases emailed directly to them.

ABOUT GENIE ENERGY LTD.

Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA), through its Genie Retail Energy (GRE) division, provides electricity and natural gas primarily to residential and small business customers in the United States and, through a joint venture, in Great Britain. GRE also operates Diversegy, a commercial brokerage and marketing services company. For more information, visit www.genie.com.

In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate, "target" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors, including, but not limited to, those described in our most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations"), which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. We are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure for the Second Quarter 2018 and 2017

In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), Genie Energy also disclosed for the second quarter of 2018, as well as for comparable periods, Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Genie Energy's measure of Adjusted EBITDA consists of gross profit less selling, general and administrative expense, exploration expense and equity in the net loss of joint venture, plus depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation (which are included in selling, general and administrative expense). Another way of calculating Adjusted EBITDA is to start with income (loss) from operations and add depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, and write-down of assets held for sale to fair value.

Management believes that Genie Energy's Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of Genie Energy's or the relevant segment's core operating results. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, among other measures, as a relevant indicator of core operational strengths in its financial and operational decision making. In addition, management uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate operating performance in relation to Genie Energy's competitors. Disclosure of this financial measure may be useful to investors in evaluating performance and allows for greater transparency to the underlying supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. In addition, Genie Energy has historically reported Adjusted EBITDA and believes it is commonly used by readers of financial information in assessing performance, therefore the inclusion of comparative numbers provides consistency in financial reporting at this time.

Management refers to Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the GAAP measures gross profit, income (loss) from operations and net income (loss), on a segment and/or consolidated level to facilitate internal and external comparisons to the segments' and Genie Energy's historical operating results, in making operating decisions, for budget and planning purposes, and to form the basis upon which management is compensated.

Although depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under GAAP, they primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. While Genie Energy's oil and gas exploration business may be capital intensive, Genie Energy does not expect to incur significant depreciation or depletion expense for the foreseeable future. Genie Energy's operating results exclusive of depreciation and amortization is therefore a useful indicator of its current performance.

Stock-based compensation recognized by Genie Energy and other companies may not be comparable because of the various valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of types of awards that are permitted under GAAP. Stock-based compensation is excluded from Genie Energy's calculation of Adjusted EBITDA because management believes this allows investors to make more meaningful comparisons of the operating results of Genie Energy's core business with the results of other companies. However, stock-based compensation will continue to be a significant expense for Genie Energy for the foreseeable future and an important part of employees' compensation that impacts their performance.

Write-down of assets held for sale to fair value is a component of (loss) income from operations that is excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA. From time-to-time, Genie Energy may determine that a line of business is outside of its core business and therefore decide to dispose of the related assets and liabilities. However, such disposals do not occur each quarter. Genie Energy does not believe the losses or gains from asset disposals or sales are components of its or the relevant segment's core operating results.

Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, gross profit, income (loss) from operations, cash flow from operating activities, net income (loss), basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share or other measures of liquidity and financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, Genie Energy's measurements of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Following is the reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, which is income (loss) from operations for Genie Energy's reportable segments and net income (loss) for Genie Energy on a consolidated basis.

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