Increases 2023 Share Repurchases to $1.15 Billion

Increases 2023 Guidance

Initiates Strong 2024 Financial Guidance Above 2023 Investor Day Plan

• Solid third quarter performance with GAAP Net Income of $343 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $973 million; increasing mid-point of 2023 Adjusted EBITDA guidance by $95 million
• Completed sale of STP for $1.75 billion
• Increasing 2023 share repurchase allocation by 15% to $1.15 billion; executed $200 million of share repurchases to date and expect to complete the remaining $950 million through new accelerated share repurchase program
• On track to achieve 2023 debt reduction target of $1.4 billion; executed $800 million of debt reduction to date and expect to complete remaining $600 million by year-end
• Initiating 2024 financial guidance above Investor Day plan and announcing 2024 capital allocation plan of $1.16 billion returned to shareholders and $500 million of debt reduction; increasing annual common stock dividend by 8% to $1.63 per share

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) today reported third quarter 2023 Net Income of $343 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $973 million, Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $566 million, and Free Cash Flow Before Growth Investments (FCFbG) was $355 million.

“I am proud of our team’s work in the quarter, which is reflected in our solid financial and operational performance and the increased guidance we are announcing today. Our results continue to validate the ability of NRG’s consumer strategy to generate substantial cash flows and significant long-term shareholder value,” said Mauricio Gutierrez, NRG President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are well-positioned to finish the year strong and enter 2024 with significant momentum. We have line of sight to achieving our 2025 growth targets and believe that our continued focus on the emerging demand-side management opportunity will drive additional value to consumers and shareholders.”

NRG’s third quarter and year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA grew significantly year-over-year as the Company realized strong consolidated financial and operational performance. The home and business integrated retail platforms continued to trend above plan with expanded margins, near-record retention, and increased customer count through the sale of energy and secondary products tailored to meet customers’ growing individual needs. Actions to enhance NRG’s diversified supply strategy provided predictable supply costs despite volatile load and power price conditions in Texas. Smart Home continued to surpass its plan with expanded margins, more products sold, favorable retention, and increased customer count.

Given the strong financial performance, NRG has been able to execute on its debt reduction and share repurchase programs on an accelerated basis. Through October 31, 2023, NRG reduced debt by $800 million and repurchased $200 million of common stock. Following the closing of the STP transaction, NRG plans to execute $600 million of debt reduction before the end of the year and initiate a $950 million accelerated share repurchase program.

Increasing 2023 Guidance and Initiating 2024 Guidance

NRG is raising the mid-point of its 2023 Adjusted EBITDA guidance by $95 million, inclusive of the negative impacts of an earnings reduction from the sale of STP and an increase in accruals as part of the Company's annual incentive plan reflecting the expected financial outperformance for the year.

In addition to raising its 2023 guidance, NRG initiated strong 2024 financial guidance above its June 2023 Investor Day plan.

a. Adjusted EBITDA and FCFbG are non-GAAP financial measures; see Appendix Table A-8 for GAAP Reconciliation from Net Income to FCFbG. Adjusted EBITDA excludes fair value adjustments related to derivatives. The Company is unable to provide guidance for Net Income due to the impact of such fair value adjustments related to derivatives in a given year. Cash Provided by Operating Activities does not include changes in collateral deposits in support of risk management activities which are primarily associated with fair value adjustments related to derivatives.

2023 Capital Allocation

In June 2023, NRG revised its long-term capital allocation policy to target approximately 80% of cash available for allocation to be returned to shareholders, after debt reduction. As part of the revised capital allocation framework, the Company announced an increase to its share repurchase authorization to $2.7 billion, to be executed through 2025.

NRG is increasing its 2023 share repurchase allocation from $997 million to $1.15 billion following strong year-to-date financial and operational performance, and the sale of Gregory. During the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Company completed $50 million of share repurchases at an average price of $37.82. Through October 31, 2023, an additional $150 million of share repurchases were executed at an average price of $40.17. Following the closing of the STP transaction, the Company plans to initiate a $950 million accelerated share repurchase program.

As part of the plan to achieve its target investment grade credit metrics, the Company plans to reduce debt by $1.4 billion in 2023 with $900 million funded from cash from operations and an additional $500 million with proceeds from the sale of STP. As of October 31, 2023, NRG had reduced debt by $800 million. Following the closing of STP, the Company plans to execute the remaining $600 million in debt reduction by year end.

2024 Capital Allocation

The Company is announcing its 2024 capital allocation plan, consistent with its capital allocation priorities and 2023 Investor Day roadmap. The plan includes $500 million in debt reduction, $825 million in share repurchases, an 8% increase of the annual common dividend to $1.63 per share consistent with the Company’s 7-9% long-term growth target, and $342 million in growth and other.

NRG's share repurchase program and common stock dividend are subject to maintaining satisfactory credit metrics, available capital, market conditions, and compliance with associated laws and regulations. The timing and amount of any shares of NRG’s common stock that are repurchased under the share repurchase authorization will be determined by NRG’s management based on market conditions and other factors. NRG will only repurchase shares when management believes it would not jeopardize the Company’s ability to maintain satisfactory credit ratings.

NRG Strategic Developments

Sale of 44% Equity Interest in the South Texas Project (STP)

On November 1, 2023, the Company closed on the sale of its 44% equity interest in STP for $1.75 billion, unlocking significant shareholder value. Net proceeds from the transaction were approximately $1.6 billion after transaction adjustments, taxes, and fees.

Sale of Gregory

On October 2, 2023, the Company closed on the sale of its 100% ownership in the Gregory natural gas generating facility for $102 million. The asset historically generated negative to modestly positive cash flow.

W.A. Parish Return-to-Service

In May 2022, W.A. Parish Unit 8 came offline as a result of damage to the steam turbine/generator. The extended forced outage ended in mid-August with a partial (~50%) return to service. In early September, the unit returned to full operations.

Retirement of Joliet

During the second quarter of 2022, the Company announced the planned retirement of the Joliet generating facility in 2023. On September 1, 2023, the Joliet generating facility was fully retired.

a. Includes Corporate segment

b. Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

Net Income for the third quarter of 2023 was $276 million higher than the third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by lower retail supply costs in Texas and approximately $50 million in property damage insurance recoveries for W.A. Parish, which are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. Partially offsetting the increases were lower contributions from the services business and Cottonwood and an increase in accruals as part of the Company's annual incentive plan reflecting the expected financial outperformance for the year.

Net Loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 was $684 million, $3.0 billion lower than the prior year. This was driven by unrealized mark-to-market non-cash losses on economic natural gas and power hedges in the first quarter of 2023. Certain hedge positions are required to be marked-to-market every period, while the customer contracts related to these items are not, resulting in temporary unrealized non-cash losses or gains on the economic hedges that are not reflective of the expected economics at future settlement.

a. Includes Corporate segment

b. Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

Texas: Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $552 million, $356 million higher than the third quarter of 2022. This increase was primarily driven by lower retail supply costs, including the impact of lower realized power prices, NRG's diversified supply strategy, and improved plant performance coupled with the 2022 impact of the W.A. Parish Unit 8 extended outage, and lower restorations costs for W.A. Parish in the third quarter of 2023 as compared to the third quarter of 2022.

East: Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $171 million, $12 million lower than the third quarter of 2022. This decline was primarily driven by asset retirements.

West/Services/Other: Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $25 million, $76 million lower than the third quarter of 2022. This decline was primarily driven by lower contributions from the services business and Cottonwood.

Vivint Smart Home: Adjusted EBITDA was $225 million in the third quarter of 2023, with subscriber growth of 7% over the third quarter of 2022 and expanded monthly recurring service margin.

As of September 30, 2023, NRG's unrestricted cash was $401 million, and $3.7 billion was available under the Company’s credit facilities. Total liquidity was $4.1 billion, $1.3 billion higher than at the end of 2022. This increase was due to specific initiatives to optimize the amount of collateral supporting NRG's market operations activity and increases in credit facilities.

On August 29, 2023, the Company formed a new Delaware trust, Alexander Funding Trust II, which issued $500 million pre-capitalized trust securities redeemable July 31, 2028 (the P-Caps). This P-Caps will replace the Company’s existing pre-capitalized trust securities redeemable 2023 issued by Alexander Funding Trust, which mature on November 15, 2023.

Earnings Conference Call

On November 2, 2023, NRG will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern (8:00 a.m. Central) to discuss these results. Investors, the news media and others may access the live webcast of the conference call and accompanying presentation materials through the investor relations website under “presentations and webcasts” on investors.nrg.com. The webcast will be archived on the site for those unable to listen in real time.

About NRG

NRG Energy is a leading energy and home services company powered by people and our passion for a smarter, cleaner, and more connected future. A Fortune 500 company operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions that help people, organizations, and businesses achieve their goals while also advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice. More information is available at www.nrg.com. Connect with NRG on Facebook and LinkedIn, and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter), @nrgenergy.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, the information presented in this press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements involve estimates, expectations, projections, goals, assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can typically be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “plan,” “think,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “predict,” “target,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s future revenues, income, indebtedness, capital structure, plans, expectations, objectives, projected financial performance and/or business results and other future events, and views of economic and market conditions.

Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated herein include, among others, general economic conditions, including increasing interest rates and rising inflation, hazards customary in the power industry, weather conditions and extreme weather events, competition in wholesale power, gas and smart home markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers or counterparties to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power and gas markets, changes in government or market regulations, the condition of capital markets generally and NRG’s ability to access capital markets, NRG’s ability to execute its market operations strategy, risks related to data privacy, cyberterrorism and inadequate cybersecurity, the loss of data, unanticipated outages at NRG’s generation facilities, NRG’s ability to achieve its net debt targets, adverse results in current and future litigation, complaints, product liability claims and/or adverse publicity, failure to identify, execute or successfully implement acquisitions or asset sales, risks of the smart home and security industry, including risks of and publicity surrounding the sales, subscriber origination and retention process, the impact of changes in consumer spending patterns, consumer preferences, geopolitical tensions, demographic trends, supply chain disruptions, NRG’s ability to implement value enhancing improvements to plant operations and companywide processes, NRG’s ability to achieve or maintain investment grade credit metrics, NRG’s ability to proceed with projects under development or the inability to complete the construction of such projects on schedule or within budget, the inability to maintain or create successful partnering relationships, NRG’s ability to operate its business efficiently, NRG’s ability to retain retail customers, the ability to successfully integrate businesses of acquired companies, including Direct Energy and Vivint Smart Home, NRG’s ability to realize anticipated benefits of transactions (including expected cost savings and other synergies) or the risk that anticipated benefits may take longer to realize than expected, and NRG’s ability to execute its capital allocation plan. Achieving investment grade credit metrics is not an indication of or guarantee that the Company will receive investment grade credit ratings. Debt and share repurchases may be made from time to time subject to market conditions and other factors, including as permitted by United States securities laws. Furthermore, any common stock dividend is subject to available capital and market conditions.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The adjusted EBITDA, cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow before growth guidance are estimates as of November 2, 2023. These estimates are based on assumptions NRG believed to be reasonable as of that date. NRG disclaims any current intention to update such guidance, except as required by law. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this press release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG's future results included in NRG's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, see the information under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in NRG’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in subsequent SEC filings. NRG’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication or as of the date they are made.

1. Includes $(19) million and $(6) million of equivalent shares purchased in lieu of tax withholdings on equity compensation issuances during the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and September 30, 2022, respectively

Appendix Table A-1: Third Quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss)1:

1 This schedule reflects 2023 results under the harmonization of the Adjusted EBITDA definition

2 Amortization of customer acquisition costs, which are excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, is the income statement recognition of capitalized costs related to commissions and other costs related to securing the new customer

3 Other non-recurring includes $(50) million of property insurance proceeds

Third Quarter 2023 condensed financial information by Operating Segment:

1 Excludes MtM loss of $70 million and contract amortization of $5 million

2 Includes TDSP expense, capacity and emission credits

3 Excludes other non-recurring charges of $(51) million, deactivation costs of $11 million, ARO expenses of $9 million, stock-based compensation of $2 million, and amortization of customer acquisition costs of $1 million

4 Excludes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $34 million, stock-based compensation of $24 million, acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $2 million and other non-recurring costs of $1 million

The following table reconciles the condensed financial information to Adjusted EBITDA:

1 Excludes Operations & maintenance and other cost of operations of $451 million

2 Other adj. includes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $35 million, stock-based compensation of $26 million, acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $20 million, ARO expenses of $9 million, NRG share of adjusted EBITDA in unconsolidated affiliates of $3 million and other non-recurring charges of $(48) million

Appendix Table A-2: Third Quarter 2022 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net (Loss)/Income1:

1 In 2022, Stock-based compensation and Amortization of customer acquisition costs were not excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. This schedule reflects 2022 results under the harmonization of the Adjusted EBITDA definition

2 Amortization of customer acquisition costs, which are excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, is the income statement recognition of capitalized costs related to commissions and other costs related to securing the new customer

Third Quarter 2022 condensed financial information by Operating Segment:

1 Excludes MtM gain of $(33) million and contract amortization of $6 million

2 Includes TDSP expense, capacity and emission credits

3 Excludes deactivation costs of $8 million, other non-recurring charges of $7 million, ARO expense of $4 million, stock-based compensation of $1 million and amortization of customer acquisition costs of $1 million

4 Excludes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $20 million and stock-based compensation of $6 million

The following table reconciles the condensed financial information to Adjusted EBITDA:

1 Excludes Operations & maintenance and other cost of operations of $460 million

2 Other adj. includes impairments charges of $43 million, amortization of customer acquisition costs of $21 million, NRG share of adjusted EBITDA in unconsolidated affiliates of $13 million, acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $8 million, stock-based compensation of $7 million, other non-recurring charges of $6 million, ARO expenses of $4 million, and gain on sale of assets $(22) million

Appendix Table A-3: YTD Third Quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss)1:

1 This schedule reflects 2023 results under the harmonization of the Adjusted EBITDA definition

2 Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

3 Amortization of customer acquisition costs, which are excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, is the income statement recognition of capitalized costs related to commissions and other costs related to securing the new customer

4 Includes stock-based compensation of $23 million

5 Other non-recurring includes $(96) million of property insurance proceeds

YTD Third Quarter 2023 condensed financial information by Operating Segment:

1 Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

2 Excludes MtM gain of $(96) million and contract amortization of $24 million

3 Includes TDSP expense, capacity and emission credits

4 Excludes other non-recurring charges of $(93) million, deactivation costs of $27 million, ARO expense of $14 million, stock-based compensation of $5 million and amortization of customer acquisition costs of $4 million

5 Excludes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $85 million, stock-based compensation of $60 million and acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $4 million

The following table reconciles the condensed financial information to Adjusted EBITDA: