Excelerate Energy Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Excelerate Energy posted a strong first quarter, with net income of $50 million and adjusted EBITDA of $122 million, but it lowered full-year 2026 guidance after Middle East conflict delayed the Iraq LNG terminal startup until 2027.
• The company said the Iraq delay is a timing shift, not a cancellation, and it expects about a $1 million monthly financial impact while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Excelerate has also seen force majeure-related disruptions tied to supply agreements in the region.
• To redeploy capacity, Excelerate sent its new FSRU Excelerate Acadia to Jordan under a nine-month charter, a deal expected to add about $20 million in adjusted EBITDA this year. The company continues to see Jamaica and the broader Caribbean as a key growth platform.

Excelerate Energy NYSE: EE reported higher first-quarter earnings and adjusted EBITDA, while lowering its full-year outlook after conflict in the Middle East delayed the expected startup of its Iraq LNG import terminal.

President and CEO Steven Kobos said the company delivered $122 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter and achieved a 99.8% reliability rate across its asset portfolio. He said the results reflected the strength of Excelerate’s contracted asset base and the performance of its operating teams.

“Excelerate is a global LNG and power infrastructure company,” Kobos said. “We own and operate assets that deliver reliable downstream LNG and power solutions to countries who depend on us for their energy security.”

The company emphasized that its operations across four continents provide revenue and earnings diversification, which Kobos said helps limit the financial impact of regional disruptions.

Middle East conflict delays Iraq project

Kobos said Excelerate’s terminal services operations performed as expected during the quarter, with limited financial impact from the conflict in the Middle East. He said the company’s two floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs, operating in the United Arab Emirates — the Explorer and the Express — are fully operational and crews are safe.

However, the conflict has affected other parts of the business. Kobos said Excelerate received a force majeure notice in March from QatarEnergy related to a supply agreement, and the company subsequently issued a corresponding force majeure notice to Petrobangla, its customer in Bangladesh. He said the agreements are structured back-to-back, with delivery obligations aligned to supply commitments and supported by contractual force majeure protections.

Based on the company’s current assessment, Kobos said Excelerate expects the financial impact to be about $1 million per month while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

The company also said the Iraq terminal project will no longer begin operations in the third quarter of 2026, as previously expected. Kobos said logistical constraints tied to the Middle East conflict have delayed jetty reinforcement and construction of fixed terminal infrastructure. The project startup is now expected in 2027.

“This is a shift in timing, not a cancellation,” Kobos said. He added that the 60-month contract begins once operations commence and that construction will resume as conditions allow. Once construction is underway, the company expects about six months before operations begin.

Acadia redeployed to Jordan

With the Iraq project delayed, Excelerate has moved to redeploy its newbuild FSRU, the Excelerate Acadia. Kobos said the vessel was delivered in early April from Hyundai Heavy Industries, and the company has executed a nine-month time charter agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company to deploy the Acadia to Jordan’s existing LNG import terminal in Aqaba.

The Acadia is expected to begin operations in Jordan by mid-2026. Kobos said the agreement is expected to generate roughly $20 million of adjusted EBITDA this year.

During the question-and-answer session, Kobos said the speed of the Jordan agreement reflected the company’s longstanding regional relationships and the flexibility of floating assets. “These are floating assets. They are redeployable,” he said.

First-quarter financial results and guidance

Chief Financial Officer Dana Armstrong said Excelerate reported first-quarter net income of $50 million, up $11 million, or 28%, from the fourth quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA rose about $10 million, or 9%, sequentially to $122 million.

Armstrong said the increases were primarily driven by vessel optimization and higher LNG, gas and power margins. Compared with the first quarter of the prior year, adjusted EBITDA increased mostly due to higher LNG, gas and power margins, including the impact of the Jamaica acquisition.

For the first quarter, maintenance capital expenditures were $8 million, and committed growth capital was $17 million. As of March 31, 2026, Excelerate had total debt, including finance leases, of $1.3 billion and cash and cash equivalents of $540 million. The company had the full $500 million of capacity available under its revolving credit facility. Net debt was $714 million, and trailing net leverage was 1.5 times.

Excelerate revised its 2026 guidance to reflect the delayed Iraq startup. The company now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA of $480 million to $510 million. Committed growth capital is expected to range from $270 million to $300 million, reflecting the deferral of certain Iraq-related construction activity into 2027.

Armstrong said the revised committed growth capital guidance does not include costs associated with an FSRU conversion, as negotiations remain ongoing. She said the company has signed a letter of intent with Seatrium Shipyard in Singapore and will provide updates after final contracts are executed. Maintenance capital expenditure guidance remains unchanged at $100 million to $110 million.

The company’s board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, or $0.32 per share annualized, payable June 4, 2026. Armstrong also said Excelerate repurchased about 148,000 shares of Class A common stock during the quarter for just over $5 million, at a weighted average price of $34.07 per share, under its $75 million share repurchase authorization.

Jamaica remains a growth platform

Kobos said Excelerate’s integrated LNG and power platform in Jamaica delivered reliability above 99% in the quarter. He said gas volumes are growing through new customer agreements and incremental sales to existing customers.

In response to analyst questions, Kobos said the company’s view of capital expenditure requirements in the Caribbean remains consistent with previous guidance. He said Excelerate is already seeing increased gas sales in Jamaica and is looking to expand throughout the Caribbean by adding “more spokes” to the Jamaica hub.

Chief Commercial Officer Oliver Simpson said some growth opportunities can be served through the existing platform, including small-scale deliveries such as trucking. Broader regional growth could involve the Jamaica FSRU acting as a “big storage tank in the Caribbean” for deliveries to other markets using isotanks, small-scale vessels or other technical solutions, he said.

Long-term growth outlook intact

Armstrong said Excelerate still sees a sequenced growth path through 2028, despite the Iraq delay. She pointed to the expected redelivery of the Express after its current contract, the planned FSRU conversion and additional LNG growth opportunities in Jamaica, the Caribbean and other markets.

Kobos said the company continues to see strong demand for regasification capacity as global LNG supply expands. He said approximately 200 million tons of new LNG supply are expected to come online between now and the end of the decade, intensifying the need for downstream infrastructure.

“The future of LNG is regas,” Kobos said. “There is and will continue to be an enormous need for the growth of regas capacity around the world.”

About Excelerate Energy NYSE: EE

Excelerate Energy NYSE: EE is a Houston‐based energy infrastructure company specializing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions. The company develops, owns and operates floating regasification units (FSRUs) that convert shipped LNG into natural gas for delivery into existing pipeline networks. Excelerate Energy's integrated platform also includes specialized LNG carriers, proprietary regasification technology and on‐shore support facilities, enabling rapid deployment of import terminals without extensive capital construction.

Founded in the early 2000s, Excelerate Energy pioneered the first FSRU in 2007, demonstrating the flexibility and cost advantages of floating LNG import infrastructure.

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