NFE sells LNG import terminal to Excelerate as losses continue

NFE has reported a significant loss for Q1 of US$197M in its quarterly earnings report. The Q1 2025 loss backs on to a US$224M loss reported in Q4 2024 for the company and sent the share price plummeting from nearly US$7 per share to just over US$2 per share. 

NFE has seen its debt hit US$9.0Bn according to recent reports and, with a strategy of aggressive expansion, is reportedly spending billions on operations, annually.

To offset some of its debt, the company said it has sold off its LNG import terminal in Montego Bay, Jamaica, its offshore floating storage and regasification terminal in Old Harbour, and 150-MW combined heat and power plant in Clarendon, along with the associated infrastructure.

The sale at a price of around US$1.1Bn, according to NFE, highlights its "near-term focus on asset sales and corporate debt reduction". The proceeds of the sale will go to pay down some US$325M in debts, with remaining funds listed as cash on the balance sheet.

"Following the sale of our Jamaica business, our plan is to simplify our balance sheet with a potential asset-based financing with a similar structure to other liquefier financings and using our robust portfolio of LNG terminals and long-term LNG supply and downstream demand contracts," the company said in its earnings report.

In another setback, Bloomberg reported NFE had been disqualified from an auction for temporary power generation in Puerto Rico for a ’non-conforming’ bid.

Despite these setbacks, NFE’s billionaire chairman and chief executive Wes Edens said the company expects its core earnings to increase with maturing developments in Brazil, Nicaragua and expansions in Puerto Rico.

"In Brazil, we have continued to make great progress on our power plant developments, with our 624-MW CELBA plant around 95% complete, and the adjacent PortoCem power plant that is over 50% complete. Both projects are on-time and on-budget and we expect to start generating earnings from the CELBA power plant in Q3 this year. These developments are fully funded with asset-level debt already in place," the company said.

"Our Fast LNG asset has been fully commissioned, and we are in the process of increasing available liquefaction capacity through optimisation projects," NFE added, pointing to its Mexican FSRU-based LNG facility.

NFE achieved a major milestone in mid-2024 by completing its Fast LNG 1 project offshore Altamira, Mexico, with the first LNG cargo expected in August 2024. This project, the fastest large-scale LNG facility ever built, will enhance the company’s vertical integration and significantly reduce future capital expenditure.

NFE has also said it has agreed a charter on its 125,000-m³ FSRU Energos Freeze, which will be deployed to the Dominican Republic for three years with Energía 2000 at its LNG import terminal located at the port of Pepillo Salcedo (Manzanillo) and is expected to commence operations in September 2025.