Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EE) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Steven Kobos: Jeremy, that’s a great question, and it’s something that we talked about and we analyzed. Now, I think there — and you pointed out in your question, LNG production is coming up, you’re not seeing an increase correspondingly an importer capacity. We’re not seeing as much import capacity in some of the regions they’re going to have the highest growth on that capacity. So, I want to be clear, we are committed to growth. And we think that dry powder to fund that growth has a significant value for this at this point, but I want to turn it over to our CFO.

Dana Armstrong: Yes. Thanks Jeremy. So, as Steven said, our priority is still growth. We — at this point in time, we’re not intending to increase our dividend. We’ll continue to evaluate that as we grow and as we move forward. But as of right now, we really are focused on growing the business and using that capital to fund our growth. As you know, we have a new build coming out very soon. So we’ll be working on the financing around that. We are considering potentially placing an order for a second new build to fund additional growth. So that’s really where our priorities are at this time.

Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That’s helpful there. And then just speaking with investors, I guess, in the market. The stock price has been a bit soft, and I think for holders, there’s been a degree of frustration there. And I’m wondering what, I guess, steps management sees to kind of better highlight the value here or realize the value here, if there could be strategic actions that could be taken or otherwise. Just kind of curious, your thoughts on that in general.

Steven Kobos: Yes. Well, Jeremy, thank you for that. I do think it is a good opportunity for investors, there’s no doubt about that. I think the best thing we can do is to continue to announce. You saw just in the lead up to this earnings cycle, some critical announcements from us on things we are progressing. And we need to keep putting wins on the board. I think it’s pretty simple. We do see a lot of opportunities in front of us. And obviously, some possibility involves other use of that dry powder out there in the M&A space, which we need to continue to evaluate. But the focus is on growth. We are committed to growth. We think we’re putting wins on the board, and we hope we can get more attention to that fact.

Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That’s helpful. Thanks. Just last one, if I could. As far as look into 2024, be it guidance on EBITDA, CapEx or what have you, when would we expect that kind of more color on that? And any high-level thoughts that you could provide incrementally there?

Steven Kobos: I’m going to hand it over to Dana lest I skip into forward-looking statements.

Dana Armstrong: Yes, I mean, Jeremy, I’ll say the same thing as Steven. At this point, we can’t guide on 2024. We’re working on our plan. We realized the analysts are antsy to get that out, and we’ll get that out to you guys as soon as we can, but our expectation is that will be early next year. We’ll provide more information on 2024 guidance.

Jeremy Tonet: Got it. I’ll leave it there. Thank you.

Dana Armstrong: Thank you.

Steven Kobos: Thanks Jeremy.

Operator: We now turn to Michael Blum with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.

Michael Blum: Thanks. Good morning everyone. So, most of my questions have been addressed. But I just had one as it relates to future markets and opportunities. You went through a bunch there, that was very helpful. You talked about investing in additional FSRU LNG. Just wanted to clarify, does that mean you’re looking to acquire, to build? Just trying to understand how you would approach potential future market opportunities? Thanks.