New Fortress Energy reports wider second-quarter loss

By Tanay Dhumal and Devika Madhusudhanan Nair

Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. LNG firm New Fortress Energy NFE.O posted a wider second-quarter loss on Friday, as lower contributions due to asset sales weighed on its performance.

The New York-based company reported a net loss of $556.8 million, or $2.02 per share, in the three months ended on June 30, compared to a loss of $86.9 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.

NFE's total revenue fell to $301.7 million in the second quarter, from $428 million a year earlier. The company's adjusted core earnings fell to a loss of $3.7 million, from a profit of $120.2 million a year earlier.

In May, the company sold its Jamaican assets and operations to Excelerate Energy EE.N for $1.06 billion to reduce debt, impacting earnings for New Fortress Energy.

The company said it planned to use the proceeds of the transaction to pay down $270 million on its loan.

At NFE's LNG import and regasification unit, the operating margin declined to a loss of $7.2 million during the quarter, swinging from a profit of $214.3 million a year ago.

The company's operating margin for its shipping segment fell to $32.2 million during the April-June period, from $34.1 million a year earlier.

Last year, the company began exploring options, such as bringing in strategic partners or selling assets, after deferring shareholder dividends to preserve cash and working out a deal with bondholders to push back debt maturities.

The company's long-term debt as of June 30 stood at $7.8 billion, it said in its earnings report, compared with $8.93 billion as of March 31.