Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG export facility drives profit beat

By Vallari Srivastava and Curtis Williams

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global VG.N on Tuesday beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter core profit, as higher production from its Plaquemines LNG export facility in Louisiana boosted sales.

Venture Global is the U.S.' second-largest LNG exporter, and has been responsible for most of the growth in the country's LNG exports since 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It has also helped the U.S. remain the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas.

The Arlington, Virginia-based company said its 27.2-million-metric-ton Plaquemines facility was operating at 77% of its capacity, with 28 of its 36 plants - also called trains - now producing LNG.

Shares of the company rose 4%.

The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.39 billion for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion.

Plaquemines generated operating income of $921 million, Venture Global said in an earnings filing.

Its quarterly revenue of $3.1 billion exceeded analysts' expectations of $2.89 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG, driven mainly by the start of the Plaquemines project.

The company sold 329 trillion British Thermal Units (TBtu) of LNG during the second quarter, a 149% jump from the 132 TBtu of LNG it sold a year earlier.

Venture Global expects to export 227 to 240 cargos of LNG from Plaquemines this year. Its Calcasieu Pass export facility in Louisiana, which started operations in 2023, is expected to export 144 to 149 cargos this year.

The company anticipates changes in fixed liquefaction fees to reduce its annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization by $230 million to $240 million, compared with expectations of a $460 million to $480 million impact previously.

The results could drive outperformance in Venture Global's stock, especially given it has fallen nearly 50% since the company went public in January, RBC Capital Markets analyst Elvira Scotto said.

Venture Global, which is locked in contract arbitration disputes with several global energy majors, including BP BP.L, Shell SHEL.L, Repsol REP.MC, Edison EDNn.MI, Orlen PKN.WA and Galp GALP.LS, said a decision in one of the proceedings is expected "imminently."

The companies have accused Venture Global of delaying the commercial startup of its Calcasieu Pass plant from 2023 to 2025 to benefit from higher spot market prices rather than what it would have earned under long-term contracts.

With Venture Global facing several lawsuits related to its long commissioning of the Calcasieu Pass facility, the first ruling could set precedent for the remaining proceedings, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Jeremy Tonet.

Venture Global estimates a penalty of up to $1.6 billion if it loses the arbitration cases, according to Tuesday's earnings report.

Some of the companies involved in the arbitration are pushing for a higher penalty, the report said.

The company reported a decline of $449 million in earnings from its Calcasieu Pass operations, compared to the same period in 2024, driven by lower earnings due to sales of LNG on long-term contracts and not on the spot market, the filing showed.