Spark Energy, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results

HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 4, 2020 / Spark Energy, Inc. ("Spark" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SPKE), an independent retail energy services company, today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Key Business Highlights

• Recorded $25.7 million in Adjusted EBITDA, $64.3 million in Retail Gross Margin, and $0.7 million in Net Loss for the fourth quarter 2019
• Recorded $92.4 million in Adjusted EBITDA, $220.7 million in Retail Gross Margin, and $14.2 million in Net Income for the year ended 2019
• Total RCE count of 672,000 as of December 31, 2019
• Average monthly attrition of 5.0% for the year ended December 31, 2019
• Settled several significant legacy litigation items
• Sold our Japanese joint venture for a pre-tax gain of $4.9 million, not included in Adjusted EBITDA
• Total liquidity of $138.7 million
• Approximately 70% of all new sales in 2019 were fully renewable electricity or carbon neutral natural gas

"2019 was a strong year for Spark and we have continued to improve the quality of our customer book by continuing to shed low margin, large C&I customers. We see the significant increase in unit margins from last year as a result of our winter and summer insurance hedging strategy. With a strong push to simplify our platform in 2019, we completed the final steps of our brand and system consolidations and achieved our goal of G&A run-rate savings. Despite record price volatility in ERCOT this summer, our insurance hedging strategy continues to prove successful supporting our expanded electricity and natural gas unit margins. Earlier in the year we terminated our Tax Receivable Agreement on very favorable terms, amended and extended our senior credit and subordinated debt facilities, and we also resolved four significant litigation and regulatory cases," said Nathan Kroeker, Spark's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Summary Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results

For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, Spark reported Adjusted EBITDA of $25.7 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $20.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. This increase was primarily due to the higher Retail Gross Margin partially offset by lower customer counts.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, Spark reported Retail Gross Margin of $64.3 million compared to Retail Gross Margin of $50.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. This increase is due to electricity unit margins and volumes returning to normal after a downturn in 2018, offset by lower customer counts.

Net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, was $0.7 million, heavily impacted by mark to market losses in the last few days of the year, driven by a warm front at year end in our primary markets. This compares to a net loss of $15.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Summary Full Year 2019 Financial Results

For the year ended December 31, 2019, Spark reported Adjusted EBITDA of $92.4 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $70.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher Retail Gross Margin despite an increase in G&A related to non-recurring litigation settlements, bad debt and legal fees.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, Spark reported Retail Gross Margin of $220.7 million compared to Retail Gross Margin of $185.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher electricity unit margins, offset by a smaller customer counts.

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2019, was $14.2 million compared to net loss of $(14.4) million for the year ended December 31, 2018, driven by higher retail gross margins, effective summer hedging, and the gain on sale of our joint venture in Japan.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

(1) Reflects amount of Letters of Credit that could be issued based on existing covenants as of December 31, 2019.
(2) The availability of the Subordinated Debt Facility is dependent on our Founder's financial position and ability to lend.

Dividend

Spark's Board of Directors declared quarterly dividends of $0.18125 per share of Class A common stock payable on March 16, 2020, and $0.546875 per share of Series A Preferred Stock payable on April 15, 2020.

Conference Call and Webcast

Spark will host a conference call to discuss fourth quarter and full year 2019 results on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 10:00 AM Central Time (11:00 AM Eastern).

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed from the Events & Presentations page of the Spark Energy Investor Relations website at https://ir.sparkenergy.com/events-and-presentations. An archived replay of the webcast will be available for twelve months following the live presentation.

About Spark Energy, Inc.

Spark Energy, Inc. is an established and growing independent retail energy services company founded in 1999 that provides residential and commercial customers in competitive markets across the United States with an alternative choice for their natural gas and electricity. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Spark currently operates in 19 states and serves 94 utility territories. Spark offers its customers a variety of product and service choices, including stable and predictable energy costs and green product alternatives.

We use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Investors should note that new materials, including press releases, updated investor presentations, and financial and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are posted on the Spark Energy Investor Relations website at ir.sparkenergy.com. Investors are urged to monitor our website regularly for information and updates about the Company.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This earnings release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology including "may," "should," "likely," "will," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "plan," "intend," "projects," or other similar words. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this earnings release, regarding strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans, objectives and beliefs of management are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this earnings release and may include statements about business strategy and prospects for growth, customer acquisition costs, ability to pay cash dividends, cash flow generation and liquidity, availability of terms of capital, competition and government regulation and general economic conditions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot give any assurance that such expectations will prove correct.

The forward-looking statements in this earnings release and the related earnings call are subject to risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

• changes in commodity prices
• the sufficiency of risk management and hedging policies and practices;
• the impact of extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, including hurricanes and other natural disasters;
• federal, state and local regulation, including the industry's ability to address or adapt to potentially restrictive new regulations that may be enacted by public utility commissions;
• our ability to borrow funds and access credit markets;
• restrictions in our debt agreements and collateral requirements;
• credit risk with respect to suppliers and customers;
• changes in costs to acquire customers and actual attrition rates;
• accuracy of billing systems;
• ability to successfully identify, complete, and efficiently integrate acquisitions into our operations;
• significant changes in, or new changes by, the ISOs in the regions we operate;
• competition; and
• the "Risk Factors" in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in our quarterly reports, other public filings and press releases.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this earnings release. Unless required by law, we disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise these statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

further discussion.

SPARK ENERGY, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2019 AND DECEMBER 31, 2018
(in thousands, except share counts)

SPARK ENERGY, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
(in thousands, except per share data)

SPARK ENERGY, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019, 2018 AND 2017
(in thousands)

SPARK ENERGY, INC.
OPERATING SEGMENT RESULTS
FOR THE YEARS ENDED December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
(in thousands, except per unit operating data)
(unaudited)

(1) Reflects the Retail Gross Margin attributable to our Retail Electricity Segment or Retail Natural Gas Segment, as applicable. Retail Gross Margin is a non-GAAP financial measure. See "-Non-GAAP Performance Measures" for a reconciliation of Retail Gross Margin to most directly comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP.
(2) Reflects the Retail Gross Margin for the Retail Electricity Segment or Retail Natural Gas Segment, as applicable, divided by the total volumes in MWh or MMBtu, respectively.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures

Adjusted EBITDA

We define "Adjusted EBITDA" as EBITDA less (i) customer acquisition costs incurred in the current period, plus or minus (ii) net gain (loss) on derivative instruments, and (iii) net current period cash settlements on derivative instruments, plus (iv) non-cash compensation expense, and (v) other non-cash and non-recurring operating items. EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) before the provision for income taxes, interest expense and depreciation and amortization. We deduct all current period customer acquisition costs (representing spending for organic customer acquisitions) in the Adjusted EBITDA calculation because such costs reflect a cash outlay in the period in which they are incurred, even though we capitalize and amortize such costs over two years. We do not deduct the cost of customer acquisitions through acquisitions of businesses or portfolios of customers in calculating Adjusted EBITDA.We deduct our net gains (losses) on derivative instruments, excluding current period cash settlements, from the Adjusted EBITDA calculation in order to remove the non-cash impact of net gains and losses on these instruments. We also deduct non-cash compensation expense that results from the issuance of restricted stock units under our long-term incentive plan due to the non-cash nature of the expense. Finally, we also adjust from time to time other non-cash or unusual and/or infrequent charges due to either their non-cash nature or their infrequency.

We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA provides information useful to investors in assessing our liquidity and financial condition and results of operations and that Adjusted EBITDA is also useful to investors as a financial indicator of our ability to incur and service debt, pay dividends and fund capital expenditures. Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental financial measure that management and external users of our consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, commercial banks and rating agencies, use to assess the following:

• our operating performance as compared to other publicly traded companies in the retail energy industry, without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis;
• the ability of our assets to generate earnings sufficient to support our proposed cash dividends;
• our ability to fund capital expenditures (including customer acquisition costs) and incur and service debt; and
• our compliance with financial debt covenants

Retail Gross Margin

We define retail gross margin as operating income (loss) plus (i) depreciation and amortization expenses and (ii) general and administrative expenses, less (i) net asset optimization revenues, (ii) net gains (losses) on non-trading derivative instruments, and (iii) net current period cash settlements on non-trading derivative instruments. Retail gross margin is included as a supplemental disclosure because it is a primary performance measure used by our management to determine the performance of our retail natural gas and electricity business by removing the impacts of our asset optimization activities and net non-cash income (loss) impact of our economic hedging activities. As an indicator of our retail energy business' operating performance, retail gross margin should not be considered an alternative to, or more meaningful than, operating income (loss), its most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

We believe retail gross margin provides information useful to investors as an indicator of our retail energy business's operating performance.

The GAAP measures most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA are net income (loss) and net cash provided by operating activities. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Retail Gross Margin is operating income (loss). Our non-GAAP financial measures of Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss), net cash provided by operating activities, or operating income (loss). Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin are not presentations made in accordance with GAAP and have important limitations as analytical tools. You should not consider Adjusted EBITDA or Retail Gross Margin in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin exclude some, but not all, items that affect net income (loss) and net cash provided by operating activities, and are defined differently by different companies in our industry, our definition of Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Management compensates for the limitations of Adjusted EBITDA and Retail Gross Margin as analytical tools by reviewing the comparable GAAP measures, understanding the differences between the measures and incorporating these data points into management's decision-making process.

The following tables present a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) and net cash provided by operating activities for each of the periods indicated.

APPENDIX TABLES A-1 AND A-2
ADJUSTED EBITDA RECONCILIATIONS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)

The following table presents a reconciliation of Retail Gross Margin to operating income (loss) for each of the periods indicated.

APPENDIX TABLE A-3
RETAIL GROSS MARGIN RECONCILIATION
(in thousands)
(unaudited)

Contact: Spark Energy, Inc.

Investors:
Mike Barajas, 832-200-3727

Media:
Kira Jordan, 832-255-7302

SOURCE: Spark Energy, Inc.