NRG Energy Posts $202MM Net Loss

NRG Energy Inc. posted a net loss of $202 million for 2023, from a $1.2 billion net profit a year prior.

It did end the year with $482 million in net profit for the fourth quarter, versus $1.09 billion in net loss for Q4 2022, the company said in a media release.

“We delivered very strong financial performance in 2023”, said Larry Coben, NRG Chair, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. “The Company is well positioned for 2024 and ahead of pace against the plan we laid out at our June 2023 Investor Day. We remain focused on executing against our consumer and capital allocation strategy”.

NRG said the net loss for the full year was primarily driven by a $4.1 billion negative impact from higher unrealized non-cash mark-to-market losses on economic hedges due to large movements in natural gas and power prices. Certain economic hedge positions are required to be marked-to-market every period, while customer contracts related to these items are not, resulting in temporary unrealized non-cash losses or gains on the economic hedges that are not reflective of the expected economics at future settlement, the company said.

Partially offsetting these losses was the gain on sale of the company's 44 percent equity interest in STP and gross margin expansion in Texas.

NRG’s full-year 2023 adjusted EBITDA grew significantly compared to 2022 due to strong consolidated financial and operational performance across the company, it said. Adjusted EBITDA for 2023 was $3.3 billion, up from $1.86 billion for 2022.

NRG said it is reaffirming its 2024 guidance ranges of $3,300 to $3,550 million in adjusted EBITDA and $1,825 to $2,075 million in free cash flow before growth.

The company returned approximately $1.5 billion in share repurchases and common stock dividends in 2023 and remains committed to a capital allocation framework that is expected to return almost $5.5 billion over the next four years, it said.

For 2024, the company reiterated its previously announced capital allocation plan that includes $500 million in debt paydown, $825 million in share repurchases and an eight percent increase in the annual common dividend.

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