NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) (“Clean Energy” or the “Company”) today announced its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and year ended December 31, 2022.

Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We finished the year with another strong quarter of RNG deliveries with a 21% increase from the fourth quarter of 2021. We continue to execute on our growth plans around RNG supply and the build out of new stations to accommodate Amazon and other fleets. We addressed our near-term capital needs with a $150 million debt raise to support RNG growth and bridge us well into 2023 when our dairy projects and volumes at new stations are anticipated to add to our cash flow profile. Despite some formidable head winds around lower environmental credits prices and a spike in California natural gas prices during the fourth quarter we finished the year with solid financial results and a well-funded balance sheet.”

The Company sold 54.4 million gallons of renewable natural gas (“RNG”) in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 21.2% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company sold 198.2 million gallons of RNG compared to 167.0 million gallons sold in the same period in 2021, an 18.7% increase.

The Company’s revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $113.8 million, an increase of $21.9 million compared to $91.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 was reduced by $8.8 million of non-cash stock-based sales incentive contra-revenue charges (“Amazon warrant charges”) related to the warrant issued to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC (the “Amazon warrant”), compared to Amazon warrant charges of $3.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 also included an unrealized gain of $2.1 million on commodity swap and customer fueling contracts relating to the Company’s Zero Now truck financing program, compared to an unrealized loss of $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The increase in revenue was principally the result of higher sales price of natural gas and an increase in the number of gallons sold and serviced, partially offset by lower average low carbon fuel standards (“LCFS”) credit prices and lower average renewable identification number (“RIN”) prices during the quarter. Alternative fuel excise tax credit (“AFTC”) revenue was $5.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to AFTC revenue of $5.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Station construction revenue increased by $3.4 million to $6.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $3.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, due to increased construction activities.

The Company’s revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $420.2 million, an increase of $164.6 million compared to $255.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was reduced by $24.3 million of Amazon warrant charges, compared to Amazon warrant charges of $83.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 also included an unrealized gain of $0.5 million on commodity swap and customer fueling contracts relating to the Company’s Zero Now truck financing program, compared to an unrealized loss of $3.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in revenue was principally the result of higher sales price of natural gas and an increase in the number of gallons sold and serviced, partially offset by lower average LCFS credit prices in 2022. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 included AFTC revenue of $21.8 million, compared to AFTC revenue of $20.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in AFTC revenue was due to higher number of gallons of fuel sold. Station construction revenue increased by $5.9 million to $22.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $16.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, due to increased construction activities.

On a GAAP (as defined below) basis, net loss attributable to Clean Energy for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $(12.3) million, or $(0.06) per share, compared to $(2.4) million, or $(0.01) per share, for the fourth quarter of 2021. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, the fourth quarter of 2022 was positively affected by an unrealized gain on commodity swap and customer fueling contracts relating to the Company’s Zero Now truck financing program, offset by higher Amazon warrant charges, higher stock compensation expense, a loss on extinguishment of debt at our NG Advantage majority-controlled subsidiary, and higher depreciation expense associated with the removal of fueling station equipment from select Pilot Travel Centers LLC (“Pilot”) locations.

On a GAAP basis, net loss attributable to Clean Energy for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $(58.7) million, or $(0.26) per share, compared to $(93.1) million, or $(0.44) per share, for the year ended December 31, 2021. Compared to that of 2021, the year ended December 31, 2022 was positively affected by lower Amazon warrant charges and an unrealized gain on commodity swap and customer fueling contracts relating to the Company’s Zero Now truck financing program, partially offset by higher stock compensation expense, costs associated with ramping up our RNG supply investments, losses on extinguishment of debt at our NG Advantage majority-controlled subsidiary, and higher depreciation expense associated with the removal of fueling station equipment from select Pilot locations.

Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA (each as defined below) for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $0.01 and $12.6 million, respectively. Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $0.03 and $18.0 million, respectively.

Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $0.01 and $50.0 million, respectively. Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $0.04 and $57.0 million, respectively.

Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA are described below and reconciled to GAAP net income (loss) per share attributable to Clean Energy and GAAP net income (loss) attributable to Clean Energy, respectively.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the Company’s unaudited consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), the Company uses non-GAAP financial measures that it calls non-GAAP income (loss) per share (“non-GAAP income (loss) per share”) and adjusted EBITDA (“Adjusted EBITDA”). Management presents non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA because it believes these measures provide meaningful supplemental information about the Company’s performance, for the following reasons: (1) these measures allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management to assess the Company’s operating performance and make financial and operational decisions; (2) these measures exclude the effect of items that management believes are not directly attributable to the Company’s core operating performance and may obscure trends in the business; and (3) these measures are used by institutional investors and the analyst community to help analyze the Company’s business. In future quarters, the Company may adjust for other expenditures, charges or gains to present non-GAAP financial measures that the Company’s management believes are indicative of the Company’s core operating performance.

Non-GAAP financial measures are limited as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the Company’s GAAP results. The Company expects to continue reporting non-GAAP financial measures, adjusting for the items described below (and/or other items that may arise in the future as the Company’s management deems appropriate), and the Company expects to continue to incur expenses, charges or gains like the non-GAAP adjustments described below. Accordingly, unless expressly stated otherwise, the exclusion of these and other similar items in the presentation of non-GAAP financial measures should not be construed as an inference that these costs are unusual, infrequent, or non-recurring. Non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under GAAP and do not purport to be an alternative to GAAP income (loss), GAAP income (loss) per share or any other GAAP measure as an indicator of operating performance. Moreover, because not all companies use identical measures and calculations, the Company’s presentation of non-GAAP income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Non-GAAP Income (Loss) Per Share

Non-GAAP income (loss) per share, which the Company presents as a non-GAAP measure of its performance, is defined as net income (loss) attributable to Clean Energy Fuels Corp., plus Amazon warrant charges, plus stock-based compensation expense, plus accelerated depreciation expense relating to the removal of fueling station equipment located on certain Pilot premises, plus (minus) loss (income) from the SAFE&CEC S.r.l. equity method investment, and plus (minus) any loss (gain) from changes in the fair value of derivative instruments, the total of which is divided by the Company’s weighted-average common shares outstanding on a diluted basis. The Company’s management believes excluding non-cash expenses related to the Amazon warrant charges provides useful information to investors regarding the Company’s performance because the Amazon warrant charges are measured based upon a fair value determined using a variety of assumptions and estimates, and the Amazon warrant charges do not impact the Company’s operating cash flows related to the delivery and sale of vehicle fuel to its customer. The Company’s management believes excluding non-cash expenses related to stock-based compensation provides useful information to investors regarding the Company’s performance because of the varying available valuation methodologies, the volatility of the expense (which depends on market forces outside of management’s control), the subjectivity of the assumptions and the variety of award types that a company can use, which may obscure trends in a company’s core operating performance. The Company’s management believes excluding non-cash accelerated depreciation expense relating to the removal of fueling station equipment located on certain Pilot premises is helpful to investors because the expense is not part of or representative of the on-going operations of the Company and may reduce comparability or obscure trends in the Company’s operating performance. Similarly, the Company believes excluding the non-cash results from the SAFE&CEC S.r.l. equity method investment is useful to investors because these charges are not part of or representative of the core operations of the Company. In addition, the Company’s management believes excluding the non-cash loss (gain) from changes in the fair value of derivative instruments is useful to investors because the valuation of the derivative instruments is based on a number of subjective assumptions, the amount of the loss or gain is derived from market forces outside of management’s control, and the exclusion of these amounts enables investors to compare the Company’s performance with other companies that do not use, or use different forms of, derivative instruments.