News

Second Quarter Highlights:

◦Net production averaged 2,190 mmcfe per day, an increase of 5% over the prior year period

◦Liquids production averaged nearly 50 mbbls per day, an increase of approximately 60% over the prior year period, representing 13% of total production

◦Realized pre-hedge natural gas equivalent price of $2.19 per mcfe, a $0.30 per mcfe premium to NYMEX pricing during the quarter

◦Cash Flow from Operating Activities and Adjusted EBITDAX(1) of $211 million and $333 million, respectively

◦Generated $76 million of Adjusted Free Cash Flow(1)

◦Received credit rating upgrades from S&P, adding to Q1 2024 upgrades from Moody's and Fitch

◦Issued 6th Annual Sustainability Report and received a Grade A certification of 100% of our natural gas production from MiQ for third consecutive year

◦Increased production guidance range to 2,100 - 2,200 mmcfe per day, increased liquids mix by 2% and lowered operating expense by $0.05 per mcfe at the mid-point

(1) A non-GAAP financial measure. See the non-GAAP reconciliations included in this press release for the definition of, and other important information regarding, this non-GAAP financial measure.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, August 7, 2024 (PR Newswire) – Ascent Resources Utica Holdings, LLC (“Ascent”, "our" or the "Company") today reported its second quarter 2024 operating and financial results and issued updated full-year 2024 guidance. Additionally, Ascent announced a conference call with analysts and investors scheduled for 9 AM CT / 10 AM ET, Thursday, August 8, 2024. For more detailed information on Ascent, please refer to our audited financials, the latest investor presentation and additional information located on our website at https://www.ascentresources.com/investors.

Commenting on the second quarter results, Ascent's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Fisher said, "I am pleased to say that we built on our success from the first quarter by continuing to balance our development program to more prominently feature liquids in the production mix. By doing so, we have improved price realizations and maximized returns during a volatile quarter for natural gas prices. We also continue to focus on cost management by working to reduce operating and capital costs in order to improve margins. Our commitment to generating consistent, sustainable free cash flow remains our top priority."

Fisher continued, "As we move into the second half of the year, we will continue to focus on growing liquids production, reducing costs, improving efficiencies and optimizing margins. Our prudent operational and financial approach, coupled with a systematic hedging program, provides a solid foundation to navigate challenging market conditions while positioning the business for growing natural gas demand."

Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Second quarter 2024 net production averaged 2,190 mmcfe per day, consisting of 1,910 mmcf per day of natural gas, 12,209 bbls per day of oil and 34,571 bbls per day of natural gas liquids ("NGL").

Second quarter 2024 price realizations, including the impact of settled commodity derivatives, were $3.22 per mcfe. Excluding the impact of settled commodity derivatives, price realizations were $2.19 per mcfe in the second quarter of 2024.

For the second quarter of 2024, Ascent reported a Net Loss of $98 million, Adjusted Net Income of $96 million, Adjusted EBITDAX of $333 million, along with Cash Flows from Operations of $211 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $76 million. Ascent incurred $213 million of total capital expenditures in the second quarter of 2024 consisting of $157 million of D&C costs, $47 million of land and leasehold costs, and $8 million of capitalized interest.

Year-to-Date 2024 Financial Results

Net production for the six months ended June 30, 2024 averaged 2,203 mmcfe per day, consisting of 1,952 mmcf per day of natural gas, 10,802 bbls per day of oil and 31,000 bbls per day of NGLs.

Price realizations, including the impact of settled commodity derivatives, were $3.48 per mcfe for the six months ended June 30, 2024. Excluding the impact of settled commodity derivatives, price realizations were $2.40 per mcfe for the year-to-date period.

For the six months ended June 30, 2024, Ascent reported a Net Loss of $12 million, Adjusted Net Income of $314 million and Adjusted EBITDAX of $788 million, along with Cash Flow from Operations of $579 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $275 million. Ascent incurred a total of $425 million of capital expenditures during the six months ended June 30, 2024 consisting of $337 million of D&C costs, $72 million of land and leasehold costs, and $16 million of capitalized interest.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of June 30, 2024, Ascent had total debt of approximately $2.4 billion, with $655 million of borrowings and $169 million of letters of credit issued under the credit facility. Liquidity as of June 30, 2024 was approximately $1.2 billion, comprised of $1.2 billion of available borrowing capacity under the credit facility and $6 million of cash on hand. Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter was 1.7x based on a LTM Adjusted EBITDAX basis.

Operational Update

During the second quarter of 2024, we spud 19 operated wells, hydraulically fractured 18 wells, and turned-in-line 17 wells with an average lateral length of 13,761 feet. As of June 30, 2024, Ascent had 888 gross operated producing Utica wells.

Hedging Update

Ascent has significant hedges in place in order to reduce exposure to the volatility in commodity prices, as well as to protect our expected operating cash flow. As of June 30, 2024, Ascent had hedged 1,483,000 mmbtu per day of natural gas production for the remainder of 2024 at an average downside price of $3.49 per mmbtu, and 1,450,000 mmbtu per day in 2025 at an average downside price of $3.80 per mmbtu. Additionally, Ascent has hedged 10,000 bbls per day of crude oil production at an average price of $75.39 per bbl for the remainder of 2024, and 6,000 bbls per day in 2025 at an average price of $71.13. We also have a significant portion of our natural gas basis position hedged in 2024 and 2025 along with additional natural gas hedges in place through 2027. Please reference our financial statements for additional detail on our hedge position. 

Guidance Update

The Company has updated its full-year 2024 guidance to reflect operational outperformance, improved realizations and lower operating expenses. A detailed summary including production, expense and operational counts is included in the table that follows:

(1) Includes GP&T, LOE, and Taxes Other than Income

(2) Excludes long-term incentive compensation expense

(3) Excludes capitalized interest

About Ascent Resources

Ascent is one of the largest private producers of natural gas in the United States and is focused on acquiring, developing, and operating natural gas and oil properties located in the Utica Shale in southern Ohio. With a continued focus on good corporate citizenship, Ascent is committed to delivering cleaner burning, affordable energy to our country and the world, while reducing environmental impacts.

Contact:

Chris Benton

Vice President – Finance and Investor Relations

405-252-7850

chris.benton@ascentresources.com

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of US federal securities laws.  Forward-looking statements express views of Ascent regarding future plans and expectations.  Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future operations, business strategy, liquidity and cash flows of Ascent.  These statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, commodity price volatility, inherent uncertainty in estimating natural gas, oil and NGL reserves, environmental and regulatory risks, availability of capital, and the other risks described in Ascent’s most recent investor presentation provided at www.ascentresources.com/investors.  Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in this news release and Ascent’s business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow could be materially and adversely affected by such risks and uncertainties.  As a result, forward-looking statements should be understood to be only predictions and statements of Ascent’s current beliefs; they are not guarantees of performance.

ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA HOLDINGS, LLC

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA HOLDINGS, LLC

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited)

ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA HOLDINGS, LLC

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA HOLDINGS, LLC

SUPPLEMENTAL TABLES

NATURAL GAS, OIL AND NGL PRODUCTION AND PRICES

(Unaudited)

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES INCURRED

(Unaudited)

ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA HOLDINGS, LLC

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Ascent uses certain non-GAAP measures as a supplement to our financial results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP measures include Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EBITDAX, Last Twelve Months (LTM) Adjusted EBITDAX, Net Debt and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. A reconciliation of each financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is included in the tables below. Ascent's management team believes these non-GAAP measures are useful to an investor in evaluating Ascent's financial performance because (a) management uses these financial measures to evaluate operating performance, in presentations to its Board of Managers and as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting, (b) these financial measures are more comparable to estimates used by analysts, and (c) items excluded are one-time items, non-cash items or items whose timing or amount cannot be reasonably estimated.

Ascent believes these non-GAAP measures provide meaningful information to our investors and lenders; however, they should not be used as a substitute for measures of performance that are calculated in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures, as used and defined by Ascent below, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies.

Adjusted Net Income: Adjusted Net Income is defined as net income (loss) before the revenue impact of changes in the fair value of commodity derivative instruments prior to settlement, unrealized (gain) loss on interest rate derivatives, change in fair value of contingent payment right, long-term incentive compensation, (gains) losses on purchases or exchanges of debt, impairment of unproved natural gas and oil properties and certain items management believes affect the comparability of results or that are not indicative of trends in the ongoing business. Adjusted Net Income is a supplemental measure of operating performance monitored by management that is not defined under GAAP and does not represent, and should not be considered as, an alternative to net income (loss), as determined by GAAP.

Adjusted EBITDAX and LTM Adjusted EBITDAX: Adjusted EBITDAX is defined as net income (loss) before exploration expenses, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, interest expense (net), the revenue impact of changes in the fair value of commodity derivative instruments prior to settlement, change in fair value of contingent payment right, long-term incentive compensation, (gains) losses on purchases or exchanges of debt and certain items management believes affect the comparability of results or that are not indicative of trends in the ongoing business. Adjusted EBITDAX is a supplemental measure of operating performance monitored by management that is not defined under GAAP and does not represent, and should not be considered as, an alternative to net income (loss), as determined by GAAP.

Net Debt: Net Debt is defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents. Management uses Net Debt to determine our outstanding debt obligations that would not be readily satisfied by our cash and cash equivalents on hand. Net Debt does not represent, and should not be considered as, an alternative to total debt, as determined by GAAP.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow: Adjusted Free Cash Flow is defined as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities adjusted for changes in operating assets and liabilities, drilling and completion costs incurred, land and leasehold costs incurred, capitalized interest incurred, financing commodity derivative settlements, and certain items management believes affect the comparability of results or that are not indicative of trends in the ongoing business. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is an indicator of a company’s ability to generate funding to maintain or expand its asset base, make equity distributions and repurchase or extinguish debt. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is a supplemental measure of liquidity monitored by management that is not defined under GAAP and that does not represent, and should not be considered as, an alternative to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, as determined by GAAP.

RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED NET INCOME (Unaudited)

RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDAX (Unaudited)

(a)The expense associated with the Long-Term Incentive Plan Cash Award of $6.5 million and $11.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, respectively, is non-cash to the Company as the Plan was established by our Parent, Ascent Resources, LLC. We did not recognize any expense associated with the Cash Award in 2023.

RECONCILIATION OF LTM ADJUSTED EBITDAX (Unaudited)

(a)The expense associated with the Long-Term Incentive Plan Cash Award of $6.5 million, $4.8 million, $6.5 million and $8.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, March 31, 2024, December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2022, respectively, is non-cash to the Company as the Plan was established by our Parent, Ascent Resources, LLC. We did not recognize any expense associated with the Cash Award in 2023.

RECONCILIATION OF NET DEBT & NET DEBT TO LTM ADJUSTED EBITDAX (Unaudited)

(a)Only includes impact of XTO acquisition since August 5, 2022.

RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED FREE CASH FLOW (Unaudited)

(a)Adjusted Free Cash Flow does not include the impact of the Long-Term Incentive Cash Award of $6.5 million and $11.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, respectively. It is reflected in our consolidated financial statements as a non-cash equity contribution received from our Parent as the Plan was established by our Parent, Ascent Resources, LLC. We did not recognize any expense associated with the Cash Award in 2023.