Talen Energy Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results, Raises and Narrows 2024 Guidance and Reaffirms 2025 Guidance

Earnings Release Highlights

• GAAP Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Stockholders of $168 million for the third quarter 2024 and $916 million year-to-date.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $230 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $97 million for the third quarter 2024; year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA of $606 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $262 million.
• Raising and narrowing 2024 guidance ranges: Adjusted EBITDA of $750 to $780 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $265 to $285 million. Reaffirming 2025 guidance ranges: Adjusted EBITDA of $925 to $1,175 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $395 to $595 million.
• Became the 100% owner of the Nautilus JV by completing the strategic purchase of TeraWulf's remaining equity interest in Nautilus.
• Repurchased approximately 2.6 million shares of stock at an average price of $117.64 per share during the third quarter 2024.
• Added to five equity indices, driving substantial passive stock demand.

"Market and regulatory events over the last few months have further underscored how critical existing generation is to serving demand growth, largely driven by electrification and data centers, and to supporting grid reliability. Our fleet continued to run well this quarter, which is reflected in our year-to-date results. We are raising and narrowing our 2024 guidance ranges and reaffirming guidance for 2025,” said Talen President and Chief Executive Officer Mac McFarland.

"Progress at the AWS data center campus is accelerating with our acquisition of TeraWulf's minority share of the Nautilus JV, enabling the campus to access power more quickly and easily. We are obviously disappointed with the FERC's recent decision on the Susquehanna ISA. That said, we are moving forward with AWS on commercial solutions,” McFarland continued. "We continue to execute on our share repurchase program, which has a remaining capacity of $1.2 billion.”

Summary of Financial and Operating Results (Unaudited)

Compared to the same quarter last year, GAAP Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Stockholders was $245 million higher, primarily driven by (i) higher recognized unrealized hedge gains due to lower forward prices as of September 30, 2024, compared to the same period last year, and (ii) an increase in the net gain of the nuclear facility decommissioning trust from stronger investment returns due to improved equity markets and declining interest rates.

Compared to the same quarter last year, Adjusted EBITDA was $6 million higher primarily due to strong PJM generation fleet performance driven by improved spark spreads and accrued Nuclear PTC revenue, despite the absence of earnings from the ERCOT generation portfolio that was sold in March 2024.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow, which was $49 million lower compared to the same quarter last year, included higher pension plan contributions and accelerated nuclear fuel purchases.

Additionally, for the third quarter 2024, Talen's fleet continued to run reliably and safely, with a Fleet EFOF of 3.1% and an OSHA TRIR of 0.4. Total generation was 10.8 TWh, with 43% contributed from carbon-free nuclear generation at our Susquehanna nuclear facility.

Given the impacts of fresh start accounting and the implementation of the plan of reorganization in the second quarter 2023, our financial position and results of operations for year-to-date 2024 are not comparable to our financial position or results of operations for year-to-date 2023.

Raising and Narrowing 2024 Guidance; Reaffirming 2025 Guidance

Update on Share Repurchase Program

Since the start of 2024, Talen has repurchased approximately 14% of its outstanding shares for a total of $952 million, with $1.2 billion of remaining repurchase capacity through year-end 2026. All share repurchase amounts are excluding transaction costs.

During the third quarter 2024, we repurchased approximately 2.6 million shares of stock at an average price of $117.64 per share. These repurchases included shares purchased from our largest shareholder.

Index Inclusion

After uplisting to the NASDAQ Global Select Market and based on their respective methodologies, Talen became eligible to join several equity indices, which could drive substantial institutional and passive stock demand. During the third quarter 2024, Talen was added to the S&P Total Market Index, S&P Completion Index, CRSP Total Market Index, and CRSP Small Cap Index. These additions led to passive index funds acquiring more than six million shares of Talen common stock.

On November 6, 2024, MSCI announced Talen will be added to the MSCI USA Small Cap Index, effective after market close on November 25, 2024. Talen may qualify for additional value, growth, and / or sector-related indices, leading to further demand for our shares.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Talen is focused on maintaining net leverage below our target of 3.5x net debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA, along with ample liquidity. As of November 8, 2024, Talen had total available liquidity of approximately $1.3 billion, comprised of $557 million of unrestricted cash and $700 million of available capacity under its revolving credit facility. Talen's current net leverage ratio, utilizing the midpoint of 2024 Adjusted EBITDA guidance and net debt balance as of November 8, 2024, is approximately 2.1x.

Update on Hedging Activities

As of September 30, 2024, including the impact of the Nuclear PTC, Talen had hedged approximately 100% of its expected generation volumes for the balance of 2024, 64% for 2025 and 18% for 2026. The Company's hedging program is a key component of its comprehensive fiscal policy and supports the objective of increasing cash flow stability while maintaining upside optionality.

Earnings Call

The Company will hold an earnings call on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. EST (9:00 a.m. CST). To listen to the earnings call, please register in advance for the webcast here. For participants joining the call via phone, please register here prior to the start time to receive dial-in information. For those unable to participate in the live event, a digital replay of the earnings call will be archived for approximately one year and available on Talen's Investor Relations website at https://ir.talenenergy.com/news-events/events.

About Talen

Talen Energy (NASDAQ: TLN) is a leading independent power producer and energy infrastructure company dedicated to powering the future. We own and operate approximately 10.7 gigawatts of power infrastructure in the United States, including 2.2 gigawatts of nuclear power and a significant dispatchable fossil fleet. We produce and sell electricity, capacity, and ancillary services into wholesale U.S. power markets, with our generation fleet principally located in the Mid-Atlantic and Montana. Our team is committed to generating power safely and reliably, delivering the most value per megawatt produced and driving the energy transition. Talen is also powering the digital infrastructure revolution. We are well-positioned to capture this significant growth opportunity, as data centers serving artificial intelligence increasingly demand more reliable, clean power. Talen is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit https://www.talenenergy.com/.

Investor Relations:

Ellen Liu

Senior Director, Investor Relations

[email protected]

Media:

Taryne Williams

Director, Corporate Communications

[email protected]

Forward Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this communication, or incorporated by reference into this communication, are forward-looking statements. Throughout this communication, we have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipate,” "believe,” "continue,” "could,” "estimate,” "expect,” "forecasts,” "goal,” "intend,” "may,” "plan,” "potential,” "predict,” "project,” "seek,” "should,” "will,” or other forms of these words or similar words or expressions or the negative thereof, although not all forward-looking statements contain these terms. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions concerning, among other things, capital expenditures, earnings, litigation, regulatory matters, hedging, liquidity and capital resources and accounting matters. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our future business, financial condition, results of operations or performance to differ materially from our historical results or those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement contained in this communication. All of our forward-looking statements include assumptions underlying or relating to such statements that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, and are subject to numerous factors that present considerable risks and uncertainties.