Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd Stock Market Press Releases and Company Profile
Annual Report 2015 - Shareholders' Version
Annual Report 2015 - Shareholders' Version

Perth, Oct 19, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (googlechartASX:LNG) (googlechartLNGLY:OTCMKTS) are pleased to provide the Company's Annual Report 2015 - Shareholders' Version.

Chairman's Report

I am pleased to introduce the 2015 Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGL or Company) Annual Review.

Our Company has made further substantial progress during the year with our key projects involving the 8 mtpa Magnolia LNG project (Magnolia LNG), located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA and the 8 mtpa Bear Head LNG project (Bear Head LNG), located at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Despite the challenging environment of low oil prices and a slowdown in Asian and European economies, which have more recently affected global capital markets, LNGL has delivered significant milestones, which are summarised in the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer's Report.

LNGL's 'Energy Link' strategy aims to safely develop mid-scale LNG export terminals to link proven gas reserves with existing LNG buyers. The Company's wholly owned optimised single mixed refrigerant [OSMR(R)] liquefaction technology aims to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction timelines, improved efficiency, and environmental benefits relative to traditional configurations. This LNG technology platform, along with our unique modular design and construction methods, provide compelling competitive advantages, which will allow the Company to build, own, and operate LNG facilities on strategically located sites. In a world where natural gas is increasingly the preferred energy choice, LNGL is well positioned to fulfil our mission of achieving market leadership in the mid-scale LNG sector.

In line with our strategy of acquiring new, strategically located project sites where we can fast track projects by substantially replicating our existing engineering, commercial, and financial work and knowhow, we acquired the Bear Head LNG project in Nova Scotia, Canada, which further advances our strategy of becoming a recognised leader in the North American LNG sector.

LNGL continues to investigate other opportunities in North America, and elsewhere, to implement its strategy in a disciplined manner with a focus on shareholder returns.

To support the continuing development of our North American projects and advancement of LNGL's strategy, a number of Board of Directors (Board) and executive management team appointments were made during the year.

Board Developments

We welcomed Paul Cavicchi as the Company's first non-executive United States (U.S.) director effective 1 October 2014. Based in Houston, Paul brings over 30 years leadership experience in the international energy industry across a range of gas and power projects, which include development and construction of LNG infrastructure. Paul's most recent executive position was as Executive Vice President of GDF SUEZ Energy North America, Inc.

In February 2015, LNGL welcomed the appointment of Michael Steuert as the Company's second non-executive U.S. director. Mike was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President and Controller at Fluor Corporation from May 2001 until his retirement in May 2012. His focus was on risk and project management, Sarbanes Oxley, compliance and ethics, capital structure, and development of a world-class finance function. Mike also holds Board positions with Weyerhaeuser Corporation, and Kurion Inc.

I would like to thank Madam Yao Guihua (Grace) who has been a Non-Executive Director since August 2013 when her employer China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation (HQC) was a major shareholder in the Company.

Grace will step down from the Board immediately following the Annual General Meeting on 19th November 2015. It has been a pleasure having Grace on the Board and we look forward to continuing the close relationship with HQC in pursuit of joint LNG opportunities.

Executive Management Team Appointments

LNGL welcomed the appointment of Mike Mott as LNGL's Chief Financial Officer, based in Houston, Texas.

Mike was previously employed by BG Group from 2003, where he held a number of senior finance, strategy and operations roles. Prior to BG Group, Mike held progressively senior accounting and risk management roles for Dynegy Inc. from 1995, becoming SVP - Chief Accounting Officer and Controller from 2001 to 2003. He spent thirteen years with Price Waterhouse LLP before joining Dynegy.

More recently, LNGL welcomed the appointment of Ms Kinga Doris as General Counsel and Joint Company Secretary, based in Houston. Kinga is responsible for all statutory, securities, regulatory and other legal activities of the LNGL group as well as management of outside legal counsel across all operations and global project activities.

Kinga has 20 years of experience advising global energy companies in various capacities including corporate law, securities, corporate finance, and M&A.

On 26 September 2014, LNGL announced that the Employment Agreement for the current Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr F Maurice Brand had been extended to 30 June 2017.

Market-facing Developments

During the 2015 financial year, LNGL's market capitalisation increased from $955.5 million as at 1 July 2014 to over $1.9 billion at 30 June 2015.

The increasing market capitalisation reflects the strong support the Company continues to receive from our new and existing institutional investors, as well as a strong retail investor base that has resulted in a total number of shareholders of 8,290 at the date of this Report. As at the date of this report, LNGL's market capitalisation was approximately $700 million reflecting the decline in the broader equity markets. LNGL announced that the Company had been included in the S&P/ASX 200 Index and S&P/ASX 300 Index, as well as the S&P/ASX All Australian Index. This was an important milestone for LNGL.

During the 2015 financial year, LNGL raised $212.7 million gross through two share placements, which attracted significant interest from a large number of institutional investors from North America, Australia and Asia. Proceeds from the capital raisings were used to fund the development of the Magnolia LNG project, the acquisition, permitting and initial front end engineering and design (FEED) work on the Bear Head LNG project, undertake due diligence on a third possible North American LNG project, and for general working capital purposes.

The LNGL Board has advised that LNGL will likely list on an appropriate U.S. exchange near the time of commencement of full construction of the Magnolia LNG project, resulting in a dual listing with its existing shares on the ASX.

At this stage, the Board has made no decisions as to whether to list on a U.S. exchange or as to the exact timing of such listing. The Company will consider further options to unlock value for all LNGL shareholders at the North American asset or project level.

Developments in Corporate Governance

During the financial year, the Board of LNGL in conjunction with Executive Management performed substantial work to further develop the Company's corporate governance policies, procedures, and reporting requirements, which are reflected on our website and in the "Directors' Report" and "Corporate Governance" sections of this Annual Report. This work will continue in preparation for the potential dual listing of the Company in 2016.

On behalf of the Board, we especially thank our Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer Maurice Brand for his energy, hard work and commitment in achieving the targets we set and getting the Company to where it is today. Maurice is supported by a dedicated and highly capable executive team, and I extend the Board's thanks to each for their strong drive to achieving the Company's goals.

The Company is well positioned to pursue further growth and development boldly, strategically and responsibly to deliver the highest value we can achieve for you, our shareholders.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Richard Beresford
Chairman

To view the Annual Report, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-LNG-737865.pdf


About Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG) (OTCMKTS:LNGLY) (LNGL) is an ASX listed company whose portfolio consists of 100% ownership of the following companies:

- Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia LNG), a US-based subsidiary, which is developing an eight mtpa or greater LNG export terminal, in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA;

- Bear Head LNG Corporation Inc. (Bear Head LNG), a Canadian-based subsidiary, which is developing an 8 – 12 mtpa LNG export terminal in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada with potential for further expansion;

- Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG; and

- LNG Technology Pty Ltd, a subsidiary which owns and develops the Company's OSMR® LNG liquefaction process, a midscale LNG business model that plans to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction, and improved efficiency, relative to larger traditional LNG projects.

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Contact

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd
T: +61 8 9366 3700
F: +61 8 9366 3799
WWW: www.lnglimited.com.au



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