Golar LNG (GLNG) Risk Analysis

The declaration and payment of dividends to holders of our common shares or the repurchase of shares from holders of our common shares will be at the discretion of our board of directors in accordance with applicable law. In determining whether to declare and pay a dividend, or to repurchase our shares, our board of directors will take into account various factors, including actual results of operations, liquidity and financial condition, net cash provided by operating activities, restrictions imposed by applicable law and our debt agreements, our taxable income, our operating expenses, the share price, and other factors our board of directors deem relevant. There can be no assurance that we will resume the payment of dividends in amounts or on a basis consistent with prior distributions, if at all, or approve new share repurchase programs, or pursue share repurchases, even if such a program has been approved. Because we are a holding company and have no direct operations, we will only be able to pay dividends from our available cash on hand and any funds we receive from our subsidiaries and our ability to receive distributions from our subsidiaries may be limited by the financing agreements to which they are subject.

Vessel values can fluctuate substantially over time due to several different factors, including: - prevailing economic and market conditions in the natural gas and energy markets;- a substantial or extended decline in demand for LNG;- increases in the supply of vessel capacity without a commensurate increase in demand;- the type, size and age of a vessel;- competition from more technologically advanced vessels; and - the cost of new buildings or retrofitting or modifying existing vessels, as a result of technological advances in vessel design or equipment, changes in applicable environmental or other regulations or standards, customer requirements or otherwise. As our vessels age, the expenses associated with maintaining and operating them are expected to increase, which could have an adverse effect on our business and operations. The carrying values of our vessels may not represent their fair market value at any point in time because the market prices of secondhand vessels tend to fluctuate with changes in charter rates, the cost of new build vessels and supply/demand for secondhand vessels. Our vessels are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Any impairment charges recognized in our consolidated financial statements could negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition or the trading price of our common shares and publicly listed debt.

In order to fund future projects, increased working capital levels or other capital expenditures, we may be required to use cash from operations, incur additional borrowings or raise capital through the issuance of debt or additional equity securities. Our ability to do so may be limited by our financial condition at the time of such financing or offering, as well as by adverse market conditions resulting from, among other things, general economic conditions and contingencies and uncertainties that are beyond our control. Our failure to obtain funds for future capital expenditures could impact our results of operations, financial condition and our ability to pay dividends. Furthermore, our ability to access capital, the overall economic conditions and our ability to secure new customers on a timely basis could limit our ability to fund our growth plans and capital expenditures. If we are successful in issuing equity in order to raise capital, the issuance of additional equity securities would dilute existing shareholders' equity interests and reduce any pro rata dividend payments without a commensurate increase in cash allocated to dividends, if any. Even if we are successful in obtaining bank financing, paying debt service would limit cash available for working capital and increasing our indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition and ability to pay dividends.

As of December 31, 2023, we held investments in Avenir, Aqualung Carbon Capture AS ("Aqualung"), Egyptian Company for Gas Services S.A.E. ("ECGS"), MGAS and LOGAS. The value of our investments and the income generated from our investments are subject to a variety of risks, including, among others, the inability of our investments to identify and enter into appropriate projects, inability of our investments to obtain sufficient financing for any project it identifies, failure of our investments' current projects, and other industry, regulatory, economic and political risks impacting our investments' operations. These may result in future impairment of our equity method investments which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the period that the impairment charges may be recognized.

As of December 31, 2023, we have $679.2 million of cash and cash equivalents, of which are $481.7 million held in short-term money market deposits carried with a limited number of financial institutions. The collapse of any financial institution or the inability of a financial institution to obtain necessary funding when required, or a banking crisis, could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows and financial condition.

As of December 31, 2023, we had total outstanding debt of $1.2 billion, of which $0.8 billion was exposed to a floating interest rate based on SOFR, which could affect the amount of interest payable on our debt. In order to manage our exposure to interest rate fluctuations, we use interest rate swaps to effectively fix a part of our floating rate debt obligations. As of December 31, 2023, we have interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $0.7 billion representing 88.5% of our total floating rate debt. While we are economically hedged, we do not apply hedge accounting and therefore interest rate swap mark-to-market valuations may adversely affect our results. Entering into swaps and derivative transactions is inherently risky and presents various possibilities for incurring significant expenses. The derivative strategies that we employ currently and in the future may not be successful or effective, and we could, as a result, incur substantial additional interest costs or losses. In the future, our financial condition could be materially adversely affected to the extent we do not hedge our exposure to interest rate fluctuations under loans that have been advanced at a floating rate. Any hedging activities we engage in may not effectively manage our interest rate exposure or have the desired impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Following the sale and leaseback transaction we have entered into with a subsidiary of a Chinese financial institution that was determined to be lessor VIE, where we are deemed to be the primary beneficiary, we are required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") to consolidate the lessor VIE into our financial results. Although consolidated into our results, we have no control over the funding arrangements negotiated by the lessor VIE such as interest rates, maturity and repayment profiles. The funding arrangements negotiated by the lessor VIE could adversely affect our results of operations, cash flow and financial condition. For additional detail refer to note 5 "Variable Interest Entities" of our consolidated financial statements included herein.