Good morning, and welcome to Genie Energy's Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions]. On this morning's call, Michael Stein, Genie Energy's Chief Executive Officer; and Avi Goldin, Genie Energy's Chief Financial Officer, will discuss operational and financial results for the 3-month period ended June 30, 2021. Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call, either in the prepared remarks or in the Q&A session, whether general or specific in nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those which the company anticipates. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, specific risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Genie Energy files periodically with the SEC. Genie Energy assumes no obligation either to update any forward-looking statements that they have made or may make or to update the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that they forecast. During their remarks, management may make reference to adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. Management believes that Genie Energy's measure of adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to both management and investors that supplement Genie Energy's core operating results. The Genie Energy earnings release includes a reconciliation of consolidated adjusted EBITDA to its nearest comparable GAAP measures, consolidated net income and income from operations for all periods presented. In addition, adjusted EBITDA for each reporting segment is reconciled to its prospective segment's income from operations for all periods presented. The Genie Energy earnings release is posted on the Investor Relations page of the Genie Corporation website, genie.com, and has been filed on a Form 8-K with the SEC. [Operator Instructions]. Please note this event is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Michael Stein, Genie Energy's Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, Mr. Stein.

Thank you, Operator. Welcome to Genie Energy's Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. Today, we plan to start the call by educating investors about our current business and our growth strategy, followed by a discussion of the value proposition that we believe will drive business results and stockholder value going forward. I will also provide a review of our operational and high-level financial results for the 3 months ended June 30, 2021. Avi Goldin, our Chief Financial Officer, will then provide a deeper dive into the quarter's financial results, and then we will be glad to take your questions. We believe Genie Energy offers unique investment opportunity within the energy space. Genie operates in 2 core parts of the energy industry, retail and renewables. Our global retail energy businesses are asset-light operations that market and resell electricity and natural gas to consumers and small enterprises in deregulated markets, while our renewables business sells services and installs solar solutions. Currently, our U.S. retail business is the primary driver of our profits, but we believe the other segments have tremendous potential. Our current businesses are supported by our enterprise function, which is responsible for customer acquisition, risk management and customer care. Our marketing and sales professionals leverage deep data analysis to identify market opportunities and efficiencies that our sales and marketing teams can then exploit through a variety of sales channels, offering green or traditional options as well as fixed and variable rate plans. This data analysis also allows us to segment current and potential customers with specific payback periods based on product and customer type, while also enabling us to bring a higher level of customer care and retention and also offer customer reward programs. Finally, our risk management function acquires both green energy and carbon-based supply and utilizing hedging strategies to…

Thank you, Michael, and thanks to everyone on the call for joining us this morning. My remarks today cover our financial results for the 3 months ended June 30, 2021. Throughout my remarks, I compare second quarter 2021 results to the second quarter of 2020. Focusing on the year-over-year rather than sequential comparisons removes from consideration the seasonal factors that are characteristic of our retail energy business. I do want to point out, however, that the second quarter, like our fourth, is characterized by low commodity consumption relative to peak heat and cooling seasons during the first and third quarters, respectively. I'd also like to point out that there are some moving parts this quarter that make an apples-to-apples comparison somewhat challenging. For example, we acquired the part of Orbit Energy that we didn't already own in the fourth quarter of 2020. So our second quarter 2020 results were not fully consolidated into our financials as they are in the second quarter of 2021 under Genie Retail Energy International. On the other side, we sold our Japanese operations in early 2Q '21, which generated a gain, but we recorded minimal revenue during the quarter. While in Q2 2020, a full quarter of Genie Japan revenue was recorded under Genie Retail Energy International. That said, results this quarter were strong and comparable to the outstanding second quarter results we reported a year ago. Consolidated revenue increased 28% to $98 million, the highest level for any second quarter in our history. The top line increase was generated predominantly by Genie Retail Energy International, where revenue increased to $28 million from $5 million in the year ago quarter. Results from Orbit Energy in the U.K. were not consolidating to repurchase the outstanding stake in the fourth quarter. In the year ago quarter, Orbit…

[Operator Instructions]. And our first question today is coming from Aaron Shafter of Great Mountain Capital Management.

Congratulations on a solid quarter. The growth internationally was very impressive. You mentioned the sale of operations in Japan and adding to your bottom line. About how many cents per share to that add to the quarter's gain?

So the sale of the Japan business, the proceeds were about $4.2 million. I don't know when new factor tax, how many cents per share that is. Avi, do you know offhand?

I don't have the number, Aaron. I can follow-up with you afterwards on a closed room.

Sure. Okay. So -- and you mentioned that you're exploring the splitting operations and spin-offs, and I'm wondering if you have any kind of timetable for that?

We're hoping that the market will get an update in the next few weeks on our timing. We're hoping that we could potentially do the spin-off beforehand. But lot depends in the next few weeks.

Okay. So you've done a nice job of expanding internationally. I saw that meters really were pretty much flat in the U.S. And I'm wondering if there's any new markets that you're going to be going in the U.S.?

So no new -- brand-new markets that we're going into this quarter, but we are starting with some of our stronger sales channels into the existing markets that we had not yet used those marketing channels. And in Georgia, we expect to be starting telemarketing pretty soon.

Okay. And you just mentioned near the end of the call that your -- the situation with your financial assets was basically at an all-time high. I'm wondering -- after the crazy once in 100 years weather event in Texas, were you decided to suspend the dividend and suspend buybacks when or not you feel that you're in a position to start paying dividends again and/or to buy back shares?

So we didn't suspend buybacks. Actually, we bought back, in this quarter, 393,000 shares. That was this quarter. Last quarter, also bought back some stock. So our buyback program continues in an opportunistic way, and we continue to have that authority from the Board to continue that program as we see the opportunity arise. In terms of the dividend, we are still keeping the dividend on hold. We believe that right now, our money is better spent on growth in the company. That is subject to change as we continue to assess in future quarters, but now we're trying to focus on growth.

Okay. And getting back to international and new markets, the previous Israeli government announced that it was going to be allowing competition in electricity market. And just a couple of months ago, even less than 2 months ago, CalCom Energy, the sister company of the telecom company, announced that it was beginning to compete in the Israeli electricity market, and I'm wondering if that's something that the company has explored?

We had some exploratory conversations about it already 2 or 3 years ago. My guess is we'll have more exploratory conversations about it, and we put it on hold at the time. And I imagine we'll have some more exploratory conversations now that the market is officially open. Our thinking at the time was that the market is a bit small, given -- and that knowing how things go in Israel, players like the telecom businesses have just such a tremendous advantage -- first-mover advantage. We thought at the time that it would be very difficult for us to get involved and really make profits, but it's absolutely something that we expect we'll be looking at in the next few months, next year.

And also in regards to Israel, I never got a chance in the last 2 calls, unfortunately, to ask about -- you announced that the Ness 10 well was a bust, but can you say exactly what you found at the Ness 10 well?

What we were looking for in the Ness 10 well were signs of liquid hydrocarbons of oil that flows freely into the well, and that's just now went down. We continue to believe...

Was it just more bitumen?

Yes. I mean we -- nothing really was flowing into the well. Nothing that could possibly be commercially viable is flowing into the well. We still -- we believe there's organic matter there. We have not been able to find it. And we've decided at this point in time, we just don't have the bandwidth and the right team to try to find it. And given kind of where oil and gas is going, we just don't think it's the right to play right now.

Okay. And also near the end of the call, you mentioned the $1.5 million in relief that Governor Abbott had signed in Texas and the possibility of more to come. And I'm wondering if you've got any kind of idea about how much more relief the company will see from the overpriced energy that you were forced to buy?

Yes. So in -- the $1.5 million is our kind of minimum estimate for how much we should be able to get from the relief bill that was signed by the governor in the beginning of June. There is some question in the legislation as to who gets -- bids on some of that money. And our contention is that if the money is divided in the way we believe it should be, our portion of that money could go up to $2.5 million just on that bill alone, but we've only accrued for the very minimum that we should see from the pool of money that was approved by Congress. In terms of what else might be coming down the pipe, the lieutenant governor in the last congressional session did commit to trying to put together a special session in the next few months to address some of the other items that came out of the February storm that were unfair to our industry. Some of those items could be bigger tickets for us. But until they get the session together and until there's a bill on the table, we don't have much more to say about it other than we will be actively fighting to get a bill on the table and get it passed by Congress. So we get the maximum really we can.

Our next question today is coming from Kevin Kenner, a Private Investor.

In the previous call, I asked about the net income that was attributable to Japan and the second one -- cent the per share. And you did refer to that it was $4.2 million. So that would be -- the press release says there was $5 million of net income. So we only have $800,000 of net income, which would probably be about $0.03 per common share. Am I looking at that correct?

Avi, do you want to take it?

Yes, I'm not 100% clear on some of the math that you're doing there. But remember, between sort of the operating income and the net income line, it would be both the activities in Japan and also some mark-to-market on marketable securities. So those would all account for the difference net of taxes between those 2 lines. So I'm not 100% clear on the math. But like Michael said, the gain on the sale was about $4.2 million.

Okay. Anyway, I'm going to be very honest about something here. I'm a retail investor in your stock, and you're a utility that doesn't pay a dividend. And you -- I guess you cut the dividend probably on the March 11, when you reported the previous quarter. And your stock went on like, I guess, it was like $7.30 down to $5.90. I think the reason why is because you don't pay a dividend, okay. I'll just draw it out there because now you're talking about trying to increase shareholder value by splitting the company into part. That, I see, too, wasting coming out of that. That is my opinion. You are free to run this company as you want, and I'm free to sell. And you look more like a seller today than did yesterday. Thank you for your time.

Appreciate your comments.

[Operator Instructions]. This concludes our question-and-answer session and conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.