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Lightbridge Corporation (LTBR)

Q2 2014 Earnings Call· Thu, Aug 7, 2014

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Transcript

Executives

Management

Gary Sharpe – Investor Relations Seth Grae – President and Chief Executive Officer James Guerra – Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President James Malone – Chief Nuclear Fuel Development Officer Andrey Mushakov – Executive Vice President-International Nuclear Operations

Operator

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Lightbridge Corporation 2014 Second Quarter Business Update and Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to introduce your host for today’s conference, Mr. Gary Sharpe. You may begin sir.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Thank you Kevin. Good morning and welcome to the Lightbridge 2014 second quarter business update. Our earnings news release was distributed after the market closed yesterday and can be viewed on the Investor Relations page of the Lightbridge website at ltbridge.com. We also filed the Company’s Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Seth Grae, our CEO, will lead today’s call. In addition, the following executives are available to answer your questions, Jim Guerra, our CFO and Chief Operating Officer; and Jim Malone, the Company’s Chief Nuclear Fuel Development Officer and Andrey Mushakov Lightbridge’s Executive Vice President for International Nuclear Operations. Today’s presentation includes forward-looking statements about the Company’s competitive position and product and service offerings. During the course of today’s call, words such as expect, anticipate, believe, and intend will be used in our discussion of goals or events in the future. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly from such estimates. The risks include, but are not limited to the degree of market adoption of the company’s product and services offerings, market competition, dependence on strategic partners, and the company’s ability to manage its business effectively in a rapidly evolving market. These and other risks are set forth in more detail in our filings with the SEC. Lightbridge does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. You can participate in today’s call two ways. You can submit questions for management in writing to ir@ltbridge.com. If you’ve already submitted a question, we thank you and we do have few. You can submit them at any time during the prepared remarks and during the Q&A period. And second, after the prepared remarks, of course, the telephone lines will be opened for live questions. So now let’s get started. Here is Seth Grae, CEO of Lightbridge.

Seth Grae

Analyst

Thank you, Gary. Good morning everyone. Lightbridge’s across-the-board progress and momentum during the first half of 2014 are very encouraging. Our outlook for continued growth in the second half of the year is beyond, and beyond is just as promising. Milestones achieved by Lightbridge to date in 2014 include, new patent protection of our fuel technology in the United States and abroad, new Advisory Services contract that drive organic revenue and exciting advances in discussions with potential partners to fabricate and begin key phase of research reactor testing of our innovative next generation metallic nuclear fuel. Let’s review our patent milestones. As we grow, the intellectual property, that supports Lightbridge fuel technology will enjoy broad protection. During the first half of 2014, the company was issued the key U.S. patent, covering our multi-lobed metallic fuel rod design and fuel assemblies. We also purchased patent our protection internationally. Australia issued Lightbridge our first international patent on this metallic fuel technology, more patent applications are pending in additional countries. These patents not only protect Lightbridge’s unique fuel rod design and fuel assemblies, but also are anticipated future royalty revenue stream. Next, we advanced plans for additional fabrication and research reactor radiation testing over the company’s fuel designs during the first half of 2014. We expect to sign a collaborative agreement this year with U.S. and or other Western fuel fabricators or development partners. We are in active, substantive discussions on the most critical phases of fuel testing and demonstration work. Our success in these negotiations will influence development of lead test assemblies using Lightbridge fuel and their operation in commercial reactors. This process sets the stage for fuel fabricators to pay technology access fees to Lightbridge. We’re enthusiastic about the progress with potential fuel fabrication partners. We will be able to continue…

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions)

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

While we’re waiting for calls to queue up for questions, Kevin, let’s start with one that’s come on over the Internet. The question is technology licensing fees are projected to be the first fuel related revenue for Lightbridge. What’s the typical range for these licensing fees, and are these fees similar in magnitude to your projected royalty payments?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Well, let me start with it, very specific numbers, tend to in this industry center around what companies have already paid to develop the technology to the point on technology access fees, and you look at the totality of what the company has invested in developing the technology to that point, and generally they center around that. Technology access fees are a negotiation with each entity that we deal with. Generally, the more money they put in upfront, the lower the future revenue stream, and if we want a greater future revenue stream, then perhaps the lower the technology access fee upfront. And if you look at the Siemens report that’s on our website, we’re looking, say in the $5 million to $10 million per year, per reactor, royalty fee to Lightbridge. For each year that each reactor uses our nuclear fuel technology, a rule of thumb that you can track in that Siemens report is that if Lightbridge brings $60 million per year of real benefit economically to the reactor, not including the safety benefits, not including other benefits, but real bottom line benefit to the utility from the longer fuel cycle and the power uprate, that’s about $60 million per year, and it’s 10% royalty to Lightbridge would be about $6 million per year. But it depends on the individual negotiation with the fuel fabricator, with the utility, and the power output of the reactor and what their revenues are, and their electricity pricing structure in that country.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Okay. Another question via email. Will Lightbridge be announcing progress with Babcock & Wilcox soon?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Yes, we expect to. As we said, we expect in 2014, there will be announcements related to Babcock & Wilcox. We’ve been making progress in discussions with them and expect to have announcements when they’re ready.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Next question from the Internet is what’s Lightbridge’s involvement with this U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit that was announced this week?

Seth Grae

Analyst

: :

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

All right, next question from the Internet. If the Obama administration is promoting carbon-free energy, is Lightbridge a candidate for government grants, loan guarantees, or other support?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Well, first of all, I don’t think that’s an “if,” I think, it is a fact. The Obama administration is promoting carbon-free energy. Is Lightbridge a candidate for government grants, loan guarantees, or other support? Yes, and so are partner companies that work with us with our technology. We’re in some discussions now very recently with the USTDA, the Trade Development Agency at the Department of Commerce, about support for some of Lightbridge’s fuel in other countries to help expand U.S. business in those countries, including Lightbridge’s business. But most Federal Government support from the U.S. Government would flow to our partner companies. For example, if you look at Carbon Credits, it benefits for generating less CO2 from energy generation to meet the new EPA rule that will take effect next June to reduce carbon emissions from power plants in each state by 20% -- below 2005 levels by 2020, and 30% reduction by 2030. Those benefits can go to the utilities. So utilities that use Lightbridge technology to help achieve those goals will benefit and would, I think, benefit from government programs that relate to such areas, and that could be a driver for Lightbridge technology here and in other countries where governments are promoting more carbon-free energy generation or in the case of switching from coal to natural gas less carbon generation.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

One more question from the Internet. Who are the potential fuel fabrication partners that Lightbridge is working with?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Well, in addition to the partners we’ve already announced in discussions, we have announced there are some others that we will be announcing publicly in due course, we expect this year.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Here is a question that just came in over the Internet. Is a Thorium reactor being built, and is East Asia the most probable place for that development?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Thorium is a metal on the periodic table of the elements. Thorium-type fuels can be used in reactors that can use Thorium-based fuels or other type-based fuels. Lightbridge has Thorium fuel technology that we’ve been developing for some time that is not a front-burner issue for us, even though we have excellent results, because what the utility customers, what the voice of the customer tell us is their two biggest issues is they want to improve reactor safety and they want to improve their economics, and Lightbridge’s metallic fuel will do that better than anything else in the world could. That’s what we are proving out, bringing tremendous value to our industry. Thorium’s benefits are not in those two areas. The utilities are not willing to pay for that. The fuel fabricators are not willing to pay for that. There are R&D efforts in India and in China on Thorium fuel technologies partly to diversify out of its much dependence on uranium, but what you actually see being built commercially in both of those countries are typical light water reactors using uranium fuels, exactly Lightbridge’s market. So, just as there has been R&D in the United States and other places on Thorium fuel, what the industry wants is light water reactors with Uranium fuel, and that’s our targeted market, that’s where we’re putting our resources.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

All right the next question, if the members of Lightbridge’s Nuclear Utility Fuel Advisory Board are telling you what attributes they want in your fuel, does that mean that they’ll buy it when it’s available? And will NUFAB support, accelerate any approvals by the NRC.

Andrey Mushakov

Analyst

I think that the NRC is the best independent nuclear regulator in the world, will act in its own very independent of course. That being said, we’ve met with the NRC, we have tremendous NRC experience in our company, and we’re very confident of speedy approvals by the NRC in accordance with our timeframe. The Nuclear Utility Fuel Advisory Board is from companies that generate almost half the nuclear electricity in the United States, at least one of them have reactors under construction, as well. So, they are heavily involved with the NRC, they are directly regulated by the NRC, and they are advising us. So, yes, I think they’re advice brings tremendous NRC experience into the company and helps ensure: A, that the timeframes are realistic based on how they do things at real large utilities; and B, that when we go to the NRC, when our customers go to the NRC, it will be based on what the customers are comfortable doing. Some companies go to the NRC just with data, just with models and try to get something new approved. That’s not Lightbridge’s approach. At Lightbridge, we are going to be going to the NRC with the actual data from in-reactor tests and research reactors at commercial reactor conditions.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Okay. Next question. Can you please give us a recap of the balance sheet situation at Lightbridge? Are you still contemplating either a capital raise or joint venture to finance your upcoming R&D and capital expenditures?

Seth Grae

Analyst

Well, the answer to that is the same as it’s been for the last few years, which is that the company brings in most of its cash through our consulting business, and the company also periodically has equity raises. We’ve had two, in the company’s existence as a publicly-traded company, one in July 2010 and one October of 2014 – 2013, sorry 2013 last year. And the company also is considering joint venture or other transactions with major partners in our industry that could bring in capital. Going forward, we will continue to bring in revenue from our consulting business, and we’ll consider conducting an equity raise when we think it’s the right time. And we will also consider these transactions with major companies. But, although, then the new contract we’ve announced today with FANR in the UAE in a new area for us, which I’ll tell you is based on helping them with inspections of materials shipped to the UAE from abroad for use in their nuclear power program. That’s the only new announcement we have today in that area, but we do expect more and more soon on the consulting side.

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Okay. I’m going to ask operator Kevin to repeat the Q&A instructions if there are any live questions. And so, Kevin, if you would please?

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions)

Gary Sharpe

Analyst

Okay. Seth, that appears to be the extent of questions that we’ve gotten from the Internet as well as any live questions. So, if you would please.

Seth Grae

Analyst

Well, thank you and I think this is an excellent set of questions and appreciate the interest in the company. Lightbridge is well-positioned to serve the rapidly growing nuclear power market with our fuel designs and our expert independent advisory services. Until our next conference call, our lines are always open at ir@ltbridge.com and at 1-571-730-1213. Thank you and good bye.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s presentation. You may all disconnect. And have a wonderful day.