Operator
Operator
Welcome to the OFS Capital Corporation Third Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. I would now like to turn the conference over to Steve Altebrando. Please go ahead.
OFS Capital Corporation (OFS)
Q3 2016 Earnings Call· Fri, Nov 4, 2016
$3.99
+2.57%
Same-Day
-3.83%
1 Week
-3.68%
1 Month
+1.15%
vs S&P
-6.55%
Operator
Operator
Welcome to the OFS Capital Corporation Third Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. I would now like to turn the conference over to Steve Altebrando. Please go ahead.
Steve Altebrando
Analyst
Thank you. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. With me today is Bilal Rashid, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Jeff Cerny, our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Please note that we issued a press release this morning announcing our third quarter results. This press release was subsequently filed on Form 8-K with the SEC. Both documents can be obtained under the Investor Relations section of our website at ofscapital.com. Before we begin, please note that statements made on this call and webcast may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended. Such statements reflect various assumptions by OFS Capital concerning anticipated results, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. The uncertainties and other factors are in some ways beyond management's control, including the risk factors described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Although we believe these assumptions are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove inaccurate and, as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be inaccurate. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. OFS Capital undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call. Our comments may reference adjusted net investment income, a non-GAAP measure. For reconciliation, please refer to our investor presentation on the Investor Relations section of our website. With that, I will turn the call over to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bilal Rashid.
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Thank you, Steve. Good morning and welcome. We're pleased that in the third quarter our net asset value remained stable and our net investment income was $0.34 per share which covered our distribution. This is the sixth consecutive quarter our net investment income has exceeded our distribution and over this period our adjusted net investment income per share was 110% of our distribution. We believe that this 110% coverage is more indicative of our earnings power than our distribution coverage for this quarter. In a quarter where we generated historically-low fee income and when most of our investments closed in September, we were still able to generate net investment income that exceeded our distribution. Our fourth quarter is off to a strong start with the closing of transactions totaling approximately $23 million. Given our ample dry powder, we believe that we have significant room to continue to grow our net investment income as we go through the fourth quarter and into 2017. The overall credit quality of our portfolio remains solid. As we have mentioned on prior calls, OFS Capital does not have any investments in the oil and gas sector and we have focused on sectors that are less cyclical and have a track record of performing throughout an economic cycle. Approximately two-thirds of our loan portfolio is senior secured. We had just one loan on non-accrual at the end of the quarter. The other non-accrual from last quarter was resolved with a full recovery of principal plus accrued interest. Since the beginning of 2011, we have invested $652 million and had a cumulative net realized loss of just $600,000 which is less than 0.1%. As always, we remain focused on capital preservation. We have been able to achieve these strong results by adhering to our time-tested underwriting standards…
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
Thank you. We're pleased with our third quarter results. As Bilal just mentioned, we continued to focus on the credit quality and stability of our portfolio which has resulted in a stable net asset value over time. We have 20% of our net asset value in cash and the potential to borrow additional capital. As you also just heard, our only debt at quarter end is long term fixed-rate SBA debentures with a weighted-average coupon of 3.18%. This debt does not count towards our asset coverage ratio and, coupled with our cash position, gives us room to grow our net investment income. We believe that access to additional growth capital and no regulatory leverage puts us at a competitive advantage relative to some of our peers. Turning to our portfolio, at the end of the quarter we had investments in 38 companies totaling $259.2 million on a fair value basis which is above our cost. At September 30, 2016, the debt portfolio is at 99.1% and the equity portfolio is at 110.1% of cost. As a percentage of fair value, our investments were approximately 67% senior secured loans, 20% subordinated debt and 13% equity. As a percentage of cost investments were just under 12%. It is important to note that approximately two-thirds of these equity investments produce investment income due to their contractual coupons. Our portfolio remains diverse with an average investment in each portfolio company of $6.8 million or 2.6% of the total portfolio. The overall weighted average yield to fair value on our debt investments remained strong at 11.88%. At the end of the quarter, two-thirds of our loan portfolio had floating-rate coupons. There is only one loan on non-accrual, Community Intervention Services, with a total principal balance of $6.7 million and total fair value of $5.4 million.…
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Thank you, Jeff. Summarizing our thoughts on the quarter, we're pleased that our net asset value was stable and our net investment income covered our distribution despite historically low fee income. Given the amount of investments we closed at the end of third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, we believe that we're well-positioned to finish the year on a strong note. Our results over the past several quarters highlight the strength of our underwriting capabilities and the long term alignment of interest between our shareholders and our external manager which owns more than 30% of our company. Our focus has been to deliver capital to the lower middle market, especially to the non-sponsored community which is where we continue to find attractive risk-adjusted returns. This is demonstrated by the attractive yield on our loan portfolio of 11.88% while maintaining a stable long term net asset value. In terms of our liabilities, we have attractive long term fixed-rate financing through the SBIC program with a weighted-average coupon of 3.18%. With this fixed-rate financing and approximately two-thirds of our portfolio being floating-rate, we're well-positioned for an eventual increase in interest rates. In addition, we have significant capital resources available to continue to grow our earnings. OFS Capital remains committed to providing long term value to all its stakeholders including both shareholders and borrowers. As a lender, we remain focused on being responsive to the needs of our borrowers by providing them flexible capital solutions. With that, operator, please open up the call for questions.
Operator
Operator
[Operator Instructions]. The first question comes from Mickey Schleien of Ladenburg. Please go ahead.
Mickey Schleien
Analyst
Bilal, my first question relates to the tone of the market. We've seen some very severe compression in spreads in the more liquid end of the middle market. And I'm curious whether that's starting to trickle down into the lower middle market where your company generally operates.
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
As you know, we focus on the lower part of the middle market, especially on the non-sponsored part of the middle market, because we feel that it is a much more inefficient part of the market and more underserved. We're not seeing that spread compression yet in our part of the market. And that's the reason why we really like being there. So, I would say we're not seeing that compression yet on our side.
Mickey Schleien
Analyst
Bilal, can you remind us what sort of the average EBITDA is of the portfolio companies in which you're investing?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Yes. The average EBITDA is between $7 million and $8 million.
Mickey Schleien
Analyst
Okay. My next question, we're almost halfway through the quarter and I appreciate your comments about originations so far. But what sort of visibility do have on repayments this quarter, at least to this point?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Yes. Actually, we haven't seen a lot of repayment activity recently. And so, I would say that repayments are on the low side.
Mickey Schleien
Analyst
Okay. And just a couple more questions. One is housekeeping. Could you break down how much of your cash is in the SBIC? And any update you can provide on the second SBIC license. And that's it for me. Thank you.
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
Yes. So, as far as the SBIC, Mickey, we had about, at quarter's end, about $20 million of the $28 million in the SBIC.
Mickey Schleien
Analyst
Okay. And any progress on the second license or any feedback from the SBA?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Yes. So, as we mentioned in the remarks, we don't have any update on that front. And if we receive any meaningful update there we will inform you guys.
Operator
Operator
The next question is from Christopher Testa of National Securities. Please go ahead.
Christopher Testa
Analyst
Just kind of commenting on one of Mickey's questions with repayments, are you seeing repayments being muted? I know lower middle market LBO multiples are extremely high. Is it from just a lack of M&A or is this simply a niche part of the lower middle market where there's nobody to refi these guys out despite spreads coming in?
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
Yes, when it comes to repayments, actually the third quarter was historically low. We resolved one of our non-accrual loans that had been on for a while. It started as a $4 million obligation. It was paid down to about $1 million. And that repaid in full in the third quarter; all principal, all interest. And that was really our only repayment. As we look into the fourth quarter, we're not seeing repayments as we look forward and I think it is largely attributable to more M&A activity being down.
Christopher Testa
Analyst
And just on Community Intervention, how much debt is senior to you in that structure?
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
You know what? I actually don't have that number handy. It is a national bank that holds that position. I could certainly get back to you on that.
Christopher Testa
Analyst
And with $18 million remaining in club loans which you're able to sell out of now -- I understand they're not extremely liquid, but you can negotiate a sale. Given that the loan prices have rebounded so strongly, are you seeing this as an opportune time to sort of shop these around and exit these in order to reinvest in your direct originations?
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
I guess what I would say is that market has been relatively stable as well. They're slightly larger than what we're investing in, but it is kind of a club loan market. So, I don't know that it's necessarily an opportune time to sell those. We haven't seen a major uptick in the valuation of those loans. So, I think we're monitoring it regularly and we would look to liquidate out of those loans if and when we feel we can put the capital to work properly.
Christopher Testa
Analyst
Okay, great. And could you provide us an update on your attachment point through the last dollar of risk?
Jeff Cerny
Analyst
Yes. We remain under 4 times; on average, probably closer into the mid-3s. And that's through, obviously, senior secured, second lien, as well as mezzanine subordinated investments. So, we still feel good about the portfolio and kind of where we're at from a last dollar of leverage.
Operator
Operator
[Operator Instructions]. The next question is from Casey Alexander of Compass Research. Please go ahead.
Casey Alexander
Analyst
As it regards to second SBA, I'm working a little from behind, do you have a green light letter for the second SBA?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
No, we don't have a green light letter yet. We're working on that.
Casey Alexander
Analyst
Okay, I just wanted to check. And, secondly, you have such an enviable track record of lack of credit losses. Can you kind of fill me on -- do you have specific verticals that you've focused on or a specific structure that you rely on that has allowed you to build such an enviable track record?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
To answer your first question, if you look at our portfolio it's fairly well-diversified across industries. The only industry exposure that we don't have, luckily, is in the oil and gas sector. So, I think getting these good results is a combination of several factors. One, our underwriting expertise; OFS platform has been in business since 1994 and our investment process has been developed over many years. So, I think it goes to the underwriting expertise. The second point is portfolio management. We're very hands-on with respect to portfolio management. I think that has allowed us to also mitigate the losses. Even if there is a non-accrual or a company goes into default we've been able to navigate through that and mitigated our losses that way. I would say the part of the middle market that we've been playing in, the lower part of the middle market and especially the non-sponsored part of the middle market, I think we're able to get some certainly attractive returns, but we're also able to get very attractive structures. We're able to actually attach at a lower leverage point, as Jeff was saying earlier on. So, we're able to generate about 11.88% yield on a portfolio that is less than 4-times debt-to-EBITDA multiple. And, also, if you look at our portfolio, about two-thirds of it is senior secured. So, I think that has certainly been helpful, as well, in terms of mitigating the losses. So, it's a combination of several different factors, but we've very happy with the track record so far.
Casey Alexander
Analyst
On the floating-rate portion of your portfolio, what's the benchmark that your loans float off of? And, in general, is there a floor? And, if so, what is, in general, the floor? I know it might be for everyone. But, in general, what's kind of the structure you use?
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Yes. Generally speaking, it's a 3-month LIBOR and, generally speaking, the floor is 1%.
Operator
Operator
There are no additional questions at this time. This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Bilal Rashid for closing remarks.
Bilal Rashid
Analyst
Thank you all for joining our call today and we look forward to speaking with everyone again next quarter. Operator, you may now end the call. Thank you.
Operator
Operator
Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.