Art Penn
Analyst · Compass Point. Please go ahead
Thanks, Aviv. I’m going to provide an update on the business starting with financial highlights followed by the discussion of the overall the market, the portfolio, investment activity, the financials and then open it up for Q&A. For the first quarter ended September 30, 2018, we invested a $181 million and primarily first and second lien secured debt at an average yield of 10.1%. Net investment income was $0.20 per share. Our recurring run rate income is now $0.19 per share excluding other income we received for such items as prepayment penalties. On average, other income such as prepayment penalties have been between $0.02 and $0.03 per share per quarter. We purchased 7.2 million of our common stock as part of the $30 million stock repurchase program which is authorize by our board last quarter. Today, we have purchased $15 million. The stock buyback program is accretive to both NAV and income per share. We are looking forward to continuing this program over the coming quarters. As of September 30th, we have taxable spill over of $0.30 per share which provide substantial dividend cushion. With the generally stable underlying portfolio and significant spill over, we believe that PNNT stock should be able to provide investors with an attractive dividend stream along with potential upside as our equity investments mature. As you all know, the small business credit availability act was signed in the law in late March 2018. Our board just approved the reduction of the asset coverage test from 200% to a 150% as well as authorize the submission of our proposal for shareholders for the upcoming February 2019 Annual Meeting to vote on the asset coverage reduction. In connection with this reduction, our board also approved the reduction in our base fee from 1.5% to 1% on growth assets that exceed 200% of PNNT's NAV at the beginning of each quarter. Since our $250 million bond issue matures within a year, our board has also authorized us to redeem those notes. In early 2019, we anticipate prepaying the notes at 100% of the principal amount plus accrued on unpaid interest as well as a make-whole premium. Our primary business of financing middle market sponsors has remained robust. We manage relationships with about 400 private equity sponsors across the country from our offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and London. We’ve done business with about 180 sponsors. Due to the wide funnel of deal flow that we receive relative to the size of our vehicles, we can be extremely selective with our investments. In this environment, we have not only been extremely selective but we have generally moved up capital structure to more secure investments. A reminder about our long-term track record, PNNT was in business since 2007 then as now, focused on financing middle-market financial sponsors. Our performance through the global financial crisis and recession was solid. Prior to the onset of the global financial crisis in September 2008, we initiated investments, which ultimately aggregated 480 million. Average EBITDA of the underlying portfolio companies was down about 7% to the bottom of the recession. According to the Bloomberg North American High Yield Index, the average high yield Company EBITDA was down about 40% during that timeframe. As a result, we had few defaults and attractive recoveries on that portfolio. The IRR of those underlying investments was 8% even though they were done prior to the financial crisis and recession. We are proud of this downside case track record. We’ve had only 12 companies going non-accrual out of 204 investments since inception over 11 years ago. Further, we are proud that even when we had those non-accruals, we’ve been able to preserve capital for our shareholders. Through hard work patients and judicious additional investments in capital and personnel in those companies, we’ve been able to find ways to add value. Based on values as of September 30, today we have recovered about 80% of capital invested on the 12 companies that have been on non-accrual since inception of the firm. We currently have no investments on non-accrual. Since inception, PNNT has made 208 investments, totaling about 5.1 billion, at an average yield of 12.4%. This compares to an annualized loss ratio, including both realized and unrealized losses of about 30 basis points annually. This strong track record includes both our energy investments as well as our primarily subordinated debt investments made prior to the financial crisis. In this environment, due to our deep and broad investment team, we’re seeing more deals than ever. We’re using our proven underwriting discipline in middle-market sponsor deals. We are generally high in the capital stack and have substantial junior capital beneath us to provide cushion. As a result, we believe that we can continue to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our shareholders. At this point in time, our underlying portfolio indicates a strong U.S. economy and no signs of recession. We remain focused on long-term value and making investments that will perform well over an extended period of time and can withstand different business cycles. Our focus continue to be on companies and structures that are more defensive, have a low leverage, strong covenants and are positioned to weather different economic scenarios. We are first call for middle-market financial sponsors' management teams and intermediaries, who want consistent and credible capital. As an independent provider who's free of conflicts or affiliations, we’ve become a trusted financing partner for our clients. Our portfolio is constructed to withstand market and economic volatility. In general, our overall portfolio is performing well. We have a cash interest coverage ratio of 2.8 times and a debt to EBITDA ratio of 4.9 times at cost on our cash flow loans. With asset yields coming down over the last several years, we’re looking to create attractive risk adjusted returns and our portfolio. We’re executing a three point plan to do so. Number one, we’re focused on lower risk primarily secured investments, thereby reducing the volatility of our earnings stream. Investments secured by either first or second lien or about 82% of the portfolio. We’re focused on -- number two, we’re also focused on reducing risk from the standpoint of diversification, as our portfolio rotates, we intend to have a more diversified portfolio with generally modest by sizes relative to our overall capital. Number three, we look forward to continue to monetize the equity portion of our portfolio. Every time we’re targeting equity being 5% to 10% of our portfolio as of September 30, it was 14% of the portfolio. In addition to being active on new investments, we have significant cash realization in the quarter ended September 30th. Some of our significant realizations include our investment in Howard Berger, where we realized an IRR 14.5% on our $39 million second lien position. We also executed our investment in Veritext where we realized an IRR of 14.7% on our $28 million second lien position. In addition, we executed our $1 million equity co-investment in the regions with proceeds of almost $3 million resulting in about 20% IRR and a multiple invested capital of three times. This might be a good time to highlight the value of the equity co-invest strategy as part of our portfolio. Since inception, across our platform, we invested a $148 million and 58 equity co-investments where we make a portion of our overall investment side-by-side with financial sponsors and the private equity along with the debt that we provide. The IRR on our $148 million invested since inception is 23% which represents the multiple on invested capital of two times. Those returns have to offset losses and provide upside to the portfolio. With regard to our energy related portfolio, we’re pleased that we continue to make progress monetizing those investments are reasonable values. We started 2018 with four investments in energy with the stated goal of monetization every time. We held these investments over the last several years joining energy downturn with the goal of maximizing value over the long run. We believe we’re starting to see the fruits of that strategy. You may remember that during the March quarter we exited the first of those names, American Gilsonite, which ended up generating 8.6% IRR and 1.4 times multiple on invested capital on our whole berry of 5.5 years. Last quarter, U.S. Wealth Services announced a merger with MatlinPatterson acquisition Corporation. That merger closed on November 9, 2018, as a result of that transaction along with refinance, we hold equity in the public company with the current value of $13 million. Based on this valuation, our overall investment in U.S. Wealth has generated an IRR of 18% and a 1.7 times multiple line invested capital. With regard to our two remaining energy names, RAM and ETX, they’ve been aided by the higher oil prices. It will take time for us to maximize our recovery. In terms of new investments, we’ve known these particular companies for a while as started the industries or have a strong relationship with the sponsor. Let’s walk through some of the highlights. We’ve invested $13 million of subordinated debt and $2 million in common equity of BlackHawk Industrial Distribution, which is an independent distributor of metal working and industrial maintenance, repair and overall products of cutting tools. Snow Phipps is the sponsor. [Indiscernible] are provider of services that help companies to promote their brands and engage employees by distributing promotional products. We invested $44 million in the second lien loan. TPG Growth is the sponsor. U.S. dominion is a global provider of election tabulations solutions and services. We invest 30 million of first lien and 1.5 million in common equity. Staple Street Capital is the sponsor. We purchased 22 million of first lien and 2 million of common equity of Walker Edison Furniture. The Company is an e-commerce platform focused on designing and selling ready to assemble furniture. J.W. Childs is the sponsor. Turning to the outlook, we believe the 2019 will be active due to the growth and M&A driven financings we’re seeing, due to our strong sourcing network and client relationships, we are seeing active deal flow. Let me now turn the call over to Aviv, our CFO to take us through the financial results.