Greetings. Welcome to Rand Capital Corporation’s First Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I’ll now turn the conference over to Craig Mychajluk from Investor Relations. Craig, you may now begin.

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Rand Capital and for joining us today for our first quarter 2025 financial results conference call. On the line with me are Dan Penberthy, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Margaret Brechtel, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A copy of the release and slides that accompany our conversation is available at randcapital.com. If you’re following along with the slide deck, please turn to Slide 2, where I’d like to point out some important information. As you are likely aware, we may make forward-looking statements during this presentation. These statements apply to future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties, as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ from where we are today. You can find a summary of these risks and uncertainties and other factors in the earnings release and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These documents can be found on our website or at sec.gov. During today’s call, we’ll also discuss some non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these will be useful in evaluating our performance, should not consider the presentation of this additional information in isolation, or as a substitute for results in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. We have provided reconciliations of non-GAAP measures with comparable-GAAP measures in the tables that accompany today’s earnings release. With that, please turn to Slide 3, and I’ll hand the discussion over to Dan. Dan?

Thank you, Craig, and good afternoon, everyone. Our first quarter results underscore the resilience of our business model and the strength of our balance sheet, putting us in a solid position to execute on our continued long-term strategy. I am pleased to report that despite a modest decline in total investment income, we have delivered a 45% year-over-year increase in net investment income, reaching $1.2 million or $0.42 per share. It’s important to highlight that this performance was supported by certain non-recurring fee income and a 36% reduction in total expenses driven by lower interest costs following our debt repayment and capital gains incentive fee adjustments. Our net asset value per share was $21.99, which compared with $25.31 at year-end 2024. It is important to note that this change reflects a dilutive impact from the issuance of additional shares related to the fourth quarter dividend, which were distributed in January 2025. During the quarter, we also realized a gain of $925,000 from portfolio redemptions, and we redeployed a portion of those proceeds into a follow-on investment that we will highlight shortly. Staying aligned with our strategy to maintain a strong financial position, we have repaid $600,000 of our revolver debt, finishing the quarter with nearly $5 million in cash, and over $22 million in available credit capacity. As I mentioned last quarter, we continue to operate in a cautious and evolving environment. While we are seeing a slowdown in new investment opportunities due to ongoing macroeconomic and political uncertainty, we remain well positioned to capitalize as conditions approve. Looking ahead, our focus remains on a disciplined execution, proactive portfolio oversight, and building sustainable shareholder value. As highlighted on Slide 4, the success we have had executing on our long-term strategic objectives over the past few years has translated into tangible…

Thanks, Dan, and good afternoon, everyone. I will start on Slide 10, which provides an overview of our financial summary and operational highlights for the 2025 first quarter. Total investment income for the quarter was $2 million, representing a slight decline of $59,000 or 3% from the prior year period. This decrease was primarily driven by lower dividend income and an 8% reduction in interest income, reflecting the repayment of the three debt instruments during the quarter. Offsetting this was an increase in non-recurring fee income, which comprised 15% of total investment income in the first quarter of 2025, up from 5% in the first quarter of 2024. During the quarter, 18 portfolio companies contributed to investment income compared to 24 companies in the same period last year. On the expense side, total expenses declined 36% to $791,000 from $1.2 million in the prior year period. This reduction was largely due to a $354,000 decrease in interest expense, thanks to lower outstanding debt. We also saw favorable changes in management fees, including a $75,000 capital gains incentive fee benefit this quarter compared with $112,000 expense in Q1 of 2024. In addition, base management fees declined by $50,000 as a result of the principal repayments. These benefits were partially offset by the accrual of $120,000 income-based incentive fee, which reflects our improved operating performance and fund profitability. No such fee was accrued in the first quarter of last year. To clarify, incentive fees include two components, an income-based fee and a capital gains fee. The income-based fee is calculated quarterly and is subject to a 1.75% hurdle rate per quarter or 7% on an annualized basis. The capital gains incentive fee, on the other hand, is accrued based on both realized and unrealized gains and losses in accordance with Generally Accepted…

Thanks, Margaret. And moving to Slide 13, please. As we look ahead to the rest of the year and beyond, our focus remains clear on executing with discipline and building on our long-term shareholder value. There are many challenges in our current environment, and this does present and should present new investment opportunities. However, we remain challenged with macroeconomic and political uncertainty. This could include tariffs, consumer spending, changes in government regulation, weaknesses in the M&A markets. However, I do believe we are well-positioned to navigate this cycle. Our investment model combined with our disciplined approach, allows us to maintain a long-term view with the expectation that conditions will improve over time. We are actively looking to scale our income generating assets with high-quality debt investments, while remaining prudent in our capital deployment and risk management. With ample revolving credit availability, we have the flexibility to support future growth as the market evolves. Importantly, our commitment to shareholders remain, we are focused on driving NAV growth and total returns through active portfolio oversight, sound financial management, and a sustainable dividend strategy backed by what we believe to be as a strong portfolio. Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. We look forward to updating you on our progress with our second quarter 2025 results in August. Have a great day.

This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.