Great Elm Capital Corp. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results

WALTHAM, Mass., March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Great Elm Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GECC), a business development company, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022.

Fourth Quarter and Other Recent Highlights:

  • Net investment income (“NII”) for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 was $2.3 million, or $0.30 per share, more than doubling NII of $1.1 million, or $0.14 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.
    • NII was positively impacted by continued capital deployment, rotation into higher yielding floating rate investments and lower expenses.
  • Net assets were $84.8 million, or $11.16 per share, on December 31, 2022, as compared to $95.5 million, or $12.56 per share, on September 30, 2022, and $74.6 million, or $16.63 per share, on December 31, 2021.
    • Net assets for the quarter were negatively impacted by unrealized losses on certain investments.
  • Partnered with an affiliate of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC (“Berkadia”) to form Great Elm Healthcare Finance, LLC (“GEHF”), a specialty, asset-based lending platform formed to provide capital to healthcare-related businesses across the U.S.
    • In December 2022, GEHF closed on the purchase of three healthcare asset-based loans.
  • GECC’s asset coverage ratio was approximately 154.4% as of December 31, 2022, as compared to 165.5% as of September 30, 2022, and 151.1% as of December 31, 2021.
  • The Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share for the first quarter of 2023, equating to a 12.5% annualized yield on December 31, 2022 NAV per share.

Management Commentary
“During the fourth quarter, we generated the highest amount of cash income from interest, dividends and fees in the Company’s history,” said Matt Kaplan, GECC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our capital deployment program and focus on senior secured, floating rate investments has increased NII materially from the prior quarter. In addition, we made significant progress in expanding our specialty finance platform with the formation and funding of Great Elm Healthcare Finance alongside an affiliate of Berkadia, our strategic minority partner. With a growing and diversified portfolio of cash-generating investments, we believe we are well positioned to cover our quarterly dividend during the course of the year.”

Financial Highlights – Per Share Data

Q4/20211 Q1/20221 Q2/2022 Q3/2022 Q4/2022
Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) ($4.95 ) ($1.12 ) ($0.87 ) $0.18 ($0.96 )
Net Investment Income (“NII”) Per Share $1.58 $1.31 $0.23 $0.14 $0.30
Pre-Incentive Net Investment Income Per Share $0.42 $0.24 $0.23 $0.14 $0.37
Net Realized and Unrealized Gains / (Losses) Per Share ($6.53 ) ($2.43 ) ($1.10 ) $0.04 ($1.26 )
Net Asset Value Per Share at Period End $16.63 $15.06 $12.84 $12.56 $11.16
Distributions Paid / Declared Per Share $0.60 $0.60 $0.45 $0.45 $0.45

Portfolio and Investment Activity

As of December 31, 2022, GECC held total investments of $225.0 million at fair value, as follows:

  • 44 debt investments in corporate credit, totaling approximately $151.2 million and representing 67.2% of the fair market value of the Company’s total investments. Secured debt investments comprised a substantial majority of the fair market value of the Company’s debt investments.
  • 10 debt investments in specialty finance, totaling approximately $33.8 million and representing 15.0% of the fair market value of the Company’s total investments.
  • 4 income generating equity investments in specialty finance companies, totaling approximately $24.5 million, representing 10.9% of the fair market value of the Company’s total investments.
  • 6 other income generating equity investments, totaling approximately $12.9 million, representing 5.7% of the fair market value of the Company’s total investments.
  • Other equity investments, totaling approximately $2.6 million, representing 1.2% of the fair market value of the Company’s total investments.

As of December 31, 2022, the weighted average current yield on the Company’s debt portfolio was 12.4%. Floating rate instruments comprised approximately 50.0% of the fair market value of debt investments (compared to 48.3% as of September 30, 2022) and the Company’s fixed rate debt investments had a weighted average maturity of 2.7 years.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2022, we deployed approximately $37.6 million into 22 investments(2) at a weighted average current yield of 11.8%.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2022, we monetized, in part or in full, 23 investments for approximately $20.4 million(3), at a weighted average current yield of 9.6%. Monetizations include $12.1 million of mandatory debt paydowns and redemptions at a weighted average current yield of 8.7%. Sales aggregated $8.3 million at a weighted average current yield of 9.4%.

Financial Review
Total investment income for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 was $7.3 million, or $0.96 per share. Net expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 were approximately $5.1 million, or $0.66 per share.

Net realized and unrealized losses for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 were approximately $9.5 million, or ($1.26) per share.

Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2022, cash and money market securities totaled approximately $6.9 million, exclusive of holdings of United States Treasury Bills.

Total debt outstanding (par value) as of December 31, 2022 was $155.9 million, comprised of 6.50% senior notes due June 2024 (NASDAQ: GECCN), 6.75% senior notes due January 2025 (NASDAQ: GECCM), 5.875% senior notes due June 2026 (NASDAQ: GECCO) and $10.0 million outstanding as of December 31, 2022 on the $25.0 million revolving credit facility due May 2024.

Distributions
The Company’s Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash distribution of $0.35 per share for the quarter ending March 31, 2023. The first quarter distribution will be payable on March 31, 2023 to stockholders of record as of March 15, 2023.

The distribution equates to a 14.8% annualized dividend yield on the Company’s closing market price on March 1, 2023 of $9.44 and a 12.5% annualized dividend yield on the Company’s December 31, 2022 NAV of $11.16 per share.

About Great Elm Capital Corp.

Great Elm Capital Corp. is an externally managed, business development company that seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing in debt and income generating equity securities, including investments in specialty finance businesses.