WALTHAM, Mass., March 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Great Elm Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GECC), a business development company, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020.
Financial Highlights
- Net investment income (“NII”) for the quarter was $1.6 million, as compared to NII of $1.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. NII was impacted by slower than anticipated deployment of capital following the completion of GECC’s rights offering, repayments and higher than anticipated legal expenses.
- NII per share was $0.07 based on weighted average shares outstanding of 22,249,283, as compared to NII per share of $0.18, based on weighted average shares outstanding of 10,660,894, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.
- On October 1, 2020, we successfully completed a non-transferable rights offering which entitled holders of rights to purchase one new share of common stock for each right held at a subscription price of $2.95 per share. In total, we sold 10,761,950 shares of our common stock for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $31.7 million.
- As of December 31, 2020, GECC’s asset coverage ratio was approximately 167.1%, up from 150.9% as of September 30, 2020, 144.5% as of June 30, 2020 and 141.1% as of March 31, 2020. GECC’s minimum asset coverage ratio is 150.0%.
- Net assets grew to approximately $79.6 million on December 31, 2020, as compared to net assets of $60.5 million at September 30, 2020, $53.2 million at June 30, 2020 and $50.8 million at March 31, 2020.
- NAV per share was $3.46 on December 31, 2020, compared to $5.53 at September 30, 2020. The decline from the prior quarter includes the effect of dilution of $1.35 per share from the rights offering and $0.06 per share from stock distributions in the fourth quarter of 2020.
- For the year ended December 31, 2020, we repurchased $5.3 million in aggregate principal of our senior notes at a weighted average price of $19.16 per note.
Management Commentary
Peter A. Reed, GECC’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our fourth quarter income decline was the result of cash drag from higher cash balances than we had planned, greater than anticipated legal expenses, and unrealized losses from legacy investments. Our position in Avanti was the largest of our unrealized losses in the quarter, as uncertainty of the status of its refinancing and delayed new business significantly impacted its valuation. While these results are a disappointing way to end the year, we ended the quarter with a strong and liquid balance sheet and with continued momentum in our effort to invest more in specialty finance. Finally, after year end, Avanti successfully extended the maturity of its first lien debt. We have much work to do but are positioned to have a better year in 2021.”
Portfolio and Investment Activity
As of December 31, 2020, we held 31 debt investments, totaling approximately $108.2 million and representing 71.3% of the fair market value of our total investments. First lien and/or secured debt investments comprised a substantial majority of the fair market value of our debt investments.
As of the same date, we held 10 equity investments, totaling approximately $43.5 million and representing 28.7% of the fair market value of our total investments. Three of the 10 equity investments, totaling approximately $27.4 million of fair value as of December 31, 2020, are income-generating equity investments.
As of December 31, 2020, the weighted average current yield on our debt portfolio was 11.7%. Floating rate instruments comprised approximately 54.2% of the fair market value of debt investments.
During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, we deployed approximately $35.3 million into new investments(1), at a weighted average current yield of 10.9%. The weighted average price of the debt deployment activity was 94% of par.
During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, we monetized, in part or in full, 22 investments for approximately $43.8(2) million, at a weighted average current yield of 8.8%. The weighted average realized price was 100% of par.
Financial Review
Total investment income for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $5.7 million, or $0.26 per share. Total expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 were approximately $4.1 million, or $0.18 per share.
Net realized gains for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 were approximately $0.8 million, or $0.03 per share. Net unrealized depreciation from investments for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $12.1 million, or $0.54 per share.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, our cash balance was approximately $52.6 million, exclusive of holdings of United States Treasury Bills and restricted cash. Total debt outstanding as of December 31, 2020 was $118.7 million, comprised of our 6.50% senior notes due September 2022 (NASDAQ: GECCL), our 6.50% senior notes due June 2024 (NASDAQ: GECCN) and our 6.75% senior notes due January 2025 (NASDAQ: GECCM). During the year ended December 31, 2020, we repurchased $5.3 million in aggregate principal of our senior notes at a weighted average price of $19.16 per note.
Distributions
We also announced this morning that our board of directors set a $0.10 per share cash distribution for the quarter ending June 30, 2021.
The record and payment dates for the distribution are expected to be set by GECC in the second quarter pursuant to authority granted by its board of directors.
About Great Elm Capital Corp.
Great Elm Capital Corp. is an externally managed, specialty finance company focused on investing in debt instruments of middle market companies. GECC elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. GECC seeks to generate attractive, risk-adjusted returns through both current income and capital appreciation.
