Sound Point Meridian Capital, Inc.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to this SoundPoint Meridian Capital, Inc. second fiscal quarter ended September 30th, 2024 earnings conference call. Getting started today, all participants are in a listen-only mode, but later you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question and answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing the star and one on your touchtone phone. Please note this call may be recorded. I'll be standing by should you need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Peter Scusa with Investor Relations.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. SoundPoint Meridian Capital refers participants on this call to the investor webpage, www.soundpointmeridiancap.com, for the press release, investor information, and filings with the SEC for discussion, the risks that can affect the business. SoundPoint Meridian Capital specifically refers participants to the presentation furnished today on Form 8K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and to remind listeners that some of the comments today may contain forward-looking statements. and as such will be subject to risks and uncertainties which, if they materialize, will materially affect results. Reference is made to a section titled Forward-Looking Statements in the company's earnings press release for the period ended September 30, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference. We note forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, include, but are not limited to, standpoint Meridian Capital's expectation or prediction of financial and business performance and conditions, as well as its competitive and industry outlook. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, which, if they materialize, can materially affect results. And such forward-looking statements do not guarantee performance, and SoundPoint Meridian Capital gives no such assurances. SoundPoint Meridian Capital is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation to update, alter, or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, historical data pertaining to the operating results and other performance indicators applicable to Sound Point Meridian Capital are not necessarily indicative of results to be achieved in succeeding periods. I'll now turn the call over to Ujjval Desai, Chief Executive Officer of Sound Point Meridian Capital.

Thank you to everyone joining us today for interest in Sound Point Meridian Capital or SPMC. And welcome to our earnings call for the second fiscal quarter ending September 30th, 2024. We would like to invite you to download our investor presentation from our website, which provides additional information about the company and our portfolio. With me today is our Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Gerlitz, and after our prepared remarks, we'll open it up to your questions. We are thrilled to report that for our first full quarter since our IPO, SPMC delivered strong results. For the quarter, we generated net investment income, or NII, of $17.5 million, or 86 cents per share, which exceeded our distributions for the quarter of 70 cents per share. Net asset value per share ended the quarter at $19.59, down modestly from where it stood on June 30th at $19.91, driven primarily by unrealized losses of $9.5 million for the quarter. During the quarter, we deployed approximately $160 million across 14 new CLO equity investments, with a weighted average yield of 14.8%. Additionally, we participated in eight loan accumulation facilities, also known as CLO warehouses, which generated $6.7 million of income, of other income, or 33 cents per share. As of September 30th, the weighted average gap yield on our equity portfolio was 15.7% versus 16.9% as of June 30th. The decrease in cap yield was the result of lower rates as well as loan repricings in the underlying CLO portfolios, both of which reduced estimated future cash flows available to CLO equity holders. This was slightly offset by CLO refinancing and reset activity, which lowered the CLO liability costs on certain CLO investments in the portfolio. Our portfolio as of September 30th was diversified across 70 investments managed by 22 CLO managers, The underlying loan portfolio consisted of over 1,500 loan issuers across 30 plus sectors on a look-through basis. We believe this strategy of broad diversification enables us to manage risk effectively, providing us with dividend sustainability and downside protection through changing market conditions. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, on October 31st, we successfully priced a public offering of 2 million shares of our 8% Series A preferred shares due 2029, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $48.2 million. We expect to use these proceeds to acquire new portfolio investments in accordance with our investment objectives and strategies, make distributions to our stockholders, and for general working capital purposes. This successful offering reflects a strong financial standing and marks a significant milestone for SPMC, reinforcing our commitment to dividend growth and value creation for our shareholders. As of October 31st, our estimated NAV per common share was $20.58, a significant increase of 5% from September 30th, mainly driven by month-to-month unrealized gains that resulted from refinancing and reset activity as well as tightening of CLO equity market yields. Additionally, on November 7th, we announced monthly distributions for calendar Q1 2025 of $0.24 per share, an increase of 9.1% over the current distribution rate of $0.22 per share. This announcement is consistent with our strategy of raising distributions steadily over time as we deploy the proceeds from our IPO offering, our senior facility, and now our Series A preferred stock. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Kevin for a more detailed review of our financial highlights for the quarter.