Sound Point Meridian Capital, Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the SoundPoint Meridian Capital Inc. 3rd Fiscal Quarter

for the press release, investor information and filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for a discussion of the risks that can affect the business. Sound Point Meridian Capital specifically refers participants to the presentation furnished today on the Form 8K with the SEC 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, could materially affect results. Reference is made to the section titled forward-looking statements in the company's earnings press release for the period ended December 31st, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference. We note forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, include but are not limited to down point 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 risk uncertainties and assumptions which, if they materialize, can materially affect results. And such forward-looking statements do not guarantee performance. And Sound Point Meridian Capital gives no such assurances. Sound Point 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 will now turn the call over to Ujjwal Desai, Chief Executive Officer of Sound Point Meridian Capital.

Thank you to everyone joining us today, and welcome to the Sound Point Meridian Capital earnings call for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2025. We'd 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, Dan Fabian, and after our prepared remarks, we will open up the call to your questions. For the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2025, we generated net investment income, NII, of $9 million, or 44 cents per share, and recorded a net realized loss of 5 cents per share on exited investments. We paid distributions of 75 cents per share during the quarter. The shortfall in NAI relative to common distributions reflects the impact of persistent loan spread compression, elevated CLO liability costs, and reduced excess spread available to equity investors during the quarter. Net asset value NAV per share ended the quarter at $14.02, down from $16.91 as of September 30th, 2025. NAV declined primarily due to mark-to-market pressure in CLO equity valuations as buyers stepped back late in the year despite generally stable underlying credit performance. During the quarter, we deployed approximately $6.8 million in two warehouse investments, purchased three new issue equity positions with an amortized cost of $11.29 million and weighted average cap yield of 9.31%, and purchased one new equity investment in the secondary market with an amortized cost of $5.23 million and yield of 15.6%. We also sold two equity investments with an amortized cost of $8.1 million and average yield of 15.6% and refinanced the liabilities of 10 equity investments. We deployed an additional $4.48 million related to these refinancing activities. As of quarter end, our CLO equity portfolio's weighted average gap yield was 11.0%. versus 12.0% in the prior quarter, driven in large part by seven basis points of weighted average spread loss in our underlying portfolios. The decline in portfolio yield underscores the unprecedented scale of repricing activity across the leveraged loan market over the past two years, which has meaningfully reduced asset spreads available to CLO equity. Subsequent to quarter end, we announced monthly distributions for calendar Q2, 2026 of 20 cents per share down from our previously announced Q1, 2026 monthly distribution of 25 cents per share. In setting the revised distribution level, the board considered a range of factors, including current and expected portfolio yield, the importance of maintaining balance sheet flexibility, and our objective of supporting net asset value over time. While we believe our CLO equity investments have significant refinancing optionality in 2026, which may offset the effect of loan yield compression, The sheer pace of loan repricing activity throughout the quarter and, frankly, over the past two years ultimately led to the decrease in our monthly distributions. We remain committed to our obligations as a regulated investment company and will continue to distribute at least the required portion of taxable income while evaluating distribution levels as earnings, market conditions, and portfolio positioning evolve. Our portfolio continues to be highly diversified with 97 CLOs across 30 managers providing exposure to over 1,500 loan issuers spanning over 30 industries on a look-through basis. In an environment characterized by increasing dispersion across sectors, credits, and managers, this diversification remains an important risk management tool. I'll now turn the call over to Dan for a more detailed review of the financial highlights for the quarter.