Bimini Capital Mgmt Inc A

Hello, and welcome to Bimini Capital Management first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask the question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Melissa Afonso. You may begin.

Thank you, Tawanda. Good morning, and welcome to the first quarter 2026 earnings conference call for Bimini Capital Management. This call is being recorded today, May 8, 2026. At this time, the company would like to remind the listeners that statements made during today's conference call relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Listeners are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are based on information currently available on the management's good faith, belief with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences are described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K. The company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements. Now, I'd like to turn the conference over to the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Robert Colley. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Melissa, and good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Hopefully, you've had a chance to look at the short deck that we've put out on our website. We will be referring to that later on the call. Today, we are joined on our call by Richard Perry, the President and CIO of Tom Johnson Investment Management, or TGEM as we refer to it. Recall we closed on our purchase of an 80% ownership stake on April 1st, 2026. After we discuss our results for the quarter and provide a brief overview of our outlook on the market and our existing business, we will have Richard provide an introduction to our shareholders and tell us a little more about TGEM. Regarding our results for the quarter, uneven market conditions for the agency RMBS market caused Orchid Island Capital, or ORCID, and Bimini's investment portfolio segment to report modest losses for the quarter. As we know, the war in Iran, which broke out on February 28th, caused severe disruption to the market in its immediate aftermath. Markets have calmed down considerably since, but the initial market reactions were sufficient to cause our results for the quarter to be slightly negative. ORCID reported a net loss of $20.2 million, or 11 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2026. And Bimini's investment portfolio segment generated a net loss of $0.7 million for the quarter. ORCID was able to continue to expand its quarterly equity base, however, and its stockholders' equity increased from $1.372 billion at December 31, 2025, to $1.392 billion at March 31, 2026. As a result, BIMNY's advisory service revenue also increased to $5.1 million in Q1, compared to $4.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2025. The advisory service segment generated net income for the first quarter of $2.25 million, and BIMNY's consolidated income for the first quarter was $0.8 million, or eight cents per share. So far in the second quarter of 2026, market conditions for levered agency RMBS investing have improved, reversing some but not all the losses we sustained during the first quarter. Regarding market conditions during the first quarter of 2026, the fixed income markets experienced a period of calm as 2025 came to a close and we entered 2026. Interest rates were in a very tight range. Implied interest rate volatility had continued the steady decline that began in April of 2025, and agency RMBS performed well during the first two months of the first quarter of 2026. Other sectors of the fixed-income markets performed well over this period as well, and spreads on investment-grade corporate bonds reached levels not seen since 1998. As 2026 began, economic activity remained resilient, including the labor market. The outlook has since changed after the war broke out in the Middle East. The world's most critical oil and chemical supply region has suffered intense military attacks leading to supply interruptions. Inflation, which was already sticky, may move even higher, and the economic outlook has become very uncertain as a result of the war causing growth both in the U.S. and globally to deteriorate. The ultimate outcome of the war remains uncertain. Today, the economy in the U.S. has remained resilient, but there is still uncertainty. If it can continue to do so, we will see where we stand when we speak again at the end of the second quarter. Now, I would like to formally introduce Richard Perry, President and CIO of TGEM, and provide Richard an opportunity to tell us more about TGEM's history, provide an overview of their investment products and their investor base, and finally give us an update on business so far. Thank you, and with that, I'll turn it over to Richard. Richard, go ahead.