Earnings Labs

SuRo Capital Corp. 6.00% Notes due 2026 (SSSSL)

Q2 2019 Earnings Call· Wed, Aug 7, 2019

$25.05

+0.10%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Sutter Rock Capital's Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operators Instructions] This call is being recorded today, Wednesday, August 7, 2019. I will now turn the conference over to Jackson Stone. Please go ahead, sir.

Jackson Stone

Management

Thank you for joining us on today's call. I'm joined today by the Chief Executive Officer of Sutter Rock Capital, Mark Klein; and Chief Financial Officer, Allison Green. Please note that a slide presentation that corresponds to today's prepared remarks by management is available on our website at www.sutterrock.com under Investor Relations Presentations. Today's call is being recorded and broadcast live on our website, www.sutterrock com. Replay information is included in our press release issued earlier today. This call is the property of Sutter Rock Capital, any unauthorized reproduction of this call in any form is strictly prohibited. I would also like to call your attention to customary disclosures in today's earnings press release regarding forward-looking information. Statements made in today's conference call and webcast may constitute forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of our future performance or future financial condition or results and involve a number of risks, estimates and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, those described from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. Management does not undertake to update such forward-looking statements unless required to do so by law. To obtain copies of Sutter Rock Capital's latest SEC filing, please visit our website at sutterrock.com or the SEC's website at sec.gov. Now I would like to turn the call over to Mark Klein.

Mark Klein

Management

Thank you, Jackson. We are pleased to share the results of Sutter Rock's second quarter 2019. First, I will review the recent quarter, which reflects the previously discussed expense reductions as a result of the internalization. Then I will provide an update on key developments in the portfolio. To conclude, I will hand the call over to Allison Green for a brief financial overview, and then we will open up the call for questions. As announced last week, we have changed our name from GSV Capital to Sutter Rock Capital and our ticker from GSVC to SSSS, reflective of the internalization of the asset manager. As an internally managed BDC, with significant investable capital, we look forward to the ongoing management and construction of our portfolio to drive net asset value by executing on the strategy of making investments in leading institutionally-backed private companies with a clear path to liquidity. Additionally, our Board of Directors has approved an additional $5 million for our share repurchase program. We believe that our portfolio is significantly undervalued and as such, have increased the share repurchase program to $25 million. Let's start with Slide 3. At the end of the first quarter, net asset value was $10.75 per share, unchanged from $10.75 per share in the first quarter. Net asset value totaled approximately $211 million compared to $213 million in the first quarter. As our existing and new investments are continuing to perform, we expect to see meaningful growth in our net asset value. As announced during our call on March 14, we transitioned to an internally-managed fund structure. We are excited about this initiative and believe this will continue to create tangible near-term and long-term value for shareholders as we just completed our first full quarter as an internally-managed BDC. The cost savings…

Allison Green

Management

Thank you, Mark. I would like to follow Mark's update with a more detailed review of our financial results as of June 30, 2019, and updates regarding our transition to an internally-managed BDC, our expense reduction initiatives, the share repurchase program and our current liquidity position. We ended the second quarter with an NAV per share of $10.75. This is unchanged from Q1. A breakdown of NAV for the second quarter is shown on Slide 9 and is consistent with our financial reporting. In sum, the unchanged NAV during the second quarter was largely the result of a $0.69 per share increase related to net realized gain on investments during the quarter and a $0.05 per share increase due to adjusted tax positions, offset by a $0.63 per share decrease due to net unrealized depreciation of our portfolio investment and a $0.14 per share decrease from net investment loss. The $0.69 per share increase due to net realized gain on investments in the second quarter was attributable to the gains realized on the sale of our remaining Spotify shares as well as the sale of nearly 60% of our publicly traded Dropbox shares during the quarter. Please refer to Slide 10 for an update on our share repurchase program. During the second quarter, we began to see the cost savings effects from the internalization of our management of Sutter Rock. As discussed last quarter, as an internally managed BDC, we expect to have a significantly reduced cost structure. Upon termination of the investment advisory agreement on March 12, 2019, we no longer pay management fees each month as management is now employed directly by the BDC, and we no longer accrue an incentive fee. Total operating expenses decreased by approximately 50% from the same quarter last year to a total…

Operator

Operator

[Operators Instructions] We'll take our first question from Jon Hickman of Ladenburg.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Mark, could you tell me what your -- what percentage of the portfolio is in the education now and liquidity position?

Mark Klein

Management

It's 38.6%.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

38.6%. And then I'm sorry, I was trying to catch up with everything you were saying about this cannabis company. Can you walk through who owns who again?

Mark Klein

Management

Sure. The company that we're investing in is GreenAcreage. GreenAcreage is -- has a relationship with Acreage, who -- it's an exclusive partnership with them, so the right of first refusal of their properties. Acreage is into an agreement to be bought by Canopy Growth, which has a $4 billion investment of Constellation Brands.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

So Canopy is going to buy Acreage, but the -- that shouldn't change the relationship between GreenAcreage and [indiscernible]?

Mark Klein

Management

No, no, that's all connected.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Connected, so it will be its subsidiary now. Okay.

Mark Klein

Management

But GreenAcreage makes up the company.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Yes. But Acreage...

Mark Klein

Management

[indiscernible]

Operator

Operator

[Operators Instructions] We'll take our next question from [ Ted Helen ], private investor.

Unknown Attendee

Analyst

Just a question on your -- what's your due diligence process as compared to the previous management?

Mark Klein

Management

So it's -- I would say the following: We spend an awful lot of time with the management of our portfolio of companies or prospective portfolio companies on sites and channel checks, et cetera. So we do what you would expect us to do as very in-depth, typical due diligence.

Unknown Attendee

Analyst

But didn't they do that as well?

Mark Klein

Management

I believe that the team -- the way we -- we continue to spend a great deal and time and effort in our diligence process.

Unknown Attendee

Analyst

Okay. Can I get another one in?

Mark Klein

Management

I think we have others waiting, but thanks a lot, Ted. I really appreciate it.

Operator

Operator

[Operators Instructions] At this time, there are no further questions in the queue. I would like to turn the call back over to Mark Klein for closing remarks.

Mark Klein

Management

Thank you all very much for attending our conference call. We greatly appreciate your support, and feel free to contact us directly with any further questions. Thanks again.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's teleconference. You may now disconnect.