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Eagle Point Income Co Inc.(EIC) - 2025 Q1 - Earnings Call Transcript

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company generated net investment income (NII) and realized gains of $0.44 per share in Q1 2025, down from $0.54 per share in Q4 2024, comprised of $0.40 of NII and $0.04 of realized capital gains [4][5] - The net asset value (NAV) per share decreased to $14.16 as of March 31, 2025, from $14.99 as of December 31, 2024, representing a 5.5% decline [6][20] - Recurring cash flows for Q1 2025 were $16,500,000 or $0.71 per share, compared to $16,100,000 or $0.82 per share in Q4 2024 [6][7] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company opportunistically deployed approximately $120,000,000 of gross capital across 27 CLO debt purchases and nine CLO equity purchases during Q1 2025 [11] - The trailing twelve-month default rate decreased slightly to 80 basis points as of March 31, remaining well below the historical average of 2.6% [14] - The company completed one refinancing and three resets of CLO equity positions, lowering debt costs by 45 basis points [15] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The S&P UBS Leveraged Loan Index generated a total return of 60 basis points during Q1 2025, with a current year-to-date return of 1.8% as of May 23 [12] - Approximately 5% of leveraged loans were prepaid at par during Q1 2025, indicating proactive management by loan issuers [13] - New CLO issuance in Q1 2025 was $49,000,000,000, down from $59,000,000,000 in Q4 2024, but still healthy by historical standards [15] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company plans to continue focusing on extending the weighted average remaining reinvestment period of its CLO equity portfolio and seeks longer reinvestment period new issues [16] - The management believes that recent market volatility will provide opportunities for capital deployment into discounted CLO debt and equity [22] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management indicated that the decline in NII was primarily driven by the drop in short-term rates, and the new distribution rate reflects the company's current earnings potential [22] - The company remains confident in its CLO BB securities, asserting that the change in distribution is not related to credit losses but rather to interest rate movements [36] Other Important Information - The company declared three monthly distributions of $0.13 per share for the third quarter of 2025, a decline from the previous distribution [7][19] - As of April 30, 2025, the company had $33,000,000 of cash and undrawn revolver capacity available for investment [16][20] Q&A Session Summary Question: About the reduction in dividend distribution - Management explained that the cash flows have been adequate to cover previous distributions, but the current distribution reflects the company's near to medium-term earnings power in light of fluctuating rates [25][29] Question: Clarification on the impact of default rates on dividends - Management confirmed that the drop in dividend rate is solely due to interest rate movements and not related to capital losses, emphasizing confidence in the CLO BB securities [35][36]