Beneficient (BENF) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Beneficient third quarter fiscal 2025 earnings webcast. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎收聽 Beneficient 2025 財年第三季財報網路廣播。（操作員指示）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Dan Callahan. Please go ahead.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人 Dan Callahan。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Beneficient's fiscal third quarter 2025 conference call and webcast. In addition to the call and webcast, we issued an earnings press release that was posted to the Shareholders section of our website at shareholders.trustben.com. Today's webcast, as the operator indicated, is being recorded, and a replay will be available on the company's website.

大家早安，感謝您參加 Beneficient 2025 財年第三季電話會議和網路廣播。除了電話會議和網路直播之外，我們還發布了一份獲利新聞稿，並已發佈在我們網站 shareholders.trustben.com 的股東專區。正如主持人所說，今天的網路直播正在錄製中，重播將在公司網站上提供。

On today's call, management's prepared remarks may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed today. Actual results and future events could materially differ from those discussed in these forward-looking statements because of factors described in our earnings press release and the Risk Factors section of our Form 10-K and in subsequent filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在今天的電話會議上，管理層準備的評論可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與今天討論的結果不同。由於我們的收益新聞稿和 10-K 表格的風險因素部分以及我們隨後向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中描述的因素，實際結果和未來事件可能與這些前瞻性陳述中討論的結果存在重大差異。

Forward-looking statements represent management's current estimates, and Beneficient assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in the future. Today's call also contains certain non-GAAP financial measures, including tangible book value attributable to Ben's public company stockholders. Please refer to our earnings press release, which is available on our website for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. On the call today are Brad Heppner, the CEO and Chairman; and Greg Ezell, Chief Financial Officer.

前瞻性陳述代表管理階層目前的估計，Beneficient 不承擔未來更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。今天的電話會議還包含某些非公認會計準則財務指標，包括歸屬於 Ben 的上市公司股東的有形帳面價值。請參閱我們網站上的收益新聞稿，以了解有關此類指標的重要揭露，包括與最具可比性的 GAAP 財務指標的對帳。今天參加電話會議的有執行長兼董事長布拉德‧赫普納 (Brad Heppner) 和財務長格雷格‧埃澤爾 (Greg Ezell)。

I'll hand the meeting over to Brad Heppner. Go ahead, Brad.

我將把會議交給布拉德·赫普納。繼續吧，布拉德。

Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm here this morning to share with you the accomplishments that the Beneficient team has achieved over the last quarter as we work to build on our previous successive two quarters of positive GAAP earnings per share. For our fiscal year-to-date, as of December 31, 2024, Ben has earned $10.30 of basic earnings per share and $0.12 of fully diluted earnings per common share.

謝謝你，丹。大家早安，感謝大家的收看。今天上午，我在這裡與大家分享 Beneficient 團隊在上個季度所取得的成就，我們正在努力在之前連續兩個季度實現正 GAAP 每股收益的基礎上再接再厲。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的本財政年度，Ben 的每股基本收益為 10.30 美元，每股普通股的完全稀釋收益為 0.12 美元。

I will lead off with key platform developments designed to accelerate our capabilities for delivering both liquidity and primary capital to investors in and managers of alternative assets while preparing for the future emergence of digital alternative asset markets.

我將首先介紹關鍵平台的開發，旨在加速我們向另類資產投資者和管理者提供流動性和原始資本的能力，同時為未來數位另類資產市場的出現做好準備。

Over the past quarter, we have strengthened our team, improved our balance sheet and continued to execute our liquidity and primary capital financings in the private asset marketplace. We continued to educate the market regarding Ben's unique business model, our technology platform and our growing service offerings that we believe have the potential to drive shareholder value.

在過去的一個季度，我們加強了團隊建設，改善了資產負債表，並繼續在私人資產市場執行流動性和一級資本融資。我們繼續向市場介紹 Ben 獨特的商業模式、我們的技術平台以及我們不斷成長的服務產品，我們相信這些都有潛力提升股東價值。

Ben was created to provide fiduciary products and services that deliver liquidity and primary capital for holders and managers of all types of alternative assets. In addition to serving general partners who manage and sponsor alternative assets, we are developing our business to focus on the target markets of high-net-worth individuals and small to midsized institutions.

Ben 的成立旨在提供信託產品和服務，為各類另類資產的持有者和管理者提供流動性和原始資本。除了為管理和贊助另類資產的普通合夥人提供服務外，我們還在發展我們的業務，專注於高淨值人士和中小型機構的目標市場。

These markets have been underserved when it comes to exiting alternative assets prior to their maturity. We believe this market includes an unmet demand for liquidity of over $60 billion annually for smaller investors and institutions plus another more than $150 billion annually in general partners seeking liquidity for their limited partners through restructurings and continuation vehicles in the secondary markets.

在另類資產到期前退出方面，這些市場一直無法充分的服務。我們認為，這個市場包括小型投資者和機構每年超過 600 億美元的未滿足流動性需求，另外還有普通合夥人每年透過二級市場的重組和延續工具為其有限合夥人尋求流動性的超過 1500 億美元的需求。

Unfortunately, the traditional process, especially for our targeted market of smaller investors seeking liquidity, it's incredibly complex, it's expensive and it's time-consuming if liquidity can be found at all. Our internally developed proprietary fintech platform, we branded as AltAccess provides a simple, expedient and cost-efficient online tool to complete these important transactions online in a matter of days to weeks if it's desired.

不幸的是，傳統的流程，特別是對於我們尋求流動性的小型投資者目標市場來說，非常複雜，成本高昂，而且即使能找到流動性也非常耗時。我們內部開發的專有金融科技平台，我們稱之為 AltAccess，提供了一個簡單、方便且經濟高效的線上工具，可以根據需要，在幾天到幾週內在線上完成這些重要交易。

In addition to demand for liquidity from alternative assets, our market faces a substantial demand for more primary capital into new alternative assets. The PEI data shows that it has been taking an average of 18 months for general partners to raise their private equity funds. Now that's approximately double what it took them just three years ago. We believe we now have a solution to help address that need as well.

除了對另類資產流動性的需求外，我們的市場還面臨著對更多原始資本投入新另類資產的巨大需求。PEI 數據顯示，普通合夥人籌集私募股權基金平均需要 18 個月的時間。現在，這數字大約是三年前的兩倍。我們相信我們現在也有解決方案來幫助滿足這項需求。

These are the foundations of our business, and we've produced profitable progress for our stockholders of $0.12 of earnings per common share for the 9 months ended December 31, 2024, which we believe will accelerate our capabilities going forward.

這些是我們業務的基礎，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的 9 個月內，我們為股東創造了每股普通股 0.12 美元的獲利成長，我們相信這將加速我們未來能力的發展。

I'll now move on to the fiscal third quarter highlights. In October, we announced the addition of banking, legal and compliance veteran, Patrick Donegan, to our Board of Directors, which I discussed on our last call. In November, we announced the addition of Karen Wendel to our Board of Directors. She currently serves as President and CEO of tokenization, blockchain and cybersecurity advisory firm, Trust Chains. Karen brings deep expertise in the digital asset markets, technology M&A, cybersecurity, corporate governance and the emerging blockchain and DeFi space.

現在我將介紹第三財季的亮點。十月份，我們宣布銀行、法律和合規資深人士 Patrick Donegan 加入董事會，我在上次電話會議上討論過此事。11 月，我們宣布 Karen Wendel 加入董事會。她目前擔任代幣化、區塊鏈和網路安全諮詢公司 Trust Chains 的總裁兼執行長。Karen 在數位資產市場、技術併購、網路安全、公司治理以及新興區塊鏈和 DeFi 領域擁有深厚的專業知識。

Her expertise provides unique decision-making skills for Board-level strategic and tactical requirements. She's held executive and Board roles in US and global private and public companies. In addition to being an independent director, Ben appointed her to serve on our Audit, Products and Related Party Transactions and Enterprise Risk Committees of our Board of Directors.

她的專業知識為董事會層面的策略和戰術要求提供了獨特的決策技能。她曾在美國和全球私營和上市公司擔任高階主管和董事會職位。除了擔任獨立董事外，本還任命她擔任我們董事會的審計、產品和關聯方交易以及企業風險委員會成員。

Now in December, we announced that Ben entered into an agreement to acquire Mercantile Bank International Corporations, subject to certain closing conditions. In connection with this important proposed acquisition, we announced the hiring of Louise Jones as Managing Director of Capital Markets and Custody Operations for Beneficient.

現在是 12 月，我們宣布 Ben 已達成協議，將收購 Mercantile Bank International Corporations，但須遵守某些成交條件。結合這項重要的擬議收購，我們宣布聘請 Louise Jones 擔任 Beneficient 資本市場和託管業務董事總經理。

Louise's career on Wall Street spans four decades, including being the youngest woman to hold a seat as a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Among her responsibilities, she will manage the integration of Mercantile Bank, and she will spearhead Ben's capital markets activities as well as oversee expansion of the company's fee-based alternative asset custody business, including the launch of a depository receipt companion line.

路易絲在華爾街的職業生涯長達四十年，她是紐約證券交易所最年輕的女性成員。她的職責包括管理商業銀行的整合，領導 Ben 的資本市場活動，以及監督公司收費另類資產託管業務的擴展，包括推出存託憑證配套產品線。

Transactions that we completed in our fiscal third quarter include this proposed acquisition of Mercantile Bank, which is a proposed Puerto Rico -- which is a Puerto Rico-based International Financial Entity known as an IFE. Puerto Rico is a leading jurisdiction working in conjunction with the OCC to provide expanded authorization for IFE banks to engage in activities such as asset management, clearing services and digital asset market solutions among other key areas.

我們在第三財季完成的交易包括擬議收購 Mercantile Bank，這是一個擬議中的波多黎各國際金融實體，被稱為 IFE。波多黎各是一個領先的司法管轄區，與 OCC 合作，為 IFE 銀行提供擴大授權，使其能夠從事資產管理、清算服務和數位資產市場解決方案等關鍵領域的活動。

It is licensed and regulated by the Office of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico and may provide specific banking and other financial activities for persons, entities and organizations around the globe that are nonresidents. We believe this acquisition will enable us to offer an expanded range of companion custody, clearing and control account fee-based services that complement our existing businesses on a broader scale, which we expect has potential to generate additional cash flow in the near term.

該公司由波多黎各金融機構辦公室授權和監管，可為全球非居民個人、實體和組織提供特定的銀行和其他金融活動。我們相信，此次收購將使我們能夠提供更廣泛的配套託管、清算和控制帳戶收費服務，從而在更大範圍內補充我們現有的業務，我們預計這有可能在短期內產生額外的現金流。

The objective of this acquisition is to deliver additional custody services for international investors and digital asset investors that generally have a higher fee rate structure and potential for higher margins than traditional custody services.

此次收購的目的是為國際投資者和數位資產投資者提供額外的託管服務，這些服務通常具有比傳統託管服務更高的費率結構和更高的利潤潛力。

We also believe the proposed acquisition of an IFE has the potential to enhance and broaden our current offerings in ways that may open new international opportunities, allowing us to further democratize the market for illiquid alternative assets.

我們也相信，擬議的 IFE 收購有可能增強和擴大我們現有的產品，從而開闢新的國際機遇，使我們能夠進一步實現非流動性另類資產市場的民主化。

An IFE's authorized activities may include custody, clearing, payments and related traditional and digital asset market products and services. As approved by the OCIF, IFEs can also offer traditional banking services, such as correspondent deposit, lending, investments and trusts.

IFE 的授權活動可能包括託管、清算、支付以及相關的傳統和數位資產市場產品和服務。經 OCIF 批准，IFE 還可以提供傳統銀行服務，例如代理存款、貸款、投資和信託。

We anticipate the proposed acquisition, if and when completed, would position Ben to offer alternative asset custody services that include, among other potential items, a companion line of business focused on issuing depository receipts to assist holders of foreign investments gain access to the capital markets in international jurisdictions and may yield higher fee assessments than more traditional custody offerings.

我們預計，擬議的收購一旦完成，將使 Ben 能夠提供另類資產託管服務，其中包括其他潛在項目，即專注於發行存託憑證的配套業務線，以幫助外國投資持有人進入國際司法管轄區的資本市場，並且可能產生比傳統託管服務更高的費用評估。

Also in late December, as part of a separate transaction, we entered into an agreement to revise the liquidation priority of Beneficient Company Holdings LP. That's a subsidiary of the company we refer to as BCH in order to, among other things, enhance and further -- enhance our current and future shareholder value, especially for Ben's public common stockholders and to drive long-term growth.

同樣在 12 月下旬，作為單獨交易的一部分，我們達成了一項協議，修改 Beneficient Company Holdings LP 的清算優先權。這是我們稱為 BCH 的公司的子公司，其目的之一是提高和進一步提高我們當前和未來的股東價值，特別是對於 Ben 的普通股股東，並推動長期成長。

Pursuant to the agreement, the holders of the preferred equity of BCH agreed to amend the governing documents of BCH to allow the company's public company common stockholders to share in through the indirect ownership of the company in BCH the liquidation priority previously reserved only for the preferred equity.

根據協議，BCH優先股股東同意修改BCH的管理文件，允許該公司的上市公司普通股股東透過該公司在BCH的間接所有權分享先前僅為優先股保留的清算優先權。

We anticipate this transaction will result in creating tangible book value attributable to Ben's common public company stockholders, which we believe will provide substantial value for our stockholders and enhance long-term growth opportunities.

我們預計此交易將為 Ben 的普通股股東創造有形帳面價值，我們相信這將為我們的股東帶來巨大價值並增強長期成長機會。

Additionally, we anticipate this transaction has the potential to be a catalyst for closing future liquidity transactions and demonstrates our commitment to delivering shareholder value. Also during the fiscal third quarter, we continued to strengthen our capital structure, increasing our permanent equity by $35 million through a redesignation of certain preferred equity to permanent equity.

此外，我們預期此交易有可能成為完成未來流動性交易的催化劑，並表明我們致力於實現股東價值。此外，在第三財季，我們繼續加強資本結構，透過將某些優先股重新指定為永久股本，將永久股本增加了 3,500 萬美元。

Furthermore, during the fiscal third quarter, we closed a $1.4 million primary capital commitment transaction. Our originations team is now focused on progressing future prospective transactions now, both liquidity and primary capital, and we look forward to building on this initial momentum all through 2025 as we continue to evaluate additional opportunities that align with our strategic objectives.

此外，在第三財季，我們完成了 140 萬美元的一級資本承諾交易。我們的發起團隊目前專注於推進未來的潛在交易，包括流動性和初級資本，我們期待在 2025 年全年保持這一初步勢頭，同時繼續評估符合我們戰略目標的更多機會。

These developments continue to provide meaningful enhancements to our business model and improvements on the competitive dynamics we believe we already possess. I am very proud of our efforts over the last three quarters to broaden our capabilities and improve the product offerings of the business and welcome new experienced talent to our management team and our Board of Directors.

這些發展繼續為我們的商業模式提供有意義的增強，並改善我們認為已經擁有的競爭動力。我對我們在過去三個季度中為拓展能力、改善業務產品供應所做的努力感到非常自豪，並歡迎新的經驗豐富的人才加入我們的管理團隊和董事會。

We've taken steps to improve our financial position and are back to originating new financings. These steps have culminated in Ben earning $10.30 of basic earnings per share and $0.12 of fully diluted earnings per share to date as of our third quarter ending December 31, 2024. With these improvements in motion, we will continue to work to educate the market on who we are, on what we do and on the value and growth opportunity we represent for our shareholders.

我們已採取措施改善我們的財務狀況並重新開始進行新的融資。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日止第三季度，這些措施最終使 Ben 的每股基本收益達到 10.30 美元，每股完全稀釋收益達到 0.12 美元。隨著這些改進的實施，我們將繼續努力讓市場了解我們是誰、我們做什麼以及我們為股東帶來的價值和成長機會。

Now with that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Greg Ezell, to go over our operating and financial results.

現在，我將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Greg Ezell，來討論我們的營運和財務結果。

Thank you, Brad. Let's now turn to our quarterly results and financial position as of December 31, 2024. First, I'll start with a few highlights from the quarter. We reported investments with a fair value of $334.3 million, up sequentially from $329.1 million at the end of our prior fiscal year. These investments serve as collateral for Ben liquidity's net loan portfolio of $260.6 million and $256.2 million, respectively.

謝謝你，布拉德。現在讓我們來看看截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的季度業績和財務狀況。首先，我將介紹本季的一些亮點。我們報告的投資公允價值為 3.343 億美元，較上一財年末的 3.291 億美元成長。這些投資分別作為 Ben 流動性淨貸款組合 2.606 億美元和 2.562 億美元的抵押品。

Revenues were a positive $4.4 million and $23.0 million for the third quarter and year-to-date periods in fiscal 2025 as compared to negative $10.2 million and negative $55.7 million in the prior year. GAAP revenues principally reflect mark-to-market adjustments on the investments that serve as collateral to Ben's loan portfolio.

2025 財年第三季和年初至今的營收分別為正 440 萬美元和 2,300 萬美元，而前一年的營收分別為負 1,020 萬美元和負 5,570 萬美元。GAAP 收入主要反映作為 Ben 貸款組合抵押品的投資的按市價調整。

Excluding the noncash goodwill impairment in the prior comparable period, operating expenses declined 38% to $13.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 as compared to $22.5 million in the same period for fiscal 2024. On a year-to-date basis, excluding the noncash goodwill impairment and the loss contingency release in each period, as applicable, operating expenses were $53.2 million in fiscal 2025 as compared to $111.7 million in fiscal 2024.

不包括上年同期的非現金商譽減值，2025 財年第三季的營業費用下降 38% 至 1,390 萬美元，而 2024 財年同期為 2,250 萬美元。從年初至今，不包括非現金商譽減損和各期間的損失或有事項釋放（如適用），2025 財年的營運費用為 5,320 萬美元，而 2024 財年為 1.117 億美元。

Permanent equity improved from a deficit of $148.3 million as of June 30, 2024, to a positive $14.3 million as of December 31, 2024, through a combination of transactions redesignating approximately $160.5 million of temporary equity to permanent equity and additional capital from equity sales and liquidity transactions, offset by net loss allocable to permanent equity classified securities of $6.9 million during the applicable period.

透過將約 1.605 億美元的臨時股權重新指定為永久股權，以及透過股權銷售和流動性交易獲得額外資本，永久股權從截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的虧損 1.483 億美元改善至截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的永久 1,430 萬美元，抵消了 2024 年 12 月 31 日的永久 1,430 萬美元的淨股權可分配。

Reported GAAP net loss attributable to Ben's common shareholders for the current year of $8.6 million and GAAP net income of $51.9 million for the year-to-date period, which led to a basic loss per share of $1.32 for the current quarter and basic earnings per share of $10.30 for the year-to-date period. I should also note that in our conversion to diluted that 99% of that difference relates to the impact from the conversion of our preferred A0 and A1 equity that is largely held by insiders on our Board and management team.

報告顯示，本年度歸屬於 Ben 普通股股東的 GAAP 淨虧損為 860 萬美元，年初至今的 GAAP 淨收入為 5,190 萬美元，導致本季每股基本虧損為 1.32 美元，年初至今每股基本收益為 10.30 美元。我還應該指出，當我們轉換為稀釋股權時，99% 的差異與我們優先股 A0 和 A1 股權轉換的影響有關，這些股權主要由董事會和管理團隊的內部人士持有。

We announced the transaction on December 23, 2024, to revise the liquidation priority of BCH and provide tangible book value and other benefits to Ben's public company shareholders, which on a pro forma basis amounts to $9.2 million of tangible book value to Ben's public company stockholders using December 31, 2024, financial information. And we announced an agreement to acquire Mercantile Bank in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1.5 million, as Brad described.

我們於 2024 年 12 月 23 日宣布了這項交易，以修改 BCH 的清算優先權，並為 Ben 的上市公司股東提供有形賬面價值和其他利益，根據 2024 年 12 月 31 日的財務信息，按備考基礎計算，這相當於為 Ben 的上市公司股東帶來 920 萬美元的有形賬面價值。正如布拉德所描述的，我們宣布了一項收購商業銀行的協議，總收購價為 150 萬美元。

Next, we'll move on to our primary business segments, Ben Liquidity, which generates interest revenue for supplying liquidity off the balance sheet; and Ben Custody, which produces fee revenue for the use of the platform and trust services. As typical, I will be focusing my discussion on these business segments as it's their operations along with corporate and others that accrues to Ben's equity holders.

接下來，我們將討論我們的主要業務部門：Ben Liquidity，透過提供表外流動性產生利息收入；Ben Custody，透過使用平台和信託服務產生費用收入。像往常一樣，我將重點討論這些業務部門，因為它們的運作以及公司和其他業務都歸屬於 Ben 的股東。

During the third quarter of fiscal 2025, Ben Liquidity recognized $11.3 million of interest income, a decrease of 5.7% from the quarter ended September 30, 2024, primarily due to a higher percentage of loans being placed on nonaccrual status, partially offset by the effects of compounding interest on the remaining loans.

在 2025 財年第三季度，Ben Liquidity 確認了 1,130 萬美元的利息收入，較截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度下降了 5.7%，這主要是由於更高比例的貸款被置於非應計狀態，但複利對剩餘貸款的影響部分抵消了這一影響。

Ben Liquidity recognized $34.1 million of interest income for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, down 6% compared to the prior year period, primarily resulting from higher level of nonaccrual loans and loan prepayments, partially offset by new loans originated.

Ben Liquidity 確認，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的九個月內，利息收入為 3,410 萬美元，較去年同期下降 6%，主要原因是非應計貸款和貸款預付款水準較高，但被新發放的貸款部分抵銷。

Operating loss for the fiscal third quarter was $2.9 million, a decline from operating income of $2.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The decline in operating performance was due to higher intersegment credit losses in the current fiscal period as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024.

第三財季的營業虧損為 290 萬美元，較截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度的營業收入 290 萬美元有所下降。經營業績下降的原因是，與截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度相比，本財年的分部間信貸損失較高。

Operating loss was $0.5 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, improving from an operating loss of $1.8 billion in the prior year period. The prior year period loss was primarily driven by noncash goodwill impairment totaling $1.7 billion and credit losses largely related to securities of our former parent company.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的九個月的營業虧損為 50 萬美元，較去年同期的 18 億美元營業虧損有所改善。去年同期的虧損主要是由於總計 17 億美元的非現金商譽減損以及主要與我們前母公司證券相關的信貸損失。

Adjusted operating loss was $0.5 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, compared to adjusted operating loss of $11.8 million in the prior year period with the improvement in adjusted operating loss primarily related to lower credit loss adjustments recognized in the current fiscal year and lower employee compensation due to lower head count.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的九個月的調整後營業虧損為 50 萬美元，而去年同期的調整後營業虧損為 1,180 萬美元，調整後營業虧損的改善主要與本財年確認的信用損失調整減少以及員工人數減少導致的員工薪酬降低有關。

Moving on to Ben Custody. NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody during the fiscal third quarter increased to $385.1 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $381.2 million as of March 31, 2024. The increase was driven by $1.4 million of new alternative assets held in custody and unrealized gains on existing assets, principally related to NAV adjustments based on updated financial information received from the funds' investment manager or sponsor during the period offset by distributions during the period.

接下來是 Ben Custody。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，第三財季持有的另類資產和其他證券的資產淨值增加至 3.851 億美元，而截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日為 3.812 億美元。成長的原因是託管的 140 萬美元新另類資產和現有資產的未實現收益，主要與根據期內從基金投資經理或發起人處收到的最新財務資訊進行的資產淨值調整有關，但被期內的分配所抵消。

Revenues applicable to Ben Custody were $5.4 million for the fiscal third quarter compared to $5.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The similar amounts of revenue for the period were a result of stable NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody at the beginning of each applicable period when such fees are calculated.

第三財季 Ben Custody 的營收為 540 萬美元，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度為 540 萬美元。本期間收入金額相似，這是由於在計算此類費用的每個適用期間開始時，持有的另類資產和其他證券的資產淨值穩定。

Revenues were $16.2 million for the nine months ended September 31, 2024, down 14.7% compared to the prior year period, primarily due to lower NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody. Operating income for the fiscal third quarter decreased to $3.5 million from $4.3 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The decrease was primarily due to credit losses related to certain fees collateralized by securities of our former parent company. Additionally, there is no cash -- there was no noncash goodwill impairment in the third fiscal quarter as compared to noncash goodwill impairment of $0.3 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.

截至 2024 年 9 月 31 日的九個月的收入為 1,620 萬美元，與去年同期相比下降 14.7%，主要原因是持有的另類資產和其他證券的資產淨值較低。第三財季營業收入從截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度的 430 萬美元下降至 350 萬美元。下降的主要原因是與我們前母公司的證券抵押的某些費用相關的信用損失。此外，沒有現金——第三財季沒有非現金商譽減值，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度的非現金商譽減值為 30 萬美元。

Operating income was $9.1 million for the nine months ended September 31, 2024, compared to operating loss of $538.8 million in the prior year period, with the increase in operating income principally related to significantly larger noncash goodwill impairment in the prior year period of $554.6 million as compared to $3.4 million in the current fiscal year.

截至 2024 年 9 月 31 日的九個月的營業收入為 910 萬美元，而去年同期的營業虧損為 5.388 億美元，營業收入的增加主要與去年同期的非現金商譽減損損失大幅增加有關，為 5.546 億美元，而本財年為 340 萬美元。

Adjusted operating income for the fiscal third quarter was $4.8 million compared to adjusted operating income of $4.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The increase was due to slightly lower operating expenses, principally related to lower employee compensation due to lower head count.

第三財季調整後營業收入為 480 萬美元，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度調整後營業收入為 460 萬美元。成長的原因是營運費用略有下降，主要與員工人數減少導致員工薪資降低有關。

Adjusted operating income for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, was $13.9 million compared to adjusted operating income of $15.8 million in the prior year period, with the decrease in adjusted operating income primarily due to lower revenues related to lower NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody, partially offset by slightly lower operating expenses during the current fiscal year.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的九個月的調整後營業收入為 1,390 萬美元，而去年同期的調整後營業收入為 1,580 萬美元，調整後營業收入的減少主要是由於另類資產和其他託管證券的資產淨值降低導致收入減少，但本財年營業費用略有下降，部分抵消了這一影響。

As of December 31, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $4.1 million and total debt of $122.9 million. Distributions received from alternative assets and other securities held in custody totaled $19.3 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, compared to $38.4 million for the same period of fiscal 2024. Total investments at fair value of $334.3 million at December 31, 2024, supported Ben Liquidity's loan portfolio. This concludes my prepared remarks on the financials. We will now open the call to questions from our covering research analysts.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，該公司擁有現金和現金等價物 410 萬美元，總債務為 1.229 億美元。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的九個月內，從另類資產和其他託管證券中獲得的分配總額為 1,930 萬美元，而 2024 財年同期為 3,840 萬美元。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，公允價值總投資為 3.343 億美元，支持了 Ben Liquidity 的貸款組合。我對財務問題的準備發言到此結束。我們現在開始回答我們的研究分析師的問題。

Operator, will you please give the instructions for Q&A.

接線員，請您給予問答指示。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Michael Kim, Zacks.

邁克爾金，Zacks。

Hey everyone, good morning. First, I know you recently closed the primary capital commitment with 8F Asset Management. But just be curious to get your perspectives on how important the recently announced public stockholder enhancement transactions will be just in terms of facilitating reaccelerating Exchange Trust activity? And then just related to that, would you expect a more meaningful step-up after the transactions have been approved and completed later this year? Thanks.

大家好，早安。首先，我知道您最近與 8F Asset Management 完成了主要資本承諾。但我只是好奇地想知道您對最近宣布的公開股東增強交易在促進重新加速交易所信託活動方面有多重要的看法？與此相關的是，您是否預計在今年稍後交易獲得批准並完成後會出現更有意義的提升？謝謝。

Hi, Michael. It's Brad Heppner. I'll answer your question here. We have been -- as you may be aware, we have been out of market with the Exchange Trust product line for the better part of 15 months and so we introduced back into the market the Exchange Trust product line as far as closings go. We have kept people informed about it during that period of time. But as far as closing that product line with potential parties, we reentered the market here just a few weeks ago and -- last month and -- just prior to year-end rather.

你好，麥可。我是布拉德·赫普納。我將在這裡回答你的問題。您可能知道，我們已經有 15 個月的時間沒有推出 Exchange Trust 產品線了，因此我們重新將 Exchange Trust 產品線引入市場。在此期間，我們一直向人們通報有關情況。但就與潛在合作夥伴關閉該產品線而言，我們幾週前以及上個月和年底之前才重新進入這裡的市場。

And as part of that, we wanted to be able to introduce the capital stack enhancements, delivering additional tangible book value to our common shareholders for the purpose of being able to point to the parties -- our counter-parties in it that there is a meaningful tangible -- current tangible book value and how that grows over time.

作為其中的一部分，我們希望能夠引入資本堆疊增強功能，為我們的普通股股東提供額外的有形賬面價值，以便能夠向各方（我們的交易對手）指出，存在有意義的有形 - 當前有形賬面價值以及它如何隨著時間的推移而增長。

We do believe, as you suggest, we do believe that, that is going to be an attractive economic element for our -- one attractive economics for our counter-parties in the transaction. So we are pointing them to that transaction, to that announcement. And I believe that once it is -- the formal completed process is done and that transaction is in place, it will lead to additional transactions being done and the ability to -- for us to accelerate closings in the near term. So I think it is a very positive development and is being very well received in the market and should help us accelerate closings once we have it fully completed.

我們確實相信，正如您所說，這對我們而言將是一個有吸引力的經濟因素——對交易對手而言是一個有吸引力的經濟因素。因此，我們向他們指出了那筆交易、那份公告。我相信，一旦正式完成流程並且交易到位，它將導致更多交易的完成，並且使我們能夠在短期內加速完成交易。因此，我認為這是一個非常積極的發展，並且在市場上受到了熱烈歡迎，一旦我們完全完成，應該可以幫助我們加快收尾速度。

Got it. That's helpful. And then just second, I know in aggregate, the loan portfolio was essentially flat on a sequential quarter basis. So just any color on maybe some of the underlying moving parts during the quarter as it relates to unrealized marks or deal flow and or distributions?

知道了。這很有幫助。其次，我知道總體而言，貸款組合與上一季相比基本持平。那麼，本季中與未實現標記或交易流程和/或分配相關的一些潛在變動部分是否有任何顏色？

Greg, would you like to provide the first answer and then I'll follow up with a little more color as well.

格雷格，你願意先提供第一個答案，然後我再提供更多細節。

Your microphone may be on mute here.

您的麥克風可能在此處處於靜音狀態。

Sorry, yeah, we were on mute. Yeah, as you noted, Michael, sequentially, the investments that collateralized the loan portfolio was basically flat period-over-period. As a percent, I think the unrealized gains came in at about 6%, 7% of our -- as the unrealized gain for the quarter on an annual basis.

抱歉，是的，我們處於靜音狀態。是的，正如您所說，邁克爾，按週期來看，作為貸款組合抵押的投資基本上保持穩定。從百分比來看，我認為未實現收益約占我們本季年度未實現收益的 6% 至 7%。

Distributions for the fourth quarter were about where we, I think, expected it, maybe a little less with about, I think, $4 million or so, $5 million of distributions for the quarter that really offset those unrealized gains on the portfolio.

我認為，第四季度的分配額與我們預期的差不多，可能略少一些，大約 400 萬美元左右，本季的分配額為 500 萬美元，這確實抵消了投資組合中未實現的收益。

And I'll add a little more color as well as we move into the December 31, marks and so forth and get a little more understanding of how valuations may change as of the end of the calendar year. Those that's typically a time in which there's a driver, we will start to see the evaluation movements here coming up, really, in the next month or two.

當我們進入 12 月 31 日等日期時，我也會添加一些細節，以便更好地了解截至日曆年末估值可能會如何變化。通常情況下，這是一個有驅動因素的時期，我們將在未來一兩個月內開始看到評估動向的出現。

As it relates to year-end private company marks, the election results, have a positive impact on what our expectations are. So we are particularly enthusiastic about what we're seeing, under the new administration for opening up the capital markets for more M&A and putting a positive direction and momentum for IPOs, which will lead to additional both we expect gains and realization events, and then you have the offsetting impact of watching what the economics related to the tariff strategies may have on. On either delaying those realization events or Having suppressing the expected gains out of the transactions.

由於與年底私人公司業績有關，選舉結果對我們的預期產生了正面影響。因此，我們對所看到的情況特別熱衷，在新政府的領導下，資本市場將開放，以促進更多的併購，並為 IPO 提供積極的方向和動力，這將帶來我們預期的額外收益和實現事件，然後你可以通過觀察與關稅策略相關的經濟狀況來抵消影響。要麼推遲這些實現事件，要麼抑制交易的預期收益。

So we're moving into that period of time, with some positive, very positive momentum behind us given the direction that the markets have taken, the expectations of the underlying general partners who manage these investments in particular, we have a very large portfolio, of over 800 different portfolio companies and many of them are primed for realization events, which we expect to have unrealized appreciation to be recognized upon those realization events.

因此，我們正進入這個時期，考慮到市場走向、特別是管理這些投資的底層普通合夥人的期望，我們擁有一些積極的、非常積極的勢頭，我們擁有一個非常大的投資組合，超過 800 家不同的投資組合公司，其中許多公司都為實現事件做好了準備，我們預計這些公司將在這些實現事件中實現未實現的升值。

Great. That's helpful. Thanks for taking my questions.

偉大的。這很有幫助。感謝您回答我的問題。

Aashi Shah, Sidoti

阿什·沙阿，西多蒂

Hi, I'm here for Brandon, and thank you for taking my question. I'm here for Brendan. Can you tell me about your time line around when the liquidity transactions could pick up? And what factors may provide the upside or the downside to your expectations?

你好，我是布蘭登，謝謝你回答我的問題。我是為了布倫丹而來的。您能告訴我流動性交易何時會回升的時間表嗎？哪些因素可能會對您的預期產生有利或不利的影響？

Sure. The time line that we expect here is the approval of the BCH transaction that I discussed in my remarks will be coming. And when that is done, we expect an uptick in the transactions that are being worked on right now with counter-parties and also additional interested parties coming in.

當然。我們在這裡預期的時間表是我在演講中討論的 BCH 交易的批准即將到來。當這一切完成後，我們預計目前正在進行的交易將會增加，交易對手方和其他有興趣的各方也會加入。

We, as I said, have just really reengaged with all the counter-parties since completing the BCH transaction. So it's really in the -- we need to go ahead and move forward with getting that transaction all completed. That does require proxy votes and that's all being worked on right now. And then we would expect to see an uptick, as you put it, of more frequent and greater volume of transactions closing here in the near term.

正如我所說，自從完成 BCH 交易以來，我們剛剛與所有交易對手重新進行了接觸。所以，我們確實需要繼續前進，完成所有交易。這確實需要代理投票，目前這項工作正在進行中。然後，我們預計，正如您所說，短期內這裡的交易將更加頻繁，交易量也將更大。

Right, thank you. And can you provide detail on how the underlying alternative asset collateral portfolio is performing more broadly? And that can you comment on the distribution activity and how that impacts your outlook?

好的，謝謝。能否詳細介紹一下基礎另類資產抵押品組合的整體表現？您能否評論一下分銷活動以及它對您的前景有何影響？

Yes. I'll pick up where Greg provided some of this insight here in his last remarks. In the third -- in our fiscal third quarter ending December 31, we saw unrealized appreciation in the neighborhood of 7%. We saw a similar percentage in distributions. That's why you see the portfolio remaining fairly unchanged on the balance sheet.

是的。我將從格雷格在最後的發言中提供的一些見解開始。在截至 12 月 31 日的第三財季中，我們看到未實現的升值幅度約為 7%。我們在分佈中看到了類似的百分比。這就是為什麼你會看到資產負債表上的投資組合基本上保持不變。

And that comes on two previous quarters of similar type results, very similar type results. With the expectation of the US economy, we would expect the distribution rates through 2025, we would expect those to increase and we would expect realization events to be the driver behind that. And that we would expect those realization events to reflect a more positive outlook on the US economy that we would hope will generate a greater level of unrealized appreciation being realized.

這與前兩季的結果類似，非常相似。根據對美國經濟的預期，我們預計到 2025 年分配率將會上升，並且我們預計實現事件將成為背後的驅動力。我們預計這些實現事件將反映出對美國經濟更為積極的前景，我們希望這將產生更高水準的未實現升值。

So seeing some additional pent-up value in the portfolio finally being realized and realizing that in the distributions. So our expectations for 2025 based on the outlook of the US capital markets is much more or is greater than what we experienced in the calendar year 2024. And again, that's based on the overall outlook of the US economy and the US capital markets.

因此，看到投資組合中一些額外的被壓抑的價值最終得以實現，並在分配中實現。因此，基於美國資本市場的前景，我們對 2025 年的預期將遠高於或高於我們在 2024 年所經歷的水平。再次強調，這是基於美國經濟和美國資本市場的整體前景。

Okay. Thank you so much for taking my questions.

好的。非常感謝您回答我的問題。

Thank you. And that does conclude today's Q&A session. I would like to go ahead and turn the call back over to Dan Callahan for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。我想繼續，並將電話轉回給 Dan Callahan 做結束語。請繼續。

Yes. Thanks to everyone for participating on the call and webcast today. Again, a replay will be available on our website at shareholders.trustben.com. Have a great rest of your day, and thanks again.

是的。感謝大家今天參加電話會議和網路直播。再次，重播將在我們的網站 shareholders.trustben.com 上提供。祝您今天過得愉快，再次感謝。

Thank you for joining today's conference call. The call is concluded and you may disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。通話已結束，您可以掛斷。