Gladstone Capital Corp (GLAD) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Gladstone Capital Corporation fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 Gladstone Capital Corporation 2025 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作說明）提醒各位，本次會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. David Gladstone. Chairman of Gladstone Capital Corporation. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我謹將會議交給主持人戴維·格拉德斯通先生。格萊斯頓資本公司董事長。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Melissa. This is David Gladstone, Chairman, and this is our earnings conference call for Gladstone Capital for the quarter and fiscal year ending September 30, 2025. Thank you all for calling in. We're always happy to talk to you about you, our shareholders and analysts, and we welcome the opportunity to provide updates on our company.

謝謝你，梅麗莎。這裡是董事長大衛·格拉德斯通，這是我們格拉德斯通資本截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的季度和財政年度的收益電話會議。感謝各位的來電。我們一直樂於與您、我們的股東和分析師交流，也歡迎有機會向您介紹我們公司的最新情況。

And now we hear from Catherine Gerkis. She is Director of Administer of Relations and ESG to provide a brief disclosure regarding certain regulatory matters. Catherine?

現在我們來聽聽凱瑟琳‧格基斯的發言。她是關係與ESG事務管理總監，負責就某些監理事項提供簡要揭露。凱瑟琳？

Good morning. Today's call may include forward-looking statements, which are based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections -- there are no guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements due to various uncertainties, including the risk factors set forth in our SEC filings, which you can find on the Investors page of our website, gladstonecapital.com.

早安.今天的電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於管理層的估計、假設和預測——未來業績無法保證，實際結果可能因各種不確定因素而與這些陳述中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異，包括我們在提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的文件中列出的風險因素，您可以在我們網站 gladstonecapital.com 的投資者頁面上找到這些文件。

We assume no obligation to update any of these statements unless required by law. Please visit our website for a copy of our Form 10-K and earnings press release for more detailed information. You can also sign up for our e-mail notification service and find information on how to contact our Investor Relations department.

除非法律另有規定，否則我們不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。請造訪我們的網站，以取得我們的 10-K 表格和收益新聞稿，以了解更多詳細資訊。您也可以註冊我們的電子郵件通知服務，並查找有關如何聯絡我們投資者關係部門的資訊。

Now I will turn the call over to Gladstone Capital's President, Bob Marcotte.

現在我將把電話交給 Gladstone Capital 的總裁 Bob Marcotte。

Good morning, and thank you all for dialing in. I'll cover the highlights for the quarter and the fiscal year-end and conclude with some comments on our near-term outlook for the company. Beginning with our last quarter results, fundings last quarter totaled $126.6 million and included five new private equity-sponsored investments in a variety of industry sectors, much of which we previewed on our last call.

早安，感謝各位撥入。我將介紹本季和財年結束時的亮點，並最後對該公司的近期前景發表一些評論。從我們上一季的業績來看，上一季融資總額為 1.266 億美元，其中包括五項新的私募股權投資，涉及多個行業領域，其中大部分我們在上次電話會議上進行了預覽。

Exits and prepayments declined relative to the past couple of quarters to $23.5 million, so net originations were healthy $103.1 million. Interest income for the period rose 14% to $23.8 million, with a 16.2% increase in average earning assets and a 30 basis point decline in the weighted average portfolio yield to 12.5% for the quarter.

與過去幾季相比，退出和提前還款額下降至 2,350 萬美元，因此淨新增貸款額為 1.031 億美元，處於健康水準。該期間利息收入成長 14% 至 2,380 萬美元，平均生息資產成長 16.2%，加權平均投資組合收益率下降 30 個基點至 12.5%。

Interest and financing costs increased $1.4 million on higher average bank borrowings and net management fees increased $0.5 million as incentive fee credits decline. So net investment income for the period came in at $11.4 million. Net realized losses were $6.3 million last quarter, which relates to the exit of FES Resources, a legacy oil and gas services investment. However, on balance, the portfolio appreciation offset the depreciation for the quarter. And for the TTM period, our ROE came in at 11.9%.

由於銀行平均借款增加，利息和融資成本增加了 140 萬美元；由於激勵費用抵免減少，淨管理費增加了 50 萬美元。因此，該期間的淨投資收益為 1,140 萬美元。上季淨實現虧損為 630 萬美元，這與退出 FES Resources（一項傳統的石油和天然氣服務投資）有關。然而，總體而言，投資組合的增值抵消了本季的貶值。過去12個月，我們的淨資產收益率為11.9%。

With respect to the portfolio, the portfolio turnover for the period did not have a material impact on our investment mix as the new originations were predominantly first lien debt, which rose to 72% and of the fair value of the portfolio and total debt holdings came in at 90% of the portfolio fair value.

就投資組合而言，該期間的投資組合週轉率並未對我們的投資組合產生重大影響，因為新增貸款主要為優先擔保債務，佔投資組合公允價值的 72%，而總債務持有量佔投資組合公允價值的 90%。

As of the end of the quarter, we had three nonearning debt investments with a cost basis of $28.8 million or $13 million at fair value, which is 1.7% of our debt investments. In addition, PIK income increased in the quarter to $2 million or 8.4% of interest income as much of the increase was generated by two recent investments, which included supplemental PIK above the underlying 10% cash interest yield on those assets. Since the end of the quarter, originations have largely paced with repayments, and we continue to work through a healthy pipeline of deals going into our traditionally strong fourth quarter.

截至本季末，我們有三項不產生收益的債務投資，成本基礎為 2,880 萬美元，或以公允價值計算為 1,300 萬美元，占我們債務投資的 1.7%。此外，本季 PIK 營收增加至 200 萬美元，佔利息收入的 8.4%，其中大部分成長來自最近的兩項投資，這兩項投資包括高於這些資產 10% 基本現金利息收益率的補充 PIK。自上一季末以來，貸款發放量基本上與還款量同步成長，我們繼續推動一系列健康的交易，為傳統的第四季做好準備。

In reflecting on our recently concluded fiscal 2025 and the outlook for the next quarter or two, I'd like to leave you with the following, fiscal '25 was a huge challenge for us. as we overcame the spike in repayments and liquidity events, which totaled $352 million, we were able to source and close 15 new investments, representing $397 million of originations which contributed to the $63 million increase in fair value of our investment portfolio for the year.

回顧我們剛結束的2025財年以及未來一兩個季度的展望，我想和大家分享以下幾點：2025財年對我們來說是一個巨大的挑戰。儘管我們克服了總計3.52億美元的還款和流動性事件激增，但我們仍然成功完成了15項新的投資，總額達3.97億美元，這使得我們當年的投資組合公允價值增加了6300萬美元。

The combination of the depth of the deal origination opportunities in the lower middle market the experience of our origination team and the utility of our BDC private credit model to deliver attractive financing solutions to the private equity market all contributed to these record results.

下中端市場交易機會的深度、我們交易團隊的經驗以及我們的 BDC 私人信貸模式為私募股權市場提供有吸引力的融資解決方案的實用性，所有這些因素共同促成了這些創紀錄的業績。

In addition to recycling the wave of investment exits, we significantly expanded our private equity sponsor relationships. And as the lead lender in most of our deals, we're well positioned to increase our investments as these new PE platforms look to drive growth in equity appreciation through acquisition or expansion.

除了延續投資退出浪潮之外，我們也大幅拓展了與私募股權投資發起人的關係。作為我們大多數交易的主要貸款方，隨著這些新的私募股權平台尋求透過收購或擴張來推動股權增值，我們有能力增加投資。

At present, we're continuing to see a healthy flow of attractive investment opportunities and remain cautiously optimistic that the lower middle market will remain relatively insulated from spread erosion, leverage escalation and financing terms erosion experienced in the larger middle market.

目前，我們持續看到大量有吸引力的投資機會，並謹慎樂觀地認為，中低端市場將相對免受大型中端市場所經歷的利差收窄、槓桿率上升和融資條款惡化的影響。

As we ended the quarter with a conservative leverage position with net debt at a modest 82.5% of NAV, having refunded our 2026 debt maturity shortly after the end of the quarter, with the $149 million convertible issue. As part of the debt recapitalization, we also called our $57 million, 7.75% 2028 notes and increased our floating rate bank borrowings to capitalize on the projected decline in short-term rates, which will also serve to reduce our unused facility costs going forward.

本季末，我們維持了保守的槓桿水平，淨債務佔資產淨值的 82.5%，並在季度末後不久透過發行 1.49 億美元的可轉換債券償還了 2026 年到期的債務。作為債務重組的一部分，我們還要求償還 5,700 萬美元、利率為 7.75%、2028 年到期的票據，並增加了浮動利率銀行借款，以利用短期利率預計下降的機會，這也將有助於降低我們未來未使用的融資成本。

Pro forma for these refinancing activities, our line of credit borrowings availability is approximately $130 million, more than enough to support our near-term investment activities. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Nicole Schaltenbrand, Gladstone Capital's CFO, to provide some details on the fund's financial results for the quarter and year-end.

考慮到這些再融資活動，我們可用的信貸額度約為 1.3 億美元，足以支持我們的近期投資活動。現在，我想把電話交給 Gladstone Capital 的財務長 Nicole Schaltenbrand，讓她詳細介紹一下該基金本季和年度的財務表現。

Thanks, Bob. Good morning. During the September quarter, total interest income rose $2.9 million or 14% to $23.8 million. as the average earning assets rose $104.8 million or 16.2%, while the weighted average yield on our interest-bearing portfolio declined 30 basis points to 12.5% for the period. Total investment income was $23.9 million on the higher interest-earning assets as fee income declined $600,000 from last quarter.

謝謝你，鮑伯。早安.9 月季度，總利息收入成長 290 萬美元，增幅 14%，達到 2,380 萬美元。同時，平均生息資產成長 1.048 億美元，增幅 16.2%。而同期，我們計息投資組合的加權平均收益率下降 30 個基點，至 12.5%。由於手續費收入比上一季減少了 60 萬美元，高息資產的總投資收益為 2,390 萬美元。

Total expenses rose $2.1 million or 20.5% versus the prior quarter, as interest expenses rose $1.4 million with increased bank borrowings and net management fees rose on the reduction of incentive fee credit. Net investment income for the quarter rose $11.4 million or $0.52 per share. The net increase in net assets resulting from operations was $14 million or $0.63 per share for the quarter ended September 30, as impacted by the realized and unrealized valuation depreciation covered by Bob earlier.

與上一季相比，總支出增加了 210 萬美元，增幅達 20.5%，原因是銀行借款增加導致利息支出增加了 140 萬美元，以及由於激勵費用抵免減少導致淨管理費增加。本季淨投資收益成長1140萬美元，即每股0.52美元。截至 9 月 30 日的季度，經營活動帶來的淨資產淨增加額為 1,400 萬美元，即每股 0.63 美元，這其中受到了鮑勃之前已涵蓋的已實現和未實現估值折舊的影響。

Moving over to the balance sheet. As of September 30, total assets rose to $908 million, consisting of $859 million in investments at fair value and $49 million in cash and other assets. Liabilities rose $100 million quarter-over-quarter to $406 million as of September 30. With the completion of the $149.5 million, 5.75% convertible note issue in September, which was used to pay down our LOC borrowings and increased temporary cash investments, which were subsequently used to call and repay our $150 million of 5% notes due January of 2026. We and our $57 million of 7.75% notes due in 2028.

接下來來看資產負債表。截至 9 月 30 日，總資產增至 9.08 億美元，其中包括以公允價值計算的 8.59 億美元投資和 4,900 萬美元現金及其他資產。截至9月30日，負債環比增加1億美元，達到4.06億美元。9 月完成了 1.495 億美元、票面利率 5.75% 的可轉換票據發行，用於償還我們的信用證借款和增加臨時現金投資，隨後這些資金被用於贖回和償還我們 2026 年 1 月到期的 1.5 億美元 5% 票據。我們以及我們 5700 萬美元的 7.75% 債券，將於 2028 年到期。

The remaining balance of our liabilities consists primarily of $50 million notes due May of 2027 and $19.4 million of preferred stock. As of September 30, net assets rose $7.6 million to $482 million from the prior quarter end, with the sale of approximately 263,000 shares under our ATM program, netting approximately $7 million for the quarter.

我們剩餘的負債主要包括 2027 年 5 月到期的 5,000 萬美元票據和 1,940 萬美元優先股。截至 9 月 30 日，淨資產較上一季末增加 760 萬美元至 4.82 億美元，透過我們的 ATM 計畫出售約 26.3 萬股股票，本季淨收入約 700 萬美元。

NAV per share rose from $21.25 to $21.34 as of September 30. Our gross leverage as of September 30 rose to 84.3% of net assets. After the end of the quarter, we have funded the $207 million note retirements with cash on hand and approximately $157 million of floating rate bank borrowings to balance our floating rate assets.

截至9月30日，每股淨值從21.25美元上漲至21.34美元。截至9月30日，我們的總槓桿率上升至淨資產的84.3%。季度末，我們已用手邊現金和約 1.57 億美元的浮動利率銀行借款支付了 2.07 億美元的票據贖回款項，以平衡我們的浮動利率資產。

With respect to distribution, Monthly distributions for November and December will be $0.15 per common share, which is an annual run rate of $1.80 per share. The Board will meet in January to determine the monthly distribution to common stockholders for the following quarter. At the current distribution run rate for our common stock and with the common stock price at about $18.77 per share yesterday, the distribution run rate is now producing a yield of about 9.6%.

關於分紅，11 月和 12 月的月度分紅為每股普通股 0.15 美元，年化分紅率為每股 1.80 美元。董事會將於一月召開會議，確定下一季向普通股股東分配的每月股利。以我們普通股目前的派息率計算，昨天普通股股價約為每股 18.77 美元，目前的派息率產生的收益率約為 9.6%。

And now I'll turn it back to David to conclude.

現在我把話題交還給大衛，讓他來總結一下。

Well, thank you, Bob, Nicole, Catherine, you all did a great job and update in our stockholders and the analysts who follow us. and our recent performance is really strong. In summary, the team maintained their underwriting leverage and also the investment totals of $396 million for the year, almost $400 million. So the company has a very strong balance sheet today.

謝謝鮑伯、妮可、凱瑟琳，你們都做得非常出色，向股東和關注我們的分析師們報告了最新情況。我們近期的業績確實非常強勁。總而言之，該團隊維持了其承銷槓桿，並且全年投資總額為 3.96 億美元，接近 4 億美元。因此，該公司目前的資產負債表非常穩健。

We've refinanced any debt that's coming due in future, and so we're in good shape today. We've maintained ample bank lines of credit and capacity to support the healthy pipeline of new deals that we have to continue to support the asset growth and shareholders' dividends.

我們已經對未來到期的債務進行了再融資，所以我們目前的財務狀況良好。我們維持了充足的銀行信貸額度和能力，以支持我們健康的新交易管道，從而繼續支持資產成長和股東分紅。

And for anyone keeping score, the Glad team delivered a stellar 16.75% return on equity for the last five years, that puts them right near the top and certainly ahead of the top peer group in developing returns for their shareholders.

對於關注業績的人來說，Glad 團隊在過去五年中實現了 16.75% 的驚人股本回報率，這使他們躋身前列，並且在為股東創造回報方面肯定領先於頂尖同行。

In summary, Limestone continues to stick with the strategy of investing in growth-oriented lower middle market businesses with good management. Many of these investments are in support of midsized private equity funds that are looking for experienced partners to support the acquisition and growth of the companies they invest in. This gives us an opportunity to make attractive interest paying loans and small equity investments and pay strong distributions to our stockholders.

總而言之，Limestone 繼續堅持投資於管理良好的、以成長為導向的中小型企業的策略。這些投資大多是為了支持中型私募股權基金，這些基金正在尋找經驗豐富的合作夥伴，以支持其投資公司的收購和發展。這讓我們有機會提供有吸引力的計息貸款和小額股權投資，並向股東支付豐厚的分紅。

Now operator, could you please come on and tell people how they can call in and ask questions.

接線員，請您告訴大家如何打電話提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Erik Zwick, Lucid Capital Markets.

Erik Zwick，Lucid Capital Markets。

Wanted to start with a question on the pipeline. You obviously had a very nice quarter of originations in the most recently reported quarter.

我想先問一個關於管道的問題。顯然，你們在最近公佈的季度中獲得了非常好的貸款發放業績。

And I know you mentioned in 2025, you've significantly expanded a number of PE sponsor relationships. So just curious if you could give us an update on where the pipeline stands today in terms of size and maybe also the mix of new versus add-on opportunities.

我知道您在 2025 年提到過，您已經大幅擴展了與一些私募股權贊助商的關係。所以，我很好奇您能否向我們介紹一下目前專案儲備的規模情況，以及新增項目和附加項目之間的比例。

Sure. Fourth quarter is always pretty strong. I will say that we've definitely seen some of the newer assets that we put on with follow-on acquisition opportunities. some of which have already closed and some of which are pending. So we're definitely seeing that effect to the portfolio.

當然。第四季通常都比較強。我想說的是，我們確實看到一些新推出的資產出現了後續收購機會，其中一些已經完成，另一些正在洽談中。所以，我們確實看到了這種對投資組合的影響。

On the potential deals at any given time, we're probably tracking -- order of magnitude, maybe $100 million of potential volume. Obviously, those are going to fall out in a variety of different ways. But -- we feel like somewhere in the range of 10 deals, $100 million of near-term volume, that's going to be more than ample to clear any repayments that we might see and continue to grow.

在任何特定時間，我們可能正在追蹤潛在交易的數量級，潛在交易額可能達到 1 億美元。顯然，這些事情會以各種不同的方式發生。但是——我們覺得，10筆交易，1億美元的近期交易額，就足以償還我們可能看到的任何還款，並繼續增長。

I think if you go back to our traditional history, we've been able to grow the assets somewhere in the range of $25 million to $50 million over the course of a year. I think we increased a little more than that last year. I think we would expect it to be a little bit more than that this year because we've had such a turn returned 42% of the portfolio from last September. So you would expect the rollover rate in 2026 to be lower, which I think positions us well to have a net add of assets because of the maturity of the existing assets.

我認為，回顧我們的傳統歷史，我們能夠在一年內將資產成長到 2500 萬美元到 5000 萬美元之間。我認為我們去年的成長幅度比這還要略大。我認為今年的收益率應該會比去年略高一些，因為市場出現瞭如此大的轉變，自去年九月以來，我們的投資組合收益率已經達到了 42%。因此，預計 2026 年的展期率會降低，我認為這將有利於我們實現資產淨成長，因為現有資產即將到期。

I would say one more point. We tend to see a barbell of transactions coming through. One, the transactions that are add-ons for our existing deals, those are companies that are getting larger. They might be in the $10 million, $15 million, $20 million EBITDA range. Those deals will be bigger.

我還要補充一點。我們往往會看到大量交易湧入。第一，是我們現有交易的附加交易，這些公司規模越來越大。它們的 EBITDA 可能在 1000 萬美元、1500 萬美元或 2000 萬美元之間。這些交易的規模會更大。

The new deals where we're starting new originations, those tend to be smaller deals, they're first-time transition from family or privately held businesses to private equity. They tend to start smaller and then grow. So a $10 million to $20 million deal on the initial side will then become a $20 million, $30 million deal on the second bite at the growth profile for that business. So that's a little bit more than you probably asked for, but that's what's going on right now.

我們正在進行的新交易，也就是新業務的啟動，這些交易往往規模較小，是家族企業或私人企業首次轉型為私募股權領域。它們通常從較小的開始，然後逐漸長大。因此，最初一筆 1,000 萬至 2,000 萬美元的交易，隨著該業務的成長，第二次交易金額將達到 2,000 萬至 3,000 萬美元。這可能比你想要的要多一些，但這就是目前的情況。

No, that's great color. And then switching gears to the decline quarter-over-quarter in the portfolio yield. Curious how much of that was reflective of lower base rates, working through the portfolio versus potentially maybe new originations coming on at lower yields, although I think you mentioned that you're not seeing maybe a whole lot of spread compression at this point on newer deals, but maybe I misheard that.

不，這顏色真好看。然後，我們轉而討論投資組合收益率季比下降的問題。我很好奇這其中有多少是由於基準利率降低、投資組合調整以及新發放的貸款收益率降低所致，儘管我記得你提到過目前新交易的利差收窄可能並不明顯，但也許是我聽錯了。

Most of that was the base rate, which I think came down from in the fourth -- sulfur was probably 430 range and probably ended the quarter closer to 390. So most of the move was underlying base rates. If you just isolate what we closed on the quarter, the metrics on the margin were well north of 7% million. and the leverage is pretty attractive. But even if we were at 7.5% using round numbers on four, that increase would probably put you at 11.5% yield, which compares to the 12.8% that we were at the end of last quarter.

其中大部分是基準利率，我認為它比第四季度有所下降——硫磺價格可能在 430 左右，而季度末可能接近 390。因此，此次變動主要源自於基礎利率的波動。如果只看我們本季完成的交易，利潤率指標遠高於 700 萬美元，槓桿率也相當誘人。但即使我們以四位數的整數計算，收益率為 7.5%，這一增長也可能使收益率達到 11.5%，而上個季度末的收益率為 12.8%。

So while our spreads are very attractive, the overall impact on our combined portfolio yield the new definitely brought it down a bit as well.

因此，雖然我們的利差非常有吸引力，但新政策對我們整體投資組合收益率的影響也確實使其下降。

And one last one, if I could. Just looking through the SOI noticed WB Xcel, which is on nonaccrual, had a slight improvement in the valuation. So just curious kind of what you're seeing there, some improved operational performance and that expectations that, that might continue to trend in a positive direction.

如果可以的話，我還要最後一個問題。光是瀏覽SOI就發現，採用非應計制的WB Xcel的估值略有改善。所以，我只是好奇你們那邊的情況，營運績效有所改善，而且預計這種改善可能會繼續朝著正面的方向發展。

I think they're up to 18 straight months of sales increases and profitability increases. They are currently EBITDA positive and continuing to grow. We've been through both sales and operating cost restructurings. They are not to a point where we are ready to turn it on and make it -- turn it on to an earning asset, but we're feeling very strong about where the business has gone and the consistency and sustainability of the underlying brand in that business.

我認為他們已經連續18個月實現了銷售額和利潤的成長。他們目前 EBITDA 為正，並且持續成長。我們已經經歷了銷售和營運成本重組。雖然我們還沒有準備好啟動它並將其轉化為盈利資產，但我們對業務的發展方向以及該業務中基礎品牌的穩定性和可持續性感到非常有信心。

Christopher Nolan, Lonberg Thalmann.

克里斯多福諾蘭，隆伯格塔爾曼。

Given where the stock price is and your low leverage, any consideration of doing material share repurchases.

鑑於目前的股價和你的低槓桿率，任何進行大規模股票回購的考慮都為時過早。

Relative to where we're performing, I'm certainly tempted. I think the last time we brought that up, we were probably trading at a 30-ish percent discount, it was a number of years ago. We're definitely getting in the range where that's going to be a discussion.

考慮到我們演出的場地，我確實很心動。我想我們上次提到這個問題的時候，我們的股價可能比正常股價低了30%左右，那是幾年前的事了。我們現在肯定已經進入了一個需要討論的階段。

And then given -- following up on the comments earlier talking about new private equity partnerships. Should we expect accelerating portfolio growth in fiscal 2026?

然後，鑑於——接著先前關於新的私募股權合作關係的評論。我們是否應該預期2026財年投資組合成長速度會加快？

I guess if you extend the comments I made earlier, I think the answer is probably yes. If we have lower turnover in the underlying portfolio, we've broadened the relationships our origination bucket -- originations went from $178 million to almost $400 million. I think we could probably outrun a modest repayment stream. So I think we are in that position.

我想，如果把我之前的評論補充完整，答案很可能是肯定的。如果我們的基礎投資組合週轉率較低，我們就擴大了我們的貸款發放範圍——貸款發放額從 1.78 億美元增加到近 4 億美元。我認為我們或許能夠償還一筆數額不大的貸款。所以我認為我們現在就處於這種境地。

I think the question following on your last one. At some point, another equity is going to become an issue for us. So buying an equity when we have the opportunity to continue to expand profitably will be the crux of the discussion around that. until the stock recognizes that we have that earnings power and the opportunity, it's going to be a challenge to chew up the equity through buying back the shares.

我認為這個問題應該接在你上一個問題之後。在某個時候，另一個股權問題將會成為我們面臨的挑戰。因此，當我們有機會繼續獲利擴張時，是否應該回購股權將是討論的關鍵所在。在股價真正認可我們的獲利能力和發展機會之前，透過回購股票來消化股權將是一項挑戰。

Final question. For the fiscal first quarter, the quarterly dividend has been reduced to $0.45. The dividend is not yielding that high on NAV. It's like 9 and change as a percentage. I was thinking beyond that --

最後一個問題。第一財季，季度股利已降至0.45美元。該股息的淨資產收益率並不高。相當於9多一點（以百分比表示）。我當時想的還不只這些。--

9.6% as I think Nicole outlined.

正如妮可所概述的那樣，9.6%。

Yes. And I get it lower base rates, but you're maintaining investment spreads and leverage is low and so forth like that. What's sort of thinking behind the reduction of the dividend? It did look like it was an imperative. I may be missing something.

是的。我知道基準利率會降低，但你還是保持了投資利差，槓桿率也很低等等。削減股息背後的考量是什麼？看起來確實像是勢在必行。我可能漏掉了什麼。

Well, I think we were trying to be responsible. And I think as you look out over the course of the next year, I think we have about $650 million at year-end of floating rate assets. about $150 million of floating rate debt. I think any further compressions in rates is going to become a challenge for us as well as everyone else. We did very well to substitute and work through our refinancing activities to essentially a neutral cost of capital and maintaining our financial flexibility and maturity profile.

嗯，我覺得我們當時是想盡到責任感。展望未來一年，我認為到年底我們將擁有約 6.5 億美元的浮動利率資產和約 1.5 億美元的浮動利率債務。我認為利率進一步下降對我們和其他所有人來說都將是一個挑戰。我們透過替代和再融資活動，成功地將資本成本基本降至中性水平，並保持了財務靈活性和到期結構。

. I think the challenge is 100 basis point decline is going to pressure us as well as everyone else and how do we absorb that? Well, we'll absorb it through if you note in our financials, we paid an awful lot of commitment fees on our line of credit that we didn't use. So we probably are going to reduce that by virtue of what we've done in the restructuring of the business. We also had a very light quarter from fee load perspective, I expect those fees to increase.

。我認為挑戰在於，100個基點的下跌會給我們和其他所有人帶來壓力，我們該如何應對？好吧，我們會消化這筆損失的。如果你看一下我們的財務報表，你會發現我們為沒有使用的信用額度支付了大量的承諾費。因此，透過我們對業務進行重組，我們很可能會減少這種情況。從費用負擔角度來看，本季我們的費用也非常低，我預計這些費用將會增加。

And the combination of those as well as some of the dividend reduction, I think it puts us in a much more healthy position to maintain the current dividend. I don't feel that we're under any particular pressure at this point. It was just really more of setting expectations going into 2026, given the rates are already beginning to decline.

綜合以上因素以及部分股利削減措施，我認為這使我們處於更健康的境地，能夠維持目前的股利水準。我覺得我們目前並沒有面臨任何特別的壓力。鑑於利率已經開始下降，這實際上更多的是在為 2026 年設定預期。

Great. And final question on the dividend. Is it sort of switching to more of a base dividend plus a supplement type of structure going forward? Or as you just thinking just pay $0.45 going forward?

偉大的。最後一個關於股利的問題。未來是否會轉向以基本股利加上額外股利為主的結構？還是你打算以後每次只付 0.45 美元？

I think we could certainly see a supplemental on a go-forward basis. We provided two supplementals in the last year for some of our capital gains. And the other thing to your earlier point about the yield I think while the current cash yield is at that range, I think we've also, on an ROE basis cleared that by a wide margin on some of our equity gains. And I would expect that to be a material part of those supplementals on a go-forward basis.

我認為我們肯定會在未來看到補充協議出台。去年我們為部分資本利得提供了兩份補充申報表。關於您之前提到的收益率問題，我認為雖然目前的現金收益率處於那個範圍內，但從淨資產收益率的角度來看，我們的一些股權收益也已經遠遠超過了這個範圍。而且我預計這將成為未來這些補充內容的重要組成部分。

So while the current cash yield may be sub-10%, the overall yield on equity with NAV growth has been almost, I think, as David outlined, 16.7% over the last five years. So we wanted to be in a position to invest in the right deals and achieve the overall return for our shareholders. That's why we made the adjustment in the dividend.

因此，雖然目前的現金收益率可能低於 10%，但過去五年中，淨資產值成長的股權整體收益率幾乎達到了 16.7%，正如 David 所概述的那樣。因此，我們希望能夠投資於合適的項目，並為我們的股東實現整體回報。這就是我們調整股利的原因。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Robert Dodd, Raymond James.

Robert Dodd，Raymond James。

Everybody. On the look at the outlook for next year, Bob, I mean, congratulations, you did grow over a very high level of portfolio churn in over the last 12 months. But still 60% of the portfolio didn't turn over. So -- I mean the lower mill market does seem to be healthy. There's a lot of activity going on, which obviously is what drove that turnover.

所有人。展望明年，鮑勃，我的意思是，恭喜你，你在過去 12 個月中經歷了非常高的投資組合週轉率，但仍然實現了增長。但仍有 60% 的投資組合沒有發生週轉。所以——我的意思是，低階麵粉市場看起來確實很健康。目前有許多業務活動正在進行，這顯然是導致人員流動的原因。

What do you think the risks are that the elevated repayment activity continues going into 2026, because to your part mean the 42 that you already turned over, that's probably not going to turn over again, but there is still more than half the portfolio that it did. I mean, could that -- could you still see extremely high levels in the following 12 months?

您認為高企的還款活動持續到 2026 年會帶來哪些風險？因為就您而言，您指的是您已經完成的 42 項交易，這些交易可能不會再完成了，但您仍然擁有超過一半的投資組合。我的意思是，這種情況——在接下來的 12 個月裡，是否還會出現極高的水平？

Robert, that's a question. I would say that the maturity of the investments and where the private equity are in achieving their appreciation plan and maturity is a big one. as I described earlier, most of the smaller deals will take several years to professionalize and scale. So a number of the ones that we would have recently funded are in that situation. I would say that we were somewhat opportunistic and we're able in the course of the last couple of quarters to land some very attractive deals as the market was a bit dislocated post Liberation Day.

羅伯特，這是個問題。我認為，投資的成熟度以及私募股權基金在實現其增值計劃和成熟度方面的進展至關重要。正如我之前所述，大多數小型交易需要數年時間才能專業化和規模化。因此，我們近期資助的許多計畫都處於這種境地。我認為我們有點投機取巧，在過去的幾個季度裡，由於解放日後市場有些混亂，我們得以達成一些非常有吸引力的交易。

So we could see some of those larger exposures turnover. But net-net, I think we're in a position where we will continue to grow even if those larger transactions in the other 60% do turn. But I do think the question really of boils down to are the private equities selling their companies as rapidly as they have in the past. And I think the generic answer is no.

因此，我們可能會看到一些較大規模的風險敞口發生轉變。但總的來說，我認為即使其他 60% 的較大交易出現波動，我們仍將繼續成長。但我認為，真正的問題歸根究底在於，私募股權公司是否像過去那樣迅速地出售其旗下公司。我認為普遍的答案是否定的。

I think the whole periods are extended. -- the maturity and appreciation plans have not necessarily been fully achieved. So we still see some stickiness to the underlying portfolio, but I'm not terribly worried about our ability to outpace it, having survived 2025.

我認為整個週期都延長了——到期和增值計劃未必完全實現。因此，我們仍然看到基礎投資組合存在一些黏性，但我並不太擔心我們能否跑贏它，畢竟我們已經挺過了 2025 年。

Okay. Fair enough. Then one more, if I can. On credit, I mean, obviously, no new nonaccruals this quarter. WB Xcel seems to be improving. I mean, are there any cracks developing anywhere in the portfolio of themes that you're seeing that you're incrementally concerned about? Because it certainly doesn't seem to be showing up anywhere from a credit perspective?

好的。很公平。如果可以的話，再來一個。就信貸而言，我的意思是，顯然，本季不會有新的非應計項目。WB Xcel 似乎有所改善。我的意思是，在你目前關注的主題組合中，是否有任何讓你逐漸感到擔憂的裂痕？因為從信用角度來看，它似乎完全沒有體現出來？

Well, Robert, we -- I think as you understand our strategy, we sit on the boards and observe what's going on in the business. And I can't tell you that there aren't issues inside those businesses. But when you go into a relatively low leverage and you see it at the vantage point that we see at the Board level, it becomes a lot more manageable, right? It doesn't ripen into the situation where they report 60 or 90 days post quarter end and liquidities are getting tight. So we are in a position to take action sooner.

羅伯特，我想你應該了解我們的策略，我們會參與董事會，觀察公司業務的進展。我不能保證這些企業內部沒有問題。但是，當槓桿率相對較低，並且你從董事會的角度來看待問題時，情況就變得容易多了，對吧？這種情況不會發展到季度結束後 60 或 90 天才公佈報告，流動性變得緊張的地步。因此，我們能夠更快地採取行動。

Now there are certainly some assets that we are focused on, and there's likely to be equity infusions on the part of the sponsors or they may be in the market to be sold. But I think we are still in a very safe position. So even if we end up waiving a covenant or so to give them the breathing room to go to market and sell the business our leverage position is still well covered by the enterprise value.

現在我們確實有一些重點關注的資產，發起人可能會注資，或者這些資產可能會被出售。但我認為我們目前仍處於非常安全的境地。因此，即使我們最終放棄一些契約條款，讓他們有喘息之機進入市場出售業務，我們的槓桿地位仍能得到企業價值的充分保障。

So I guess there's two questions there. Do we believe there are businesses that are having challenges Yes, there are a couple. But do we believe that there's an exposure on an LTV basis, No, there isn't. I don't feel that we are exposed on any of our positions that aren't otherwise in those non-earning assets.

所以我想這裡有兩個問題。我們是否認為有些企業面臨挑戰？是的，有幾家。但我們認為從 LTV 的角度來看有風險敞口嗎？不，不存在。我不認為我們持有的任何頭寸會讓我們面臨風險，除非這些頭寸投資於非營利資產。

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no other questions at this time. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Gladstone for any final comments.

女士們、先生們，目前沒有其他問題了。我將把發言權交還給格拉德斯通先生，請他作最後的總結發言。

Well, thank you all for being with us for another quarter and ending another year, so successfully. And we're hoping to move into a next quarter, but thank you all for calling in. That's the end of this call.

感謝大家又陪伴我們度過了一個季度，也感謝大家圓滿結束了又一年。我們希望能夠順利進入下一個季度，感謝大家的來電。通話到此結束。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以在此時斷開線路。感謝您的參與。