Gladstone Capital Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2011

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GLAD) (the "Company") today announced earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2011. All per share references are per basic and diluted weighted average common share outstanding, unless noted otherwise.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101005/GLADSTONECAPITAL)

Net Investment Income for the Quarter:  Net Investment Income for the quarters ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was $4.8 million, or $0.23 per share, and $4.4 million, or $0.21 per share, respectively, an increase in Net Investment Income of 8.7%. The increase in Net Investment Income was primarily due to an increase in interest income as a result of an increase in the size of the Company's investment portfolio subsequent to September 30, 2010.

Net Investment Income for the Fiscal Year:  Net Investment Income for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was $18.4 million, or $0.88 per share, and $17.8 million, or $0.84 per share, respectively, an increase in Net Investment Income of 3.7%. Net Investment Income increased primarily due to decreased interest expenses resulting from decreased borrowing costs under the Company's credit facility. The effective interest rate was 6.0% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, as compared to 7.0% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, due in part to the November 2010 amendment to its credit facility.  In addition, professional fees decreased by $1.0 million during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 due to increased legal fees during 2010 to restructure certain portfolio investments. These decreases in operating expenses were partially offset by an increase in incentive fees due to increased pre-incentive fee net investment income.  

While interest income remained consistent year over year, interest income generally trended down throughout fiscal year 2010, compared to generally trending up throughout fiscal year 2011, with the Company's largest quarter coming in the fourth quarter of 2011.  These trends primarily resulted from the Company's investment activity, where repayments outpaced origination activity resulting in an overall reduction in the size of the portfolio throughout 2010, as compared to 2011, which had an overall net increase in the size of the investment portfolio as a result of increased investment activity.

Net (Decrease) Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations for the Quarter:  Net (Decrease) Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations for the quarters ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was ($0.5) million, or ($0.03) per share, and $3.8 million, or $0.18 per share, respectively.  Net Unrealized Depreciation on Investments of $4.0 million was recognized for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, compared to $1.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. During the quarter ended September 30, 2011, Net Unrealized Depreciation was primarily due to combined depreciation of $4.4 million on the Company's investments in Sunshine Media Holdings ("Sunshine Media") and Viapack, Inc. largely as a result of decreased performance, partially offset by appreciation of $3.1 million on the Defiance Integrated Technologies, Inc. ("Defiance") investment.  In addition, a Net Realized Loss on Investments of $1.3 million was recognized in the quarter ended September 30, 2011, primarily due to the restructure of the SCI Cable, Inc. ("SCI") investment.

Net (Decrease) Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations for Fiscal Year:  Net (Decrease) Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was ($21.1) million, or ($1.00) per share, and $16.4 million, or $0.78 per share, respectively.  The decreased in Net (Decrease) Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations of $37.5 million year over year was primarily due to $38.8 million in the net unrealized depreciation on investments during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, compared to a net appreciation of $2.3 million in the prior year. The largest driver of the net unrealized depreciation for the year ended September 30, 2011 was the combined unrealized depreciation of $30.6 million in the Company's investments in Sunshine Media and Newhall Holdings Inc. ("Newhall"), primarily due to decreased portfolio company performance and a decrease in certain comparable portfolio company multiples, partially offset by unrealized appreciation in Defiance, which resulted from an improvement in portfolio company performance and in certain comparable multiples.

Investment Portfolio Fair Value:  As of September 30, 2011, the entire portfolio was fair valued at 79.1% of cost, as compared to 86.2% as of September 30, 2010, or a decrease of 7.1%.  The aggregate investment portfolio depreciated during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, primarily due to the aforementioned unrealized depreciation on the Sunshine Media and Newhall investments; partially offset by the unrealized appreciation on the Defiance investment.    

Net Asset Value:  Net asset value was $10.16 per share outstanding at September 30, 2011, as compared to $11.85 per share outstanding at September 30, 2010; a decrease of 14.3% year over year. The Company's investment portfolio increased by a net $84.6 million on a cost basis as the Company originated $110.9 million in new investments during the year. The investments were primarily funded by increased borrowings under its line of credit of $82.6 million during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011.  

Asset Characteristics:  Total assets were $317.6 million at September 30, 2011, as compared to $270.5 million at September 30, 2010. At September 30, 2011, the Company had investments in 59 portfolio companies with an aggregate cost basis of $382.8 million and an aggregate fair value of $302.9 million.  As of September 30, 2011, the Company's investment portfolio at fair value was comprised of 96.5% in debt securities and 3.5% in equity securities, compared to 98.9% in debt securities and 1.1% in equity securities as of September 30, 2010.  Syndicated investments comprised 29.9% of the Company's investment portfolio at fair value as of September 30, 2011, compared to 7.8% as of September 30, 2010.

Investment Yield:  The weighted average yield on the Company's interest-bearing investments increased year over year from 10.9% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, to 11.2% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011. This increase was due primarily to repayment of loans with lower stated interest rates and the restructuring of certain loans into higher interest rate loans, partially offset by the purchase of syndicated loans, which generally bear lower interest rates than the Company's existing proprietary debt investments.  The Company also placed two additional investments onto non-accrual status during the fourth quarter ended September 30, 2011 and therefore the Company did not accrue interest during the three months ended September 30, 2011 on those investments.

Highlights for the Quarter:  During the quarter ended September 30, 2011, the following events occurred:

• New Investment Activity: The Company funded $9.9 million to two new portfolio companies and $7.7 million of investments to existing portfolio companies, through revolver draws, addition of new term notes or additional equity, for an aggregate total of $17.6 million in new investments.

• Principal Repayments: The Company received aggregate repayments of $6.0 million, which includes various scheduled and unscheduled principal repayments.

• Investment Restructure:  In August 2011, the Company restructured its loan to SCI, which resulted in a new control entity, Kansas Cable Holdings, Inc. ("Kansas Cable"), obtaining certain of the assets of SCI.  The Company recognized a realized loss of $1.3 million on this transaction and Kansas Cable currently remains on non-accrual status.  Kansas Cable is a cable, internet and voice services provider and is headquartered in Topeka, KS.

• Distributions:  The Company paid monthly cash distributions to stockholders of $0.07 per common share for each of July, August and September 2011.

Comments from the Company's President, Chip Stelljes:  "During the quarter, we invested $9.9 million in two new portfolio companies, while continuing to focus on managing our existing portfolio. In November, we sold 1.4 million shares of preferred stock and received $33.1 million in net proceeds which we used to pay down a portion of our outstanding balance on our credit facility. We should be able to draw down funds in the future to make new investments in accordance with our investment objective. We are also pleased with the increase in our earnings for the quarter and year ended September 30, 2011. These earnings have consistently been equal to or greater than our distributions throughout the year. This has allowed us to preserve shareholder capital and continue making what we believe to be solid investments."

Subsequent Events:  After September 30, 2011, the following events occurred:

• Term Preferred Stock Offering:  The Company sold 1.4 million shares of 7.125% Series 2016 Term Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock") on November 4, 2011. The Preferred Stock will pay monthly dividends of $0.1484 per share, or $1.7813 on an annual basis. The dividend is cumulative. The Preferred Stock was issued at $25.00 per share and is mandatorily redeemable in December 2016 at $25.00 per share. The Company raised $35 million in gross proceeds and $33.1 million in net proceeds, after payment of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses of the offering payable by the Company.  On November 14, 2011, the underwriters notified the Company of their intent to exercise their option to purchase an additional 139,882 shares of Preferred Stock.  The Preferred Stock is traded under the ticker symbol of GLADPRA on the New York Stock Exchange.  

• Investment Restructure:  In November 2011, the Company invested $1.6 million in Ohana Media Group in order for it to purchase certain of KMBQ Corporation's assets out of receivership. In connection with this transaction, the Company expects to record a partial realized loss in the quarter ending December 31, 2011.    

• Distributions Declared: The Company's board of directors declared the following monthly distributions to stockholders:

Summary Information:  The following chart is a summary of some of the information reported above (dollars in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited):

Conference Call for Stockholders: The Company will hold a conference call on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EST. Please call (800) 860-2442 to enter the conference.  An operator will monitor the call and set a queue for questions. A replay of the conference call will be available through December 14, 2011.  To hear the replay, please dial (877) 344-7529 and use conference number 10003648.  The replay will be available beginning approximately one hour after the call concludes.

The live audio broadcast of the Company's quarterly conference call will also be available online at www.GladstoneCapital.com. The event will be archived and available for replay on the Company's website through January 13, 2012.

Warning: The financial statements below are without footnotes, so readers should obtain and carefully review the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, including the footnotes to the financial statements contained therein. The Company has filed the Form 10-K today with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which can be retrieved from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or from the Company's website at www.GladstoneCapital.com. To obtain a paper copy from the Company, please contact the Company at 1521 Westbranch Drive, Suite 200, McLean, VA 22102.

About us: Gladstone Capital Corporation is a publicly traded business development company that invests in debt securities consisting primarily of senior term loans, second term lien loans, and senior subordinate term loans in small and medium sized businesses. Including payments declared through December 2011, the Company will have paid 99 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock. Before the Company started paying monthly distributions, the Company paid eight consecutive quarterly cash distributions. Information on the business activities of all the Gladstone funds can be found at www.gladstonecompanies.com.

For Investor Relations inquiries related to any of the monthly dividend paying Gladstone funds, please visit www.gladstone.com.

The statements in this press release regarding the timing and the Company's ability to draw down funds on its line of credit and make new and favorable investments in accordance with the Company's investment objectives, continue to preserve shareholder capital and other such statements are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements inherently involve certain risks and uncertainties, although they are based on the Company's current plans that are believed to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. Factors that may cause the Company's actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, among others, the duration and potential future effects of the current economic downturn on its portfolio companies and on the senior loan market, and those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, as filed with the SEC on November 14, 2011. The risk factors set forth in the Form 10-K under the caption "Risk Factors" are specifically incorporated by reference into this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Gladstone Capital Corporation