Oxford Lane Capital Corp. Announces Net Asset Value and Selected Financial Results for the Quarter Ended December 31, 2016 and Declaration of Distributions on Common Stock for the Fiscal Quarters Ending March 31, 2017, June 30, 2017 and September 30, 2017


GREENWICH, CT--(Marketwired - Feb 7, 2017) - Oxford Lane Capital Corp. ("Oxford Lane", "Fund", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ: OXLC) (NASDAQ: OXLCO) (NASDAQ: OXLCN) announced today the following financial results and related information:

  • Net asset value per share as of December 31, 2016 stood at $10.74 compared with a net asset value per share at September 30, 2016 of $9.94.

  • Net investment income, calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), was approximately $7.7 million, or approximately $0.38 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

  • Our core net investment income ("Core NII") was approximately $11.7 million, or approximately $0.58 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

    • Core NII represents net investment income adjusted for additional cash distributions received, or entitled to be received (if any, in either case), on our collateralized loan obligation ("CLO") equity investments. (See additional information under "Supplemental Information Regarding Core Net Investment Income" below).

  • Total investment income, calculated in accordance with GAAP, amounted to approximately $14.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

    • For the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we recorded GAAP investment income from our portfolio as follows:

      • approximately $14.0 million from our CLO equity investments,

      • approximately $0.3 million from our CLO debt investments, and

      • approximately $0.4 million from other sources.

    • While our experience has been that cash flow distributions have historically represented useful indicators of our CLO equity investments' annual taxable income, we believe that current and future cash flow distributions may provide less useful indications as to the final determination of taxable income with respect to our CLO equity investments. In general, we currently expect our annual taxable income to be higher than our GAAP earnings for the current fiscal year.

    • The weighted average yield of our CLO debt investments at current cost was approximately 9.1% as of December 31, 2016.

    • The weighted average effective yield of our CLO equity investments at current cost was approximately 17.6% as of December 31, 2016.

    • The weighted average cash yield of our CLO equity investments at current cost was approximately 23.8% as of December 31, 2016.

  • Net increase in net assets from operations was approximately $27.8 million, or approximately $1.38 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, including:

    • Net investment income of approximately $7.7 million;

    • Net realized losses of approximately $0.9 million; and

    • Net unrealized appreciation of approximately $21.0 million.

  • During the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we made additional CLO equity investments of approximately $96.3 million.

  • During the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we sold approximately $69.0 million of our CLO equity investments.

  • During the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we issued a total of 1,641,304 shares of common stock pursuant to an "at-the-market" offering, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $18.5 million after deducting the sales agent's commissions and offering expenses.

  • Our Board of Directors has declared the following distributions on our common stock:

             
Quarter Ending   Record Date   Payment Date   Amount Per Share
March 31, 2017   March 16, 2017   March 31, 2017   $0.60
June 30, 2017   June 16, 2017   June 30, 2017   $0.40
September 30, 2017   September 15, 2017   September 29, 2017   $0.40
             
  • These distributions reflect our solid operating performance during the quarter ended December 31, 2016 and the full 2016 calendar year, and our projections of the impact of the recent rise in the 3-month LIBOR (and the corresponding loss of the benefit from LIBOR floors) and compression in corporate loan spreads on our taxable income in 2017. We note that this change is not related to current or projected cash flow diversions from our CLO equity portfolio, and that all of our CLO equity positions made full distributions in the quarter ended December 31, 2016. Going forward, we intend to declare and pay special distributions to our shareholders on an as-needed basis, in order to comply with our income distribution requirements as a regulated investment company.

Our Board of Directors has also declared the required monthly dividends on our Series 2023 Term Preferred Shares and Series 2024 Term Preferred Shares (each, a "Share"), as follows:

             
    Per Share Dividend Amount Declared   Record Dates   Payment Dates
             
Series 2023   $0.15625   March 17, April 17, May 17   March 31, April 28, May 31
             
Series 2024   $0.16930   March 17, April 17, May 17   March 31, April 28, May 31
             

In accordance with their terms, each of the Series 2023 Term Preferred Shares and Series 2024 Term Preferred Shares will pay a monthly dividend at a fixed rate of 7.50% and 8.125%, respectively, of the $25.00 per share liquidation preference, or $1.875 and $2.03125 per share per year, respectively. This fixed annual dividend rate is subject to adjustment under certain circumstances, but will not in any case be lower than 7.50% and 8.125% per year, respectively, for each of the Series 2023 Term Preferred Shares and Series 2024 Term Preferred Shares.

Supplemental Information Regarding Core Net Investment Income

On a supplemental basis, we provide information relating to core net investment income, which is a non-GAAP measure. This measure is provided in addition to, but not as a substitute for, net investment income determined in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP measure may differ from similar measures by other companies, even if similar terms are used to identify such measures. Core net investment income represents net investment income adjusted for additional cash distributions received, or entitled to be received (if any, in either case), on our CLO equity investments.

Income from investments in the "equity" class securities of CLO vehicles, for GAAP purposes, is recorded using the effective interest method based upon an effective yield to the expected redemption utilizing estimated cash flows, compared to the cost resulting in an effective yield for the investment; the difference between the actual cash received or distributions entitled to be received and the effective yield calculation is an adjustment to cost. Accordingly, investment income recognized on CLO equity securities in the GAAP statement of operations differs from the cash distributions actually received by us during the period (referred to in the table below as "CLO equity additional distributions").

Further, in order to continue to qualify to be taxed as a regulated investment company ("RIC"), we are required, among other things, to distribute at least 90% of our investment company taxable income annually. Therefore, core net investment income may, for certain periods, provide a better indication of estimated taxable income for a reporting period than does GAAP net investment income, although we can offer no assurance that will be the case as the ultimate tax character of our earnings cannot be determined until tax returns are prepared after the end of a fiscal year. We note that this non-GAAP measure may not be a useful indicator of taxable earnings, particularly during periods of market disruption and volatility. 

The following table provides a reconciliation of net investment income to Core NII for the three months ended December 31, 2016:

     
    Three Months Ended
December 31, 2016
    Amount   Per Share
Amounts
Net investment income   $ 7,664,319   $ 0.380
CLO equity additional distributions     4,076,677     0.202
Core net investment income   $ 11,740,996   $ 0.582
             

A presentation containing further detail regarding our quarterly results of operations has been posted to our website under the Investor Relations section at oxfordlanepresentation

We will host a conference call to discuss our third fiscal quarter results today, Tuesday, February 7, 2016 at 10:00 AM. Please call 1-844-792-3730 to participate. A replay of the call will be available for 30 days. If you are interested in hearing the replay, please dial 1-877-344-7529. The replay passcode is 10100908.

About Oxford Lane Capital Corp.

Oxford Lane Capital Corp. is a publicly-traded registered closed-end management investment company. It currently seeks to achieve its investment objective of maximizing risk-adjusted total return by investing in securitization vehicles which, in turn, primarily invest in senior secured loans made to companies whose debt is unrated or is rated below investment grade.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Certain factors could cause actual results and conditions to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. These factors are identified from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect subsequent events, unless required to do so by law.

Contact Information:

Contact:
Bruce Rubin
203-983-5280