NMFC 2026년 3분기 실적 발표회: 포트폴리오 수익률 12%, NAV 10.67달러로 하락

핵심 요약

• 조정 순투자소득은 주당 0.26달러로, 9월 30일에 지급된 주당 0.25달러의 현금배당금을 충당했습니다. 이사회는 12월 17일 기준 주주를 대상으로 12월 31일에 지급될 2026년 4분기 주당 0.25달러의 배당금을 추가로 선언했습니다.
• 순자산가치(NAV)는 전분기 대비 2% 하락한 주당 10.67달러를 기록했습니다. 경영진은 주당 0.22달러의 감소분 중 0.12달러는 광범위한 시장 변동에, 0.10달러는 인사이트소프트웨어(insightsoftware), 데카 덴탈(Deca Dental), LG 등 특정 신용 관련 평가 손실에 기인한다고 설명했습니다.
• 포트폴리오의 평균 수익률은 12%로 상승했으며, 이는 주로 선도금리 커브의 상승세를 반영한 결과입니다. 경영진은 신규 투자 수익률이 상환 관련 수익률을 상회했다고 밝혔습니다.
• 하나의 소규모 포지션이 추가된 후 비수익자산(Nonaccruals) 비중은 공정가치의 1.8%로 30bp 상승했습니다. 다른 조건이 동일하다면, 4분기 초 컨베이(Convey) 투자 회수를 통해 비수익자산 비중이 공정가치 기준 0.1%, 원가 기준 0.6% 감소할 것으로 예상됩니다.
• 현물지급(PIK) 이자소득은 여전히 주요 관심사로 남아 있습니다. 최초 실행 시 PIK 구조로 설정된 자산의 PIK 소득이 총투자소득의 15%를 차지했으며, 수정된 PIK 소득이 추가로 5%를 차지했습니다.
• 경영진은 M&A 활동이 침체되어 있음에도 불구하고 높은 기준금리, 신용 스프레드 차별화 심화, 더 안전한 자본 구조 덕분에 직접 대출(direct lending) 분야에서 위험조정 수익 기회가 개선되고 있다고 말했습니다.

주요 재무 데이터

NMFC의 3분기 실질 성과보수율은 15%였습니다. 이는 2027년에 영구적으로 15%로 인하하기로 한 기존 발표에 앞서, 140만 달러의 성과보수를 자발적으로 포기한 점이 반영된 결과입니다.

사업 및 운영 실적

NMFC는 방어적 섹터와 반복적 매출, 안정적인 마진, 견고한 현금 흐름을 갖춘 기업에 계속 집중했습니다. 경영진은 베네비스(Benevis), 유니텍(UniTek), 노버스 프로세스 시스템즈(Novus Process Systems)를 포함한 주요 포지션 기업들의 2026년 이익이 두 자릿수 성장세를 기록했다고 강조했습니다. 회사 측에 따르면 유니텍과 노버스는 전력망 및 데이터 센터 확장과 연계된 성장 시장의 수혜도 받고 있습니다.

포트폴리오는 110개 기업으로 구성되어 있습니다. 1순위 담보 자산, 선순위 대출 프로그램, 순임대 투자를 포함한 투자 자산의 약 80%가 선순위 성격을 띠고 있습니다. 지분 포지션은 포트폴리오의 약 6%를 차지했습니다. 선순위 대출 프로그램과 순임대 펀드를 제외하면, 상위 10개 발행사가 전체 공정가치의 24.8%를 차지했습니다.

포트폴리오 건전성은 소폭 약화되었습니다. 녹색(Green) 등급 투자는 2분기 88%에서 86%로 감소한 반면, 노란색(Yellow) 등급 노출액은 10.2%에서 11.7%로 증가했습니다. 노란색 및 주황색(Orange) 등급 포지션의 가중평균 평가액은 액면가의 약 70% 수준이었으며, 경영진은 이것이 NAV에 이미 상당한 위험 경감이 반영되어 있음을 나타낸다고 설명했습니다.

NMFC의 담보인정비율(LTV)은 49%였습니다. 상장(IPO) 이후 회사는 358개 기업에 걸쳐 106억 달러를 투자했으며 약 1억 100만 달러의 실현손실(Net realized losses)을 기록했습니다.

유동성은 풍부한 수준을 유지했습니다. NMFC는 차입 한도 제한을 조건으로 신용 한도 약정 하에서 이용 가능한 약 7억 6,000만 달러를 포함해 총 20억 달러 이상의 차입 여력을 보유하고 있었습니다. 이는 약 1억 4,500만 달러의 미집행 약정액(unfunded commitments)과 대비되는 수준입니다. 잔여 부채의 60% 가까이는 만기가 2029년 이후에 도래합니다.

경영진 전망

경영진의 전략적 우선순위는 지분 포지션 현금화, PIK 소득 감소, 포트폴리오 다변화 확대입니다. 회수금은 1순위 담보 및 현금 지불형 투자에 재투자할 계획이나, 실행 시점은 해당 기업의 실적과 적절한 거래 기회에 따라 달라질 것입니다.

회사는 최근 발행한 무담보 사채와 기존 유동성으로 2027년에 만기가 도래하는 채무를 충당할 수 있을 것으로 예상합니다. 또한 경영진은 무담보 채권 시장에서 활발한 활동을 이어가고 부채 구조를 지속적으로 최적화하여 자산-부채 불일치를 제한할 계획입니다.

경영진은 직접 대출 여건이 더욱 매력적으로 변했다고 판단하고 있습니다. 피치북(PitchBook)에 따르면 올해 들어 현재까지 업계 직접 대출 규모는 전년 대비 약 28% 감소했으나, 스프레드는 2025년 많은 거래에서 SOFR + 450~475bp 수준이었던 것에 비해 현재는 대략 SOFR + 475~600bp 수준으로 확대되었습니다.

위험 요인 및 주시 영역

• 광범위한 시장 변동과 할인율 상승이 분기 NAV 감소분의 절반 이상을 차지했습니다.
• 특정 신용 관련 가치 평가 절하는 인사이트소프트웨어, 데카 덴탈, LG 등 일부 포트폴리오 기업에 영향을 미쳤습니다.
• 복리 효과 및 1건의 대출이 현금 지불에서 PIK 방식으로 전환됨에 따라 투자소득 중 PIK 소득이 차지하는 비중이 증가했습니다.
• 경영진은 지속적인 인플레이션, 공급망 변동성, 소비자 심리 위축, 지자학적 갈등, AI 관련 변화(disruption), 밸류에이션 격차 등을 시장의 역풍 요인으로 꼽았습니다.
• M&A 활동은 2025년 수준을 하회하는 상태를 유지했으며, 이는 지분 현금화 및 포트폴리오 교체 시기에 영향을 미칠 수 있습니다.
• 소비 위축은 저소득층/저가 제품군에 집중되었습니다. 경영진은 NMFC의 반려동물 케어 및 세차장 관련 노출액이 상대적으로 방어적이라고 설명한 반면, 치과 분야의 어려움은 소비자 요인보다는 운영상의 요인이 크다고 평가했습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용

지분 현금화를 위해 M&A 시장의 전반적인 회복이 필요한지에 대한 질문에 경영진은 거래 시장 활성화가 도움이 되겠지만 필수적인 것은 아니라고 답했습니다. 더 중요한 요인은 대상 기업의 내재된 실적과 적정한 가치로 매각할 수 있는 기회를 찾는 것입니다.

소비자 대상 헬스케어 관련 노출액에 대해 경영진은 수의학 및 반려동물 케어 사업이 일부 임의적 요소를 포함하고 있지만 전반적으로 안정적인 매출을 보이고 있다고 말했습니다. 치과 분야의 문제는 주로 운영상의 문제로 평가되었으며, 실행에 대한 면밀한 주의가 필요하다고 언급했습니다.

또한 경영진은 대규모 PIK 수익 자산 및 지분 포지션의 실적 개선이 계획된 매각 일정을 뒷받침하며, 유리한 가치로 해당 자산을 현금화할 수 있는 기회를 제공할 수 있다고 밝혔습니다.

선순위 대출 프로그램 및 순임대 수단으로부터의 수익이 전분기 대비 감소한 것은 특정 악재 때문이 아니라 기초 자산의 실현 및 펀드 활동의 통상적인 변동성에 기인한 것입니다.

실적 발표 콘퍼런스 콜 전문 녹취록

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the New Mountain Finance Corporation Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to John Kline, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

John Kline

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to New Mountain Finance Corporation's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. On the line with me here today are Steve Klinsky, Chairman of NMFC and CEO of New Mountain Capital; and Laura Holson, COO and Interim CFO of NMFC. Steve is going to make some introductory remarks, but before he does, I'd like to ask Laura to make some important statements regarding today's call.

Laura Holson

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. Before we get into the presentation, I would like to advise everyone that today's call and webcast are being recorded. Please note that they are the property of New Mountain Finance Corporation and that any unauthorized broadcast in any form is strictly prohibited. Information about the audio replay of this call is available in our November 2 earnings press release.

I would also like to call your attention to the customary safe harbor disclosure in our press release and on Pages 2 and 3 of slide presentation regarding forward-looking statements. Today's conference call and webcast may include forward-looking statements and projections, and we ask that you refer to our most recent filings with the SEC for important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements and projections. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements or projections unless required to by law. All materials referenced during today's call, including the earnings press release, earnings presentation and Form 10-Q are available on our website at www.newmountainfinance.com.

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Steve Klinsky, NMFC's Chairman, who will give some highlights beginning on Page 6 of the slide presentation. Steve?

Steven Klinsky

Thanks, Laura. It's great to be able to address you all today, both as NMFC's Chairman and as a major fellow shareholder. Adjusted net investment income for the third quarter was $0.26 per share, covering our $0.25 per share dividend that was paid in cash on September 30. Looking forward to Q4, we would like to announce a $0.25 dividend payable on December 31 to shareholders of record as of December 17.

Our net asset value per share of $10.67 and declined 2% compared to Q2, largely due to mark-to-market movement on a handful of idiosyncratic credits, particularly on some of our quoted assets. Earnings in 2026 have grown at double-digit rates at some of our biggest positions, including Benevis, UniTek and the Novus Process Systems, formerly known as Permian. UniTek and Novus are also seeing new growth markets tied to the expansion of the electric grid and data centers. We think the current environment is a good time to enter the credit markets as risk-adjusted returns and direct lending appear to be attractive compared to the narrow market spreads of past years.

As discussed in past calls, we have pledged to voluntarily and permanently reduce our fees to be more shareholder friendly. Despite all these positives, and as I've said before, I believe NMFC continues to be oversold with the stock trading at approximately 65% of book value. At these trading levels, NMFC's book value would have to depreciate nearly $345 million versus our marks as of September 30, or about 15% of our portfolio at fair value to bring book value down to where the stock trades.

At Friday's closing stock price, NMFC is paying a cash yield of 14%, roughly 6 percentage points above the average yield of the high-yield bond index and we believe the dividend is sustainable. Shareholders who have been with NMFC since its public offering have received $20.95 of total cash back versus their initial price of $13.75 per share and also have the $10.67 of book value per share today. This equates to a 9.9% annualized return since NMFC's inception or 8.9% at the current depressed stock price, all at an annualized realized total net loss rate of just 6 basis points.

This 9.9% long-term return exceeds the high-yield bond index by approximately 4.5 percentage points. Long-term loyal shareholders have received all their investment back in cash, plus 103% and assuming a hypothetical sale at the current depressed stock price. Returns made by reinvesting these past cash dividends would be in addition to this amount. I and my fellow NMC executives remain the largest shareholders of NMFC stock and our ownership position has been increasing over time.

Overall, New Mountain ownership increased from approximately 14% last year to approximately 18% of total shares outstanding as of September 30. We thank you, as always, for your friendship and ownership, and we are working diligently to serve your interest in the months and years ahead.

With that, let me turn the call over to John for more details and comments.

John Kline

Thank you, Steve. I'll begin on Page 7. Our direct lending strategy focuses on defensive sectors with sustainable tailwinds and on businesses with recurring revenue stable margins and strong cash flow across economic environments. Our strategy has been built to navigate current economic challenges like persistent inflation, supply chain volatility and weaker consumer confidence. We prioritize transparency and we seek to provide more granular disclosure of our industry niches, so investors can see exactly what we own.

Page 8 shows our long-term track record of delivering consistent, enhanced yield by minimizing credit losses and distributing virtually all of our excess income to shareholders. NMFC's loan-to-value ratio is 49%, which reflects our latest view of enterprise value at each portfolio company. We recalculate loan to value every quarter, so it reflects current market conditions.

Turning to Page 9. Our strategic priorities include monetizing equity positions, reducing PIK income and increasing position diversity. As Steve mentioned, many of our equity and pick yielding positions are performing well, and we continue to see potential catalysts for exits. We're focused on the right outcome for the portfolio, which sometimes requires patients. As opportunities materialize, our objective is to redeploy proceeds into first lien cash paying investments to improve portfolio diversification and income quality. Our liability structure remains well positioned with further opportunity in 2027 to extend near-term maturities.

On Page 10, 86% of the portfolio is rated green compared to 88% last quarter. We saw an increase in the yellow category from 10.2% to 11.7% in our yellow and orange names carry a weighted average mark of approximately $0.70, reflecting meaningful derisking already captured in the current NAV. This heat Mac migration is reflective of modest stress on certain older vintage investments which we continue to work through. We expect to make progress migrating to newer names in the upcoming quarters, which should be beneficial to overall portfolio quality.

Page 11 shows the NAV bridge. Book value per share ended the quarter at $10.67, down $0.22 from $10.89 in Q2. We of approximately $0.12 of the decline reflected broader market movements driven by higher discount rates on leveraged loan assets. While the remaining $0.10 reflected credit-specific movements in a handful of positions, including insightsoftware, Deca Dental and LG. While this is not the NAV rule we want, we do see positive catalysts on certain of these names and other discounted names in the portfolio.

Page 12 covers credit performance. Nonaccruals at fair value were 1.8%, up 30 basis points from last quarter as a very small position was added to the list. On the flip side, we exited convey early in Q4, which will reduce nonaccruals next quarter by 0.1% at fair market value and 0.6% at cost all things equal. On the right side of the page is our cumulative record since IPO, where we have invested $10.6 billion across 358 companies with net realized losses of approximately $101 million. We remain focused on recovering unrealized losses through pull to par on certain loans and through equity exits I mentioned.

I will now turn the call over to Laura to discuss the credit market environment and provide more details on the quarter.

Laura Holson

Thanks, John. Turning to Page 13. M&A activity to date in 2026 remains below 2025 levels with industry-wide direct lending volume down approximately 28% year-to-date according to PitchBook. We still believe M&A activity will pick up at some point, given the backlog of private equity exits and pressure to return capital, but the current investment environment is full of cross currents. These include conflicting macroeconomic signals around inflation, consumer health, labor markets and commodity prices, ongoing geopolitical conflicts the impact of AI and the accelerating pace of technological change and persistent valuation gaps.

While we haven't seen the meaningful pickup that we've been predicting, our deal flow has been steady, particularly in the defensive growth sectors where we focus. We continue to think that direct lending offers attractive returns and compelling enhanced yield. As a floating rate asset class, our all-in return benefits from rising base rates. At the start of 2026, the forward curve was actually predicting base rate cuts. Today, base rates have remained higher for longer, and the forward curve is now pricing in rate increases over the next 12 months.

We believe this creates a tailwind. Additionally, we're seeing what we believe is a healthy bifurcation in the market around spreads. Throughout 2025, we noted on several of our earnings calls that most direct lending deals priced at SOFR plus 450 to 475 regardless of size, sponsor or asset quality. That made for a challenging investing environment and our strategy was really focused on staying safe. Today, spreads range from SOFR plus 475 on the tight end to SOFR plus 600 on the wider end Note that this is the case even in an environment where M&A remains somewhat muted.

I'd attribute this to a more balanced supply and demand dynamic. Even as deal flow is lower, less direct lending capital is available to chase deals, particularly on the heels of recent industry-wide redemptions. We've also seen this translate into more attractive capital structures with lower leverage and tighter documentation. To summarize, we think the combination of higher base rates more discerning spreads and safer capital structures provides attractive risk-adjusted returns in direct lending.

Turning to Slide 14. Origination activity was intentionally light in the quarter as we remained fully invested. We originated $10 million of investments offset by $44 million of sales and repayments. Slide 15 shows that the average yield of NMFC's portfolio increased to 12% during the quarter largely due to the upward shift in the forward curve. Although portfolio activity was modest, yields on new investments exceeded those on repayments. We continue to believe these yields are attractive for the risk.

Turning to Slide 16. Approximately 80% of the portfolio, including first lien investments, SLPs and net lease investments is senior in nature, consistent with the prior quarter. Equity positions represent approximately 6% of the portfolio with the largest positions shown on the right side of the page.

Slide 17 highlights the diversification of our portfolio across 110 companies. Excluding investments in the SLPs and net lease funds, our top 10 single name issuers represent 24.8% of total fair value. As John mentioned earlier, increasing portfolio diversification remains an important priority, and we believe we have line of sight into further progress over the coming quarters.

I will now review our financial results, beginning on Slide 18. For the third quarter, total investment income was $60 million, down 1.8% from the prior quarter. Total net expenses were approximately $36 million, down 1.4% from the prior quarter. NMFC's effective incentive fee rate for Q3 was 15%, reflecting a voluntary waiver of $1.4 million of incentive fees ahead of the previously announced permanent reduction to 15% in 2027. Adjusted net investment income for the quarter was $0.26 per share, more than covering our third quarter dividend. For the fourth quarter, our Board has declared a dividend of $0.25 per share.

Slide 19 provides additional detail on cash and PIK income. PIK income from assets structured with PIK and originations represented 15% of total investment income. Modified PIK resulting from amendments or restructurings, represented 5% of total investment income, up slightly from the prior quarter. The increase in total PIK income as a percentage of investment income reflects PIK compounding and 1 loan moving from cash pay to PIK in the quarter.

Importantly, investments generating noncash income during the quarter are marked at a weighted average fair value of approximately 94% of par and 81% of this income is generated by names rated green on our heat map. Reducing PIK income remains a strategic priority, and we continue to focus on improving the cash paying composition of our portfolio over time.

Moving to the balance sheet on Slide 20. As of September 30, the portfolio had total assets of $2.4 billion, total liabilities of $1.3 billion and net asset value of $1 billion or $10.67 per share. Our net debt-to-equity ratio was 1.15x, within our target range of 1 to 1.25x. Shortly after quarter end, we received a few sizable repayments, namely Thorne and Mercer Advisors. Pro forma for those repayments, our statutory net debt-to-equity ratio decreased to 1.09x.

On Slide 21, we highlight our diversified financing sources and leverage profile. We have more than $2 billion of total borrowing capacity, including approximately $760 million available under our credit facilities, subject to borrowing base limitations. This capacity more than covers our approximately $145 million of unfunded commitments as well as our 2027 maturities. During the second quarter, we priced a $150 million private placement with a delayed funding date, which funded on October 1. We expect to remain active in the unsecured debt market in line with our strategic priorities.

Turning to Slide 22, we show our debt maturity schedule. As mentioned, we have already covered our 2027 maturities through our recent unsecured issuance and existing liquidity. We continue to ladder our maturities with nearly 60% of outstanding debt maturing in 2029 or later.

Lastly, Slide 23 summarizes the floating and fixed state composition of our assets and liabilities. As of September 30, 88% of the NMFC loan portfolio was floating rate and 12% was fixed rate. Our liabilities were 77% floating rate and 23% fixed rate compared to 74% floating rate last quarter. This represents an important milestone as we have now exceeded our target of more than 75% floating rate liabilities. We intend to continue optimizing our liability mix to reduce potential asset liability mismatches.

With that, I will turn the call back over to John.

John Kline

Thank you, Laura. In closing, we would like to thank all of our stakeholders for the ongoing partnership, and we look forward to speaking to you again on our fourth quarter 2026 earnings call in February.

I will now turn things back to the operator to begin Q&A. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Robert Dodd with Raymond James.

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Robert Dodd

A couple of questions. So I mean, 1 of the things you pointed out, obviously, you're seeking monetizations on the equity, which has been a theme. And yes, it takes a while. Does -- is the market just extremely uncooperative right now? I mean, to your point, M&A activity in general is down substantially. I mean, is it -- is it realistic that we're only going to see these monetizations and rotation to income producing assets. If the market is substantively more cooperative?

Or is it just -- I mean, obviously, these are case-by-case assets, but still the market doesn't seem to be helping you out here. So is that what we need to look for that be more optimistic if the market picks up that, that monetization could actually happen otherwise sit back and be patient.

Laura Holson

I don't think it's so directly tied to the overall volume of M&A environment. Certainly, a more robust M&A environment is more constructive, of course, but it's not like there's no M&A happening right now. I think, in some of our prepared remarks, we talked about seeing steady opportunities for us in direct lending. And so I think that is a result of kind of steady M&A activity, which is not as robust as maybe we've seen in years past. I think it's most important, how the underlying companies are performing.

That's really what we've been focused on, and as Steve talked about in his remarks, we feel like those underlying companies are performing well. So I think that's a good place to start. And then we'll, obviously, as John said, I have to be a little bit patient to just find the right opportunities. But overall, we don't think that we need to wait for a prolific M&A environment in order to execute some of those strategic priorities.

Robert Dodd

Got it. Sort of related follow-on. I mean, as you point out, there's a lot of cross currents out there right now and later now seem to be on the way back up, which would be positive earnings if there's no secondary effects. When we look at the -- obviously, 1 of your larger markdowns on the credit side, this quarter was decadent. That's been a theme in the space, not just you. There's a lot of dental that's been having issues. There's a lot of veterinary and you've got exposure there as well.

Is there an issue that with how the consumer is right now mixed messages there as well. Is there an issue that there's only so much pricing power some of these businesses, be it dental or veterinary or others can pass through to a consumer but their cost structure and their interest expenses are still going through the same pressures. And so are we just going to see more and more of those kind of consumer sort of thought to be more robust businesses, but ones that have passed through the pricing power they can? Are we just going to see more and more problems on -- in that kind of segment of your and frankly other people's portfolio?

John Kline

Sure. It's a great question. And from what we see is across the consumer is a bit of weakness on the low end and strength on the higher end. In general, when we think about the consumer exposure we have in NMFC, we think it's more on the defensive side because it's not overly discretionary. When we think about PET, we have some first lien exposure to veterinarian pet and in general, we think that while there's some discretionary aspects, it's relatively stable from a top line perspective even in a weaker consumer environment. So we feel okay about that.

On the dental side, I think the issues are less consumer and more operational and so any dental exposure that we have would be very focused on making sure the operations are running as smoothly and crisply as possible. And then just more broadly, when we think about the rest of our portfolio, the only other area that I can think of where there's material consumer exposure would be car wash, which we see as being pretty low ticket, and pretty stable when we look at the best car wash platforms out there, and we think we have good exposure to that niche. So that would be the way I would answer it.

Operator

We'll move to our next question from Ethan Kaye with Lucid Capital Markets.

Ethan Kaye

You indicated there's some improving performance across some of the larger portfolio positions, which I think you just touched on. But I mean, can you kind of elaborate on that any further? And does that kind of change the pressure or like time line maybe with which you look to exit these positions?

John Kline

I would say it's supportive of the time line that we seek to exit some of these positions. So I just think, as Laura said, it's good that we have momentum in some of our larger positions, some of our pick yielding positions, some of our equity positions. And we think that will give us an opportunity to exit at a good value.

Ethan Kaye

Okay. And then I noticed there was a bit of a decline in income from the senior loan programs and the net lease. Can you just talk about maybe what drove that this quarter?

Laura Holson

Sure. Yes. I mean these vehicles generally produce pretty consistent income we find, but there is a little bit of volatility quarter-to-quarter just based on underlying realizations or activity at those funds themselves. So we would expect to see a little bit of movement quarter-over-quarter. So nothing in particular that I would call out, just normal quarter-to-quarter volatility.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] It appears there are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to John for any additional or closing remarks.

John Kline

Great. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining our third quarter call, and we look forward to speaking to you again in the new year. Thank you.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you again for your participation. You may now disconnect, and have a great day.