Exhibit 99.1
WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Results and Declares Quarterly Distribution of $0.37 Per Share
NEW YORK, August 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (“WhiteHorse Finance” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: WHF) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. In addition, the Company’s board of directors has declared a distribution of $0.37 per share with respect to the quarter ended June 30, 2023. The distribution will be payable on October 3, 2023 to stockholders of record as of September 19, 2023.
Second Quarter 2023 Summary Highlights
●Net Asset Value of $325.3 million, or $14.00 per share
●Investment portfolio(1) totaling $728.4 million
●STRS JV investment portfolio totaling $324.5 million
●Gross investment deployments(2) of $23.8 million for the second quarter, including new originations of $19.3 million and $4.5 million of fundings for add-ons to existing investments
●Net investment income of $10.6 million, or $0.456 per share
●Core net investment income of $10.6 million, or $0.456 per share(3)
●Second quarter distribution of $0.37 per share
Stuart Aronson, WhiteHorse Finance's Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am pleased to report that WhiteHorse’s core net investment income increased by nearly 35% compared with the second quarter of 2022 and was well in excess of our regular dividend. While we marked down some assets during the quarter and placed two portfolio companies on non-accrual, activity was limited to consumer-facing portfolio companies and certain portfolio companies that experienced challenges independent of economic conditions largely due to market pricing. The investments in our existing portfolio were underwritten at modest leverage levels and are generally well positioned to service our debt in a rising interest rate environment. Additionally, our portfolio remains overwhelmingly represented by non-cyclical or light cyclical borrowers. The current market environment offers exceptionally attractive terms as terms and conditions in the lower middle market have returned to more normalized conditions and the quality of deals has improved. Our pipeline has returned to an all-time high, and we continue to derive significant advantages from our three-tier sourcing architecture and our affiliation with H.I.G. Capital, a leader in the low and mid-markets. The strength of the pipeline enables us to be conservative in our deal selection, and we are being cautious in the face of a weakening economy and remain focused on credits with compelling risk return characteristics. The deals that we're continuing to work on are mostly non-cyclical or light cyclicals, and we continue to be highly selective about which credits we underwrite.”
Portfolio and Investment Activity
As of June 30, 2023, the fair value of WhiteHorse Finance’s investment portfolio was $728.4 million, compared with $749.2 million as of March 31, 2023. The portfolio as of June 30, 2023 consisted of 116 positions across 70 companies with a weighted average effective yield of 13.4% on income-producing debt investments. The average debt investment size (excluding investments in STRS JV (as defined below)) was $7.1 million with the overall portfolio comprised of approximately 81.3% first lien secured loans, 2.4% second lien secured loans, 2.2% equity and 14.1% in investments in STRS JV. Almost all loans were variable rate investments (primarily indexed to the London Interbank Offered Rate or Secured Overnight Financing Rate) with fixed rate securities representing only 0.8% of loans at fair value. Nearly all performing floating rate investments have interest rate floors.
During the three months ended June 30, 2023, WhiteHorse Finance made investments in three new portfolio companies for a total of $19.3 million and added a total of $4.5 million to existing portfolio companies. Proceeds from sales and repayments totaled approximately $28.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, driven by three full realizations in Arcole Holding Corporation, Lenny & Larry’s, LLC and Avision Holdings, LLC and received net repayments of $1.5 million related to revolver loans.
In addition to the transactions discussed above, during the three months ended June 30, 2023, WhiteHorse Finance transferred assets comprised of two new portfolio companies and one add-on investment, totaling $12.6 million to STRS JV in exchange for cash proceeds of $10.8 and a net investment in the STRS JV of $1.8 million.