Fintech
Mount Logan Capital Inc. Announces March 2020 Interim Results; Declares Shareholder Distribution
Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – May 11, 2020) – Mount Logan Capital Inc. (NEO: MLC) (“Mount Logan,” “our,” “we,” or the “Company”) announces its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020. All amounts are stated in United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
First quarter 2020 highlights:
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Achieved quarterly investment income of $1.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020
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As of March 31, 2020, the fair value of the Company’s portfolio was $54.7 million1, consisting of 80.0% in first lien senior secured loans, 5.6% in promissory notes and 14.4% in the Great Lakes Unitranche Joint Venture
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Adjusted net investment income of $182,000
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Primarily driven by unrealized losses, net loss and comprehensive loss for the quarter was $2.3 million, or $(0.22) per basic and diluted share
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Net assets of $31.8 million as of March 31, 2020 and net asset value per share as of March 31, 2020 of USD$3.00
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Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) of $8.9 million as of March 31, 2020
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The board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) declared a cash dividend in the amount of CAD$0.02 per common share to be paid on June 26, 2020 to shareholders of record on May 21, 2020
Ted Goldthorpe, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Mount Logan, noted, “We are pleased with our results for the quarter, especially amid the market volatility, and we remain vigilant on the portfolio in this unprecedented environment. We will continue to actively evaluate additional new investments that present an immense opportunity amid the recent market volatility. While we understand and appreciate that the long-term impacts of COVID-19 are uncertain, we believe that Mount Logan’s investment portfolio and balance sheet are positioned defensively and that our management team will continue to take steps to protect stakeholder value and continue to drive value through opportunistically deploying capital in the current environment.”
Results of operations – three months ended March 31, 2020
Total investment income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $1.1 million as compared to $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The increase in investment income is attributable to the growth in the Company’s investment portfolio related to the broadening of the Company’s investment strategy following its plan of arrangement completed in October 2018, the greater capital resources available to the Company from equity financings, and from the Company’s revolving senior loan facility which closed in February 2019.
Total expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 were $1.2 million, including interest and financing expense under the revolving senior loan facility of $0.6 million, as compared to total expenses of $0.5 million in the same period last year.
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1Excludes the Company’s legacy investment in Cline Mining Corporation (“Cline”), which is subject to the contingent value rights issued by the Company to the holders of the common shares of the Company prior to its plan of arrangement completed in October 2018.
Portfolio and Investment Activity
The fair value of our portfolio was $54.7 million as of March 31, 2020 (excluding Cline). The composition of our investment portfolio at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 at fair value (in each case, excluding Cline) was as follows:
| March 31, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fair value | % of total | Fair value | % of total | ||||||||||||||
| First Lien Loan | $ | 43,721 | 80.0 | % | $ | 48,013 | 79.2 | % | |||||||||
| Promissory Notes and Unsecured Debt | 3,068 | 5.6 | % | 3,068 | 5.0 | % | |||||||||||
| Great Lakes Unitranche Joint Venture | 7,866 | 14.4 | % | 9,532 | 15.7 | % | |||||||||||
| $ | 54,655 | 100.0 | % | $ | 60,613 | 99.9 | % | ||||||||||
For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recognized $2.3 million in unrealized depreciation on its investment portfolio from decreases in the fair value of some of its portfolio company investments primarily due to the potential adverse economic effects and uncertainty presented by COVID-19 the related re-pricing of credit risk in the broadly syndicated credit market.
On January 22, 2020, Marret Asset Management Inc., the former manager, announced that Cline had entered into a binding agreement for the sale by Cline to Allegiance Coal Limited of all the shares in New Elk Coal Company, LLC. The total acquisition consideration is $55.0 million and completion of the sale is anticipated to occur this year. The net proceeds received by the Company will be distributed to holders of the Company’s contingent value rights.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
At March 31, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) of $8.9 million, total assets of $70.7 million and shareholders’ equity of $31.8 million. Our net asset value per common share was USD$3.00. As of March 31, 2020, we had $34.4 million of borrowings outstanding on our revolving senior loan facility. On January 31, 2020, the revolving senior loan facility was amended to, among other things, extend the maturity date from February 21, 2020 to February 19, 2021.
Subject to prevailing market conditions, we intend to grow our portfolio of assets by raising additional capital, including through the prudent use of leverage available to us and potentially raising additional equity from time to time.
Our interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and related management’s discussion and analysis will be available on the Company’s website at www.mountlogancapital.ca and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
Dividend Declaration
The Board has declared a cash dividend in the amount of CAD$0.02 per common share to be paid on June 26, 2020 to shareholders of record on May 21, 2020. This dividend is designated by the Company as an eligible dividend for the purpose of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any similar provincial or territorial legislation. An enhanced dividend tax credit applies to eligible dividends paid to Canadian residents.
The declaration and payment by the Company of any future cash dividends, including the amount thereof, will be at the discretion of the Board and will depend on, among other things, the financial condition, capital requirements and earnings of the Company.
Conference Call
We will hold a conference call on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss our first quarter 2020 financial results. Shareholders, prospective shareholders, and analysts are welcome to listen to the call. To register for the call and access dial-in information please visit https://bit.ly/2yuPBrp. The recording of the conference call will be available on our Company’s website www.mountlogancapital.ca in the Investor Relations section under Events.
About Mount Logan Capital Inc.
Mount Logan Capital Inc. is a Canada-based asset manager created to source and execute on credit investment opportunities in North America. The Company holds and actively manages and monitors a portfolio of loans and other investments with credit-oriented characteristics. The Company intends to actively source, evaluate, underwrite, monitor, and primarily invest in additional loans, debt securities, and other credit-oriented instruments that present attractive risk-adjusted returns and present low risk of principal impairment through the credit cycle.
Non-IFRS Financial Measures
This news release makes reference to certain non-IFRS financial measures. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement IFRS financial measures by providing further understanding of the Company’s results of operations from management’s perspective. The Company’s definitions of non-IFRS measures used in this news release may not be the same as the definitions for such measures used by other companies in their reporting. Non-IFRS measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information reported under IFRS. The Company has included herein certain non-IFRS supplemental measures of key performance, including, but not limited to, adjusted net investment income, net asset value (“NAV”) per share and comprehensive income. We utilize these measures in managing our business, including performance measurement. We believe that providing these performance measures on a supplemental basis is helpful to investors in assessing the overall performance of the Company’s business. However, these measures are not recognized under IFRS. The definitions and calculations of the non-IFRS measures used in this news release are described in greater detail in the Company’s management discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The Company believes that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS financial measures in the evaluation of issuers. The Company’s management also uses non- IFRS financial measures in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period.
Change in Functional Currency
Prior to January 1, 2020, the Company’s functional currency was the Canadian dollar (“CAD”). In accordance with International Auditing Standards 21, The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates (“IAS 21”), an entity’s functional currency should reflect the underlying transactions, events and conditions that are relevant to the entity. Management considered primary and secondary indicators in determining functional currency, including the currency that influences sales prices, labor, purchases and other costs. Other indicators included the currency in which funds from financing activities are generated and the currency in which receipts from operations are usually retained. Beginning in 2018, the Company began shifting its investment focus to the U.S. market and the Company’s economic and currency exposure has shifted from Canada to the United States. At December 31, 2019, over 90.0% of the Company’s investments were fully exposed to the United States dollar (“USD”) and the Company earned a significant amount of its revenue in USD.
Based on these factors, management concluded that effective January 1, 2020, the Company’s functional currency should be USD. The Company has accounted for the change in functional currency prospectively, as provided for under IAS 21 with no impact of this change on prior year comparative information other than in conjunction with the change in presentation currency previously made effective January 1, 2019.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the expressions “seeks”, “expects”, “believes”, “estimates”, “will”, “target” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect the current expectations of the Company regarding future results or events and are based on information currently available to them. Certain material factors and assumptions were applied in providing these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements discussed in this release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company’s business strategy, model, approach and future activities, portfolio composition and size, asset management activities and related income, capital raising activities, future credit opportunities of the Company, portfolio realizations, the protection of stakeholder value and the expansion of the Company’s loan portfolio. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions; however, the Company can give no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized by certain specified dates or at all. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the matters discussed under “Risks Factors” in the most recently filed annual information form and management discussion and analysis for the Company. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, a forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any such statement or to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances except as required by securities laws. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release.
This press release is not, and under no circumstances is it to be construed as, a prospectus or an advertisement and the communication of this release is not, and under no circumstances is it to be construed as, an offer to sell or an offer to purchase any securities in the Company or in any fund or other investment vehicle.
For additional information, contact:
Ted Gilpin
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
(212) 891-5007
Mount Logan Capital Inc.
365 Bay Street, Suite 800
Toronto, ON M5H 2V1
MOUNT LOGAN CAPITAL INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
(in thousands of United States dollars, except number of shares and per share amounts)
| March 31, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| (unaudited) | |||||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||||
| Investments, at fair value | $ | 58,242 | $ | 64,489 | |||||||||
| Cash | 668 | 425 | |||||||||||
| Restricted cash | 8,261 | 6,733 | |||||||||||
| Receivable for investments sold | 303 | – | |||||||||||
| Due from affiliates, net | 118 | 411 | |||||||||||
| Accrued interest and dividend receivable | 204 | 358 | |||||||||||
| Deferred tax asset | 2,863 | 2,863 | |||||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | 23 | 33 | |||||||||||
| Total assets | $ |
70,682 | $ | 75,312 | |||||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||||
| Credit facility (net of deferred financing costs of $441 and $80, respectively) | $ | 33,959 | $ | 34,320 | |||||||||
| Payable for investments purchased | – | 1,880 | |||||||||||
| Interest payable | 490 | 383 | |||||||||||
| Dividends payable to shareholders | 151 | – | |||||||||||
| Contingent value rights | 3,589 | 3,876 | |||||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | 728 | 644 | |||||||||||
| Total liabilities | 38,917 | 41,103 | |||||||||||
| Shareholders’ equity | |||||||||||||
| Share capital | 80,988 | 80,988 | |||||||||||
| Warrants | 1,086 | 1,086 | |||||||||||
| Contributed surplus | 7,240 | 7,240 | |||||||||||
| Deficit | (35,691) | (33,247) | |||||||||||
| Cumulative translation adjustment | (21,858) | (21,858) | |||||||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 31,765 | 34,209 | |||||||||||
| Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | $ |
70,682 | $ | 75,312 | |||||||||
| Common shares issued and outstanding | 10,604,998 | 10,604,998 | |||||||||||
| Net asset value per share | $ |
3.00 | $ | 3.23 | |||||||||
MOUNT LOGAN CAPITAL INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(in thousands of United States dollars, except number of shares and per share amounts)
| Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Investment income | |||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 865 | $ | 483 | |||||||||
| Dividend income | 215 | – | |||||||||||
| Total investment income | 1,080 | 483 | |||||||||||
| Operating expenses | |||||||||||||
| Administration fees | 148 | – | |||||||||||
| Arrangement costs | – | 138 | |||||||||||
| Interest and other credit facility expenses | 648 | 90 | |||||||||||
| Professional fees | 215 | 122 | |||||||||||
| Compensation | 56 | 81 | |||||||||||
| Marketing | 32 | – | |||||||||||
| Directors’ fees | 21 | 23 | |||||||||||
| Regulatory and shareholder relations | 24 | 26 | |||||||||||
| Other general and administrative | 37 | 19 | |||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 1,181 | 499 | |||||||||||
| Net investment income (loss) | (101) | (16) | |||||||||||
| Realized and unrealized gain (loss) | |||||||||||||
| Net realized gain (loss) on investments | 41 | 25 | |||||||||||
| Net realized loss on foreign currency | 1 | – | |||||||||||
| Net change in unrealized appreciation on investments | (2,266) | 10 | |||||||||||
| Net change in unrealized (loss) gain on foreign currency | 32 | (469 | |||||||||||
| Total net realized and unrealized (loss) gain | (2,192) | (434 | |||||||||||
| Loss and comprehensive loss before income tax | (2,293) | (450 | |||||||||||
| Deferred tax recovered | – | 698 | |||||||||||
| Income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) | $ |
(2,293) | $ |
248 | |||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding – basic and diluted | 10,604,998 | 10,233,905 | |||||||||||
| Income (loss) per share – basic and diluted | $ |
(0.22) | $ |
0.02 | |||||||||
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/55693
Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.
In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.
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Comments
There are several levels related to this point.
LEVEL 1
Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.
Just to compare:
LEVEL 2
Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.
LEVEL 3
It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.
LEVEL 4
Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.
2. Average views number per video
This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?
First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.
Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.
3. Influencer’s channel statistics
The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.
LEVEL 1
When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.
LEVEL 2
After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.
If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.
Example of statistics
Wrapping up
These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.
If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.
Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process.
Author
Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters
The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.
Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.
Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.
The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.
As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.
Source: fintech.globa
The post Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.
The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.
This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.
TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.
Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.
TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.
Source: fintechfutures.com
The post TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
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