Rand Capital Corp (NASDAQ: RAND) reported Q4 EPS of $0.13, versus $0.15 reported last year.

Allen F. (“Pete”) Grum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rand Capital, commented, “2019 was a transformational year for us. We ended it as a fundamentally different company, structured to provide better returns to our shareholders. The year culminated with a $25 million investment in Rand by East Asset Management (East), in exchange for approximately 8.3 million shares of Rand common stock. We received approximately $9.5 million in portfolio assets and $15.5 million of cash, which we look forward to investing to grow Rand’s investment portfolio.”

He noted, “We have nearly completed the process of transforming Rand into a regulated investment company (RIC). As announced last week, our Board declared a $23.7 million, or $1.62 per share, special dividend equivalent to our accumulated earnings and profits, payable in a combination of cash and Rand common stock. The members of the Rand Board and management team have all expressed their intent to elect to receive the dividend in the form of Rand common stock, evidencing our confidence in Rand’s future. Following payment of the special dividend, the Board intends to authorize a reverse stock split of between 7:1 and 10:1. The effect will be to consolidate the number of existing shares of Rand stock into fewer, proportionately more valuable shares.”

Mr. Grum added, “Rand Capital Management’s newly formed investment committee has been actively engaged in seeking opportunities to put our new capital to work. Our focus is on more interest-yielding debt securities to increase investment income, facilitating the future payment of regular cash dividends to our shareholders.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Rand Capital Corp (RAND) click here.