Rand Capital Corp (NASDAQ: RAND) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.14), versus $1.19 reported last year.

• Fourth quarter investment income grew 7% to $1.1 million and net investment income grew measurably to $0.7 million compared with the fourth quarter of 2019
• Investment income for the year grew 14% to $3.1 million compared with 2019; net investment income was measurably higher at $1.8 million
• Net asset value was $17.86 per share at year end
• Made largest initial funding of $3.8 million in new portfolio company in the fourth quarter
• Declared $1.33 per share for 2020 dividend; consisted of $0.39 per share from net investment income and $0.94 per share from capital gains
• 3,234 shares repurchased in the fourth quarter; 6,631 total shares purchased in 2020
• Announced first regular dividend of $0.10 per share for first quarter 2021

Allen F. (“Pete”) Grum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rand, commented, “We made measurable progress in 2020 with the transformation of Rand Capital. We declared a special dividend of $23.7 million, or $1.62 per share in March; executed a 1:9 reverse stock split in May; declared the 2020 dividend of $1.33 per share in December and continued to evolve our portfolio. Importantly, we have now structured a path for regularly quarterly dividend payments.”

He added, “The evolution of our portfolio to align with our strategy to be a dividend paying BDC is apparent in the 14% growth in investment income for the year. We focused on more interest-yielding debt securities to increase our investment income in support of our planned regular quarterly cash dividends. We also purchased the securities of several other publicly traded BDCs. This put capital to work earning dividends while providing for ready liquidity as our lending pipeline builds. Through liquidations or exits, we also reduced equity investments by seven portfolio companies. Our equity holdings at the end of 2020 comprised 50% of our portfolio, down from 59% when we entered the year, excluding the investments made in other BDCs. Importantly, we believe most of the remaining portfolio equity investments have strong capital return potential.”

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