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LLM Evaluations

Transcript Summary

Runway Growth Finance (RGC) reported Q1 2026 results marked by the strategic closing of the SWK acquisition, which significantly diversifies the portfolio, increasing healthcare and life sciences exposure to 32% and expanding the total portfolio to $1.1 billion on a pro forma basis. Total investment income was $29.5 million, with net investment income (NII) of $10.6 million, or $0.29 per share, which was lower than the $0.33 per share dividend. The NAV per share dropped to $12.13, primarily due to unrealized depreciation from two new nonaccrual loans, Marley Spoon and BlueShift, and costs associated with the SWK transaction. Management announced a transition plan where CFO Tom Raterman will become Vice Chairman, and Carmela Thomson will assume the CFO role. Despite the credit headwinds, which are expected to create a $0.06 per share drag in Q2, management remains bullish on its late-stage software focus, noting that 62% of software borrowers are cash-flow positive. A new $15 million share repurchase program was authorized to capitalize on the stock's discount to NAV. The company expects the SWK acquisition to reach full accretion by the third quarter of 2026.

5-year share-count history (top 10 holders by peak, incl. exited) + price

Filing Risk Scores

Runway Growth Finance: NAV Erosion and PIK Dependency Masking Portfolio Decay

Full Earnings Call Transcript — Q1 • 2026-05-08

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Runway Growth Finance First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Quinlan Abel, Assistant Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Quinlan Abel: Thank you, operator. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Runway Growth Finance Conference Call for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. Joining us on the call today from Runway Growth Finance are David Spreng, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Runway Growth Capital LLC, our investment adviser; Tom Raterman, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer; and Carmela Thomson, our Senior Vice President, Finance and Accounting. Runway Growth Finance's first quarter 2026 financial results were released just after today's market close and can be accessed from Runway Growth Finance's Investor Relations website at investors.runwaygrowth.com. We have arranged for a replay of the call to be available on the Runway Growth Finance web page. During this call, I want to remind you that we may make forward-looking statements based on current expectations. The statements on this call that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, market conditions caused by uncertainties surrounding interest rates, changing economic conditions and other factors we identify in our filings with the SEC. Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions can prove to be inaccurate. And as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions can be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained on this call are made as of the date hereof, and Runway Growth Finance assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or subsequent events. To obtain copies of SEC-related filings, please visit our website. With that, I will turn the call over to David.
David Spreng: Thank you, Quinlan, and thank you, everyone, for joining us this evening to discuss our first quarter 2026 results. Today, I will highlight notable developments from the quarter, provide an update on recent leadership appointments and offer additional color on our approach to software investments. Then Tom will take a deeper dive into our financial performance and portfolio metrics. I want to start by saying I am truly excited about the closing of the SWK transaction last month. It is a milestone moment for our investors and our team. In tandem with the closing of the deal, we are pleased to welcome JD Tamas as a Managing Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences Investing, where he will leverage his extensive expertise to further strengthen our investment platform. This acquisition has already strengthened our position in health care and further diversified our portfolio. JD's appointment is both a logical progression and a great opportunity as we further optimize our portfolio in the coming quarters. I would also like to congratulate Avisha Khubani on her promotion to Chief Credit Officer of our investment adviser, Runway Growth Capital. Since joining Runway in 2018, she has held a range of roles across portfolio monitoring and management, analytics and valuation, bringing a deep understanding of our portfolio and credit discipline to this position. In addition, we are announcing today that Tom Raterman, our CFO and COO, who joined me shortly after I started the firm, will become Vice Chairman of Runway Growth Capital effective June 30, 2026. He will be stepping back from his day-to-day roles at the BDC, including as CFO and COO, to focus on strategic initiatives that include portfolio optimization, platform-level M&A, capital market transactions and capital formation. Tom will continue to play an integral role for the BDC, serving on our investment committee and assisting with special situation assets. In tandem with this news, we are very pleased to share that Carmela Thomson, our SVP, Finance and Accounting, will become CFO at that time. Carmela joined our firm in June 2021 from KPMG and played an integral role in our IPO later that year. Since then, Carmela has contributed meaningfully to our financial reporting processes and capital raising efforts and has managed important aspects of portfolio accounting and operations. Carmela's experience and expertise give her a strong understanding of Runway's financial strategy, capital structure and portfolio construction as we enter our next phase. Lastly, I am energized to be returning to the role of Chief Investment Officer of our adviser. Our efforts since joining the BC Partners Credit platform have put the right pieces on the chessboard, and now we're going to work with this refreshed team to maximize returns for our shareholders. To that end, I'd like to thank Greg Greifeld for his dedication over the years at Runway and wish him well in his future endeavors. We are confident in this experienced leadership team and the contributions JD, Avisha and Carmela will make, strengthening our origination and investment capabilities and financial operations and supporting our ability to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns. Turning to our portfolio activity for the quarter. It is important to note that as we work to close the SWK transaction, we temporarily slowed our evaluation of new opportunities in the pipeline to focus on integrating the SWK portfolio and post-transaction balance sheet. With the transaction now behind us, we are positioned to be very selective in capitalizing on a robust pipeline moving forward. We are even more confident in our ability to source high-quality investments across our core sectors, technology, health care and select consumer products and services. In the first quarter, Runway delivered total investment income of $29.5 million and net investment income of $10.6 million. During the quarter, we completed 4 investments in new and existing portfolio companies, representing $17.6 million in funded investments. We also completed an additional debt commitment of $46.3 million, which will be partially funded during the second quarter of 2026. These investments included the following: first, the completion of a new $7.5 million investment to HR Pharmaceuticals, a founder-owned medical products platform specializing in the development, manufacturing and supply of branded consumable products serving the acute and home care markets. We funded $5.5 million at close, along with $2 million of preferred equity financing. Second, we completed an additional debt commitment of $46.3 million to $0.13, a digitally native fragrance brand, which we expect will be partially funded during the second quarter of 2026. Finally, we completed 3 follow-on investments with an aggregate amount of $10.1 million to 3 existing portfolio companies. Subsequent to the first quarter, we continue to evaluate compelling opportunities that meet our high standards while strategically increasing our exposure to innovative health care and life science companies with durable long-term business models. We look forward to updating you on these opportunities in further detail as appropriate. Turning to the ongoing market dynamics facing the sector. As discussed during our fourth quarter 2025 earnings call, the recent debate around software and AI disruption has contributed to increased scrutiny of private credit and has been further compounded by headlines around elevated redemptions in evergreen funds. While media coverage has leaned into this narrative, it has failed to recognize the resilience of actual credit performance despite macro and rate headwinds over the last few years. Underlying fundamentals remain solid with default rates at manageable levels and broader credit metrics showing stability rather than stress. In terms of the venture market specifically, PitchBook/NDCA finds that activity remains modest overall and robust at the top end of the market with record levels of capital deployed. The data also points to resilience in early-stage investing and sustained interest in high-growth areas like AI. This suggests that while the market is selective, there are clear pockets of strength and opportunity underpinning venture activity. Overall, we believe we are well positioned for strong long-term performance despite the current sentiment, supported by our rigorous investment approach and our seasoned leadership team, which brings decades of venture capital experience. Our confidence is supported by our expanded platform, which is supported by the expertise of BC Partners Credit and further enhanced by the acquisition of SWK Holdings. With the closing of the SWK acquisition, we have meaningfully reconstructed our portfolio with attractive diversification in key sectors like health care with stronger future earnings power. Today, we have a more diversified, balanced and enhanced portfolio with the health care and life sciences sector comprising 32% of the portfolio at fair value. This transformation is an important context as we discuss the quarter's results. With respect to our software portfolio and approach to software investing, we maintain our constructive long-term thesis on software and technology, our diligent approach to portfolio construction and emphasis on risk mitigation. Across multiple economic cycles and market dislocations, our focus on high-quality late-stage companies with proven fundamentals has contributed to the resilience of our portfolio over time. We remain confident in our existing software positions and continue to evaluate compelling opportunities in the sector. Our software investments are high-quality late-stage businesses characterized by mission-critical functions, long diligence and implementation cycles and strong competitive moats, which include deep domain expertise, high switching costs and diversified customer bases. We believe these attributes position our portfolio companies to not only coexist with AI, but to leverage it to optimize operations and accelerate market penetration. We apply the same exceptional level of diligence and rigor in underwriting our software investments that we do to our portfolio at large. We remain confident in our pipeline and optimistic about the year as we realize the benefits of integrating the SWK portfolio and drive stronger outcomes for both our borrowers and our shareholders. Now Tom, over to you.
Thomas Raterman: Thank you, David. In the first quarter, we generated total investment income of $29.5 million and net investment income of $10.6 million, a decrease compared to $30 million and $11.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Our weighted average portfolio risk rating increased to 2.67 in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 2.45 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Our weighted average risk rating changed primarily as a result of moving 2 loans, Marley Spoon and BlueShift to Category 5 and nonaccrual status. Our weighted average risk rating calculated without these 2 specific loans moved from 2.67 to 2.37. Our rating system is based on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents the most favorable credit rating. Our total investment portfolio had a fair value of $886.3 million, a decrease of 4.4% from $927.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2026, Runway had net assets of $438.2 million, decreasing from $485 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. NAV per share was $12.13, a decrease of 9.6% compared to $13.42 as of December 31, 2025. The NAV per share disclosed subsequent to quarter end in connection with the SWK closing of $11.93 primarily reflected estimated transaction costs of $7.7 million. In discussing our NAV for the quarter, it's important to contextualize our go-forward portfolio and the financial benefits of the SWK acquisition. On a pro forma basis, our portfolio is $1.1 billion, more than offsetting the impact of repayments in the Runway portfolio during 2025. It also drives diversification in terms of both industry exposure and the reduction of average loan size by 11%. Healthcare and Life Sciences will now account for 32% of our portfolio and 30% of our debt portfolio compared to 13% and 12%, respectively, at the end of first quarter. And we expect to see a positive contribution to the portfolio's return profile over the balance of the year. Beyond financial contributions, our strength in origination capabilities enhance our ability to source high-quality investments and selectively upsize existing commitments. Moving back to the quarter, we delivered $0.29 per share of net investment income and a base dividend of $0.33 per share. At quarter end, we had spillover income of approximately $0.65 per share. Net investment income this quarter was impacted by the acceleration of onetime deferred debt costs as well as a smaller average portfolio size due to elevated prepayments in the second half of 2025, the effects of which were further compounded by slower originations ahead of the deal close, as we described earlier. Looking ahead to next quarter, we expect contributions from the fully integrated SWK portfolio and a lag in associated management fees to benefit NII by approximately $0.03 per share. However, we expect this benefit will be more than offset by the impact of Marley Spoon and BlueShift being placed on nonaccrual late in Q1. The full quarter earnings impact of these new nonaccruals of $0.06 per share will be reflected in Q2. We are actively working with the management teams at Marley Spoon, BlueShift and Mingle Healthcare and seek to achieve optimal outcomes for the portfolio. These situations are dynamic and in the case of Marley Spoon, very complex and as we've seen in the past, can take time to fully resolve. We do not see any thematic drivers to these recent credit downgrades. There are situations we have been monitoring and decided this was the prudent course of action to take at this time. Although our team puts maximum effort into avoiding these situations, some level of defaults are unavoidable, and we're working diligently to resolve them. With respect to the dividend, we believe that it is currently set at an appropriate level. We are committed to delivering for our shareholders, and our Board continues to evaluate future distributions with the goal of maintaining consistency while maximizing returns. Our debt portfolio generated a dollar weighted average annualized yield of 14.2% for the first quarter of 2026, consistent with 14.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and declining from 15.4% in the same period last year. Moving on to expenses. Total operating expenses were $18.8 million, an increase from $18.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. We recorded a net realized gain on investments of $1.3 million during the first quarter of 2026 compared to a realized loss on investments of $380,000 during the fourth quarter of 2025. During the first quarter, we experienced full repayment and one partial repayment totaling $15 million, scheduled amortization of $1.9 million and $2.5 million in equity proceeds. We remain focused on maximizing value over both the short and long term and continue to monitor the portfolio closely. Overall, we believe that downside risk is manageable and that our portfolio is well positioned to deliver stable results. Our confidence in the portfolio is supported by several key metrics, which support a more balanced and rightsized mix of investments. Prior to the closing of the SWK transaction, our top 10 investments accounted for 54% of the portfolio and now account for only 43%. When looking at the breakdown of verticals within the portfolio, they are now more balanced across technology, financials, health care and select consumer products and services. And over half of our portfolio companies are cash flow positive, underscoring the strong fundamentals our portfolio is built on. Within our software portfolio specifically, 62% of the companies are cash flow positive. 100% of our loans have financial covenants and the weighted average fair value as a percent of cost, excluding nonaccruals, was 97% and 94% of the loans in our software portfolio are sponsored. Each position in our portfolio undergoes a comprehensive valuation process internally on a quarterly basis and periodically by a third party. For perspective, every material software investment in our portfolio was reviewed by a third-party valuation specialist in Q1. The portfolio was constructed intentionally with 98% first lien exposure and well-diversified exposure across end markets. These results underscore the strength of our software portfolio and the diligence we apply to loans in the space. Please refer to our earnings presentation for additional detail on our software exposure. As of March 31, 2026, our leverage ratio and asset coverage ratio were 0.98 and 2.02, respectively, compared to 0.90 and 2.11, respectively, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. Our total available liquidity was $372.3 million, including unrestricted cash and equivalents, and we have borrowing capacity of $370 million under our KeyBank credit facility. On a pro forma basis, immediately following the SWK transaction close, our leverage ratio, asset coverage ratio and total available liquidity were approximately 1.2x, 1.84x and $231.8 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2026, we had a total of $179.2 million in unfunded commitments, which was comprised of $156.3 million to provide debt financing to our portfolio companies and $22.8 million to provide equity financing through our JV with Cadma. Approximately $23.3 million of our unfunded debt commitments are eligible to be drawn based on achieved milestones. On May 5, 2026, our Board declared a regular distribution for the second quarter of 2026 of $0.33 per share. While there may be some variability in earnings on a quarter-to-quarter basis, we're confident in the long-term trajectory of our return profile and the strength of our combined portfolio. Finally, today, we are announcing a new share repurchase program for $15 million, which will expire on May 7, 2027. Thoughtful capital allocation remains a priority and at current levels, we believe Runway's common shares present a highly attractive opportunity. We expect repurchases to be partly funded by proceeds from loan repayments in the coming quarters. With that, operator, we can open the line for Q&A.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Eric Zwick of Lucid Capital Markets.
Erik Zwick: First, David, you mentioned a lot of kind of personnel changes and promotions. And I know Tom is on the line. So Tom, congratulations on your next position, and congrats to any of those else listening online. One, I wanted to start maybe with a question for Tom. Just trying to potentially understand the kind of onetime expenses that may have been recorded in the quarter related to both the SWK acquisition. And also, I think you mentioned some accelerated debt expense as well. Just trying to kind of drill down to maybe what a more kind of core run rate might have been.
Thomas Raterman: Yes. There was about $0.02 or $0.03 related to the early redemption of our baby bonds. If you recall, at the end of January, beginning of February, we did a new baby bond offering, and we redeemed our 8% notes. So that's the number there. There were no SWK expenses directly. Most all of those would be capitalized into the transaction. There's -- could be some modest amount just in terms of allocation of personnel that caused our allocations to the BDC change a little bit, but it would be a rounding error. Thanks for the congrats.
Erik Zwick: Yes, absolutely. Other one I wanted to ask just along the lines of the new share repurchase authorization, given BlueShift Labs and Marley Spoon moving to nonaccrual and creating a little bit of earnings headwind. Just how do you weigh in your minds, how do you evaluate the use of capital in terms of investing into new portfolio companies that would generate income versus buying back shares?
Thomas Raterman: Yes. It's always a tough balancing act between those 2 because purchasing shares at this level at this percent of NAV is immediately accretive. And what really guides that is our excess borrowing base, if you will, and our leverage ratio at the -- that we calculate. So we want to keep those 2 in check. We want to make sure we maintain adequate dry powder. And so we'll just be biased towards -- for the deals that come in for those that have the best risk return trade-off, choose the higher-yielding ones, probably the smaller sized transactions, all within our stated risk parameters.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Christopher Nolan of Ladenburg Thalmann.
Christopher Nolan: Echo congratulations, Tom, on your next move and congratulations, everyone got the step. What was the driver for the unrealized depreciation charges again? I think you addressed it in the comments, but I missed it.
Thomas Raterman: So the changes in fair value, the impact on NAV were really related primarily to -- you put it into 2 buckets. About 1/3 or just under 1/3 was related to declines in the market multiples. But the majority of it was related to the watchlist names, primarily BlueShift and Marley Spoon.
Christopher Nolan: Great. And I think you mentioned that the drag on earnings from those 2 would be roughly $0.06 a quarter?
Thomas Raterman: That's correct. And our watchlist is about 6 names. A number of them are marked at that 50% range. And we think those are very fair marks. Those workouts will take varying times to sort through. They've got different levels of complexity. And so it will take a little bit of time to replace those with earning assets. But there's a game plan for each of them that's being fully adjudicated.
Christopher Nolan: Okay. And then turning to SWK. I know you mentioned earlier that in earlier calls that it would be accretive to earnings. Do you have any sort of time frame when you expect it to be accretive to EPS?
Thomas Raterman: It should be beginning to be accretive to EPS in Q2 and then fully accretive in Q3. And the reason I say partially accretive is because it closed on April 6 as opposed to March 31.
Operator: I would now like to turn the call back over to David Spring for closing remarks. Sir?
David Spreng: Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to updating you on our second quarter financial results in August.
Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.