REG - EJF Investments Ltd EJF Investments-EJFZ - Announcement of Final Results to 31 December 2024

EJF InvestmentsAnnouncement

27/03/2025 07:15

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RNS Number : 3505C  EJF Investments Ltd  27 March 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

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27 March 2025

 

EJF Investments Ltd

("EJFI" or the "Company")

Announcement of Final Results to 31 December 2024

The Board of EJFI, which provides investors exposure to a diversified
portfolio of debt issued by smaller US banks and insurance companies and
participation in certain management fee income streams of EJF Capital LLC,
announces the release of the Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements
for the year ended 31 December 2024.

 

John Kingston III, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company said: "I am
delighted to have joined the Board of Directors of the Company in September
2024 and to have taken on the role of the Chair at the beginning of November.
I look forward to working with Shareholders, my fellow Board members and the
Manager to drive the Company's strategic priorities and future success.

 

After a tumultuous 2023 in the public market for US banks, the Company's debt
portfolio continued to display its resilience during 2024 which was reflected
in the 9.80% Total Return for the year in line with the Company's expectations
as communicated in the 2023 Annual Report.

I am pleased to confirm that the Company continued to pay dividends in line
with its Target Dividend as the underlying cashflows remained robust, and we
expect this to continue through 2025 and beyond.

I am very pleased with the performance of the portfolio and with its
direction.  In addition to £4.3m of Mezzanine debt securities purchased in
March 2024, the Company also invested approximately £5.0 million in two CRT
bonds during the year. The issue of CRT bonds enables a bank to reduce its
regulatory capital on an identifiable pool of loans that are carried on its
balance sheet. The Manager believes that future CRTs on strong loan pools
originated by small US banks may be a growing and attractive opportunity for
the Company as it presents a favourable risk/reward security consistent with
the Manager's expertise in regulatory related debt issued by small US banks,
and we expect that the coupons on such bonds (on average of 15.51% p.a.  on
outstanding principal balance during the year) will  prove very compelling.
The emergence of the CRT opportunity has been encouraging as has the
reawakening of the small bank and insurance company securitisation markets.
Both strategies play to the core strength of the Manager in providing balance
sheet and capital solutions for small banks.

The underlying portfolio component of Total Return was 13.17% during the year.
This was primarily driven by a 12.05% return on Securitisation and Related
Investments where the robust 13.49% return from interest accruals was offset
by 1.44% of mark to market losses, while CRT investments returned 0.32% during
the year. Elsewhere, Speciality Finance Investments as well as US bank debt
exposure recorded gains of 0.77% and 0.11%, respectively, whereas US
Treasuries recorded a modest loss of 0.07% for the year. MSRs, which are held
within the Speciality Finance Investments portfolio, have generated an
inception to date IRR in excess of 20%."

Highlights

·    Total Return per ordinary share, inclusive of dividends, of 9.80% for
the year ended 31 December 2024;

·    Total Return per ordinary share, inclusive of dividends, of 96.89%
since inception to 31 December 2024;

·    NAV as at 31 December 2024 of £100.7 million, 165 pence per ordinary
share;

·    Share price discount to NAV as at 31 December 2024 of 27.3%; and

·    Annualised Dividend yield for the year ended 31 December 2024 based
share price at 31 December 2024 of 8.9%.

Post Annual Report Update

·    Dividend of 2.675 pence per ordinary share paid in February 2025 in
respect of the quarter ended 31 December 2024; and

·    NAV as at 28 February 2025 of £99.9 million or 163 pence per
ordinary share, representing a year to date Total Return per ordinary share of
0.82%.

The Company's Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for the year
ended 31 December 2024 will shortly be available on the Company's website at
www.ejfi.com/investors/?category=financial-reports&year=#filter
(http://www.ejfi.com/investors/?category=financial-reports&year=#filter)
and the National Storage Mechanism
(https://www.fca.org.uk/markets/primary-markets/regulatory-disclosures/national-storage-mechanism
(https://www.fca.org.uk/markets/primary-markets/regulatory-disclosures/national-storage-mechanism)
).

A Results Presentation for analysts and institutional investors will take
place at 10 am (BST) on 31 March 2025 via a live webcast. To access the live
webcast, please register by contacting your usual representative at Panmure
Liberum. The Results Presentation slides will shortly be made available via
the Company's website at
www.ejfi.com/investors/?category=financial-reports&year=#filter
(http://www.ejfi.com/investors/?category=financial-reports&year=#filter) .

 

ENQUIRIES

For the Investment Manager

EJF Investments Manager LLC

Mungo Hargreaves / Jay Ghatalia

MHargreaves@ejfcap.com / jghatalia@ejfcap.com

+44 20 3752 6775 / +44 203 752 6776

 

For the Company Secretary and Administrator

Apex Financial Services (Alternative Funds) Limited

ejficosec@apexgroup.com

+44 204 549 0721

 

For the Broker

Panmure Liberum

Darren Vickers

ejfinvestments@panmureliberum.com

+44 203 100 2222

 

Barclays Bank PLC

Dion Di Miceli/Stuart Muress/James Atkinson

BarclaysInvestmentCompanies@barclays.com

+44 207 623 2323

 

About EJF Investments Ltd

EJFI's objective is to provide shareholders with attractive risk adjusted
returns through regular dividends and capital growth over the long term. EJFI
generates exposure primarily to a diversified portfolio of loans issued by
financial institutions and related or similar assets in the U.S., U.K. and
Europe.

EJFI currently invests primarily in CDO Equity Tranches structured by an
affiliate of EJF Capital LLC, providing levered exposure to a highly
diversified portfolio of securities issued by U.S. financial institutions
(banks and insurance companies), these being Risk Retention Investments.

EJFI is a registered closed-ended limited liability company incorporated in
Jersey under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991, as amended, on 20 October 2016
with registered number 122353. The Company is regulated by the Jersey
Financial Services Commission (the "JFSC"). The JFSC is protected by both the
Collective Investment Funds (Jersey) Law 1988 and the Financial Services
(Jersey) Law 1998, as amended, against liability arising from the discharge of
its functions under such laws.

The JFSC has not reviewed or approved this announcement.

LEI:  549300XZYEQCLA1ZAT25

Investor information & warnings

The latest available information on the Company can be accessed via its
website at www.ejfi.com (http://www.ejfi.com) .

This communication has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the
Company and is for information purposes only. It is not, and is not intended
to be an invitation, inducement, offer or solicitation to deal in the shares
of the Company. The price and value of shares in the Company and the income
from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full
amount invested on disposal of shares in the Company. An investment in the
Company should be considered only as part of a balanced portfolio of which it
should not form a disproportionate part. Prospective investors are advised to
seek expert legal, financial, tax and other professional advice before making
any investment decision.

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