Barings Corporate Investors Reports Preliminary Second Quarter 2024 Results and Announces Increased Quarterly Cash Dividend Of $0.40 Per Share

By: Barings Corporate Investors via Business Wire

August 15, 2024 at 15:30 PM EDT

The Board of Trustees of Barings Corporate Investors (NYSE: MCI) (the "Trust") met on August 15, 2024, and would like to report its preliminary financial results for the second quarter of 2024.

Financial Highlights⁽¹⁾	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024						Three Months Ended March 31, 2024
	Total Amount			Per Share⁽⁵⁾			Total Amount		Per Share⁽⁴⁾
Net investment income⁽²⁾	$	8,623,260		$	0.42		$	8,072,938	$	0.40
Net realized (losses) / gains⁽³⁾	$	(1,165,538	)	$	(0.06	)	$	1,770,637	$	0.08
Net unrealized appreciation / (depreciation)	$	(642,281	)	$	(0.03	)	$	552,329	$	0.03
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations	$	6,633,072		$	0.33		$	10,293,583	$	0.51

Total net assets (equity)	$	350,112,108		$	17.22		$	350,763,288	$	17.28

(1) All figures for 2024 are unaudited (2) June 30, 2024 figures net of less than $0.01 per share of taxes (3) June 30, 2024 figures net of less than $0.01 per share of taxes (4) Based on shares outstanding at the end of the period of 20,298,644 (5) Based on shares outstanding at the end of the period of 20,334,874

Key Highlights:

Commenting on the quarter, Christina Emery, President, stated, "The Trust earned $0.42 per share of net investment income, net of taxes, for the second quarter of 2024, compared to $0.40 per share in the previous quarter. The increase in net investment income was predominantly due to $0.03 per share of non-recurring income (repayment of past due income) received in the second quarter. The Trust has increased dividends for the last eight quarters, which is further confirmation of our credit philosophy, where we focus on leading businesses backed by strong sponsor ownership and conservative capital structures. This approach has historically generated stable returns and relative stability during economic stress. During the quarter, Barings continued to drive origination flow into quality, 1st lien senior secured middle-market investments. When constructing portfolios, we focus on investing in high-quality businesses that are leaders in their space and offer defensive characteristics that will allow them to perform through economic cycles.”

The Board of Trustees declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, payable on September 13, 2024, to shareholders of record on August 26, 2024. This represents an increase of $0.01 per share or 2.6% over the previous dividend of $0.39 per share.

During the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Trust reported total investment income of $10.5 million, net investment income of $8.6 million, or $0.42 per share, and a net increase in net assets resulting from operations of 6.8 million, or $0.33 per share.

Net asset value ("NAV") per share as of June 30, 2024, was $17.22, as compared to $17.28 as of March 31, 2024. The decrease in NAV per share was primarily attributable to net realized losses on investments, net of taxes of $0.06 per share.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held on November 14, 2024.

Recent Portfolio Activity

During the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Trust made five new investments totaling $4.5 million and 22 add-on investments in existing portfolio companies totaling 5.4 million. During the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Trust had ten loans repaid at par totaling $29.0 million and realized three equity investments that generated realized gains of $1.8 million.

Liquidity and Capitalization

As of March 31, 2024, the Trust had cash and short-term investments of $26.9 million and $30.0 million of borrowings outstanding. The Trust had unfunded commitments of $21.8 million as of June 30, 2024.

Net Capital Gains

The Trust realized net capital losses of $1,165,538 or $0.06 per share during the quarter ended June 30, 2024. By comparison, for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the Trust realized net capital gains of $1,770,637 or $0.08 per share.

About Barings Corporate Investors

Barings Corporate Investors is a closed-end management investment company advised by Barings LLC. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol ("MCI").

About Barings LLC

Barings is a $409+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities, and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment. Learn more at www.barings.com.

*Assets under management as of June 30, 2024

Per share amounts are rounded to the nearest cent.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS

Cautionary Notice: Certain statements contained in this press release may be "forward looking" statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made and which reflect management’s current estimates, projections, expectations or beliefs, and which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are subject to change at any time based upon economic, market or other conditions and may not be relied upon as investment advice or an indication of the fund's trading intent. References to specific securities are not recommendations of such securities, and may not be representative of the fund's current or future investments. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.