A-Mark Precious Metals Inc

Primary Sources and Uses of Cash

Liquidity refers to the availability to the Company of amounts of cash to meet all of our cash needs. Our sources of liquidity principally include cash from operations, Trading Credit Facility (see “Lines of Credit” below), and product financing arrangements.

A substantial portion of our assets are liquid. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 82.1% of our assets consisted of cash, receivables, derivative assets, secured loans receivables, precious metals held under financing arrangements, and inventories, measured at fair value. Cash generated from the sales or financing of our precious metals products is our primary source of operating liquidity. Among other things, these include our product financing arrangements and liabilities on borrowed metals. Typically, the Company acquires its inventory by: (i) purchasing inventory from its suppliers by utilizing our own capital and lines of credit; (ii) borrowing precious metals from its suppliers under short-term arrangements which may bear interest at a designated rate, and (iii) repurchasing inventory at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price on the specified repurchase date.

In addition to selling inventory, the Company generates cash from earning interest income. The Company enters into secured loans and secured financing structures with its customers under which it charges interest. The loans are secured by precious metals and numismatic material, and graded sports cards and sports memorabilia owned by the borrowers and held by the Company as security for the term of the loan. The Company also offers a number of secured financing options to its customers to finance their precious metals purchases including consignments and other structured inventory finance products. Furthermore, our customers may enter into agreements whereby the customer agrees to repurchase our precious metals at the prevailing spot price for delivery of the product at a specific point in time in the future; interest income is earned from the contract date until the material is delivered and paid for in full.

We may also raise funds through the public or private offering of equity or debt securities, although there is no assurance that we will be able to do so at the times and in the amounts required. We have an effective universal shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, under which we may issue approximately $69.5 million worth of securities at this time through March 2024.

We continually review our overall credit and capital needs to ensure that our capital base, both stockholders’ equity and available credit facilities, can appropriately support our anticipated financing needs. The Company also continually monitors its current and forecasted cash requirements and draws upon and pays down its lines of credit so as to minimize interest expense. See Note 15 to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Lines of Credit

Effective December 21, 2021, A-Mark entered into a committed borrowing facility (the "Trading Credit Facility") with CIBC Bank USA, as agent and joint lead arranger, and a syndicate of banks. As of December 31, 2023, the Trading Credit Facility provided the Company with access up to $350.0 million and has a maturity date of September 20, 2025. The Trading Credit Facility was reclassified to long-term during the three months ended September 30, 2023 due to the elimination of provisions whereby lenders under certain conditions could require repayment of all obligations outstanding under the Trading Credit Facility within 10 days on demand. (See Note 15.)

A-Mark routinely uses funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to purchase metals from its suppliers and for other operating cash flow purposes. Our CFC subsidiary also uses the funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to finance certain of its lending activities.

Notes Payable

In September 2018, AMCF, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CFC, completed an issuance of Secured Senior Term Notes, Series 2018-1, Class A in the aggregate principal amount of $72.0 million and Secured Subordinated Term Notes, Series 2018-1, Class B in the aggregate principal amount of $28.0 million (collectively, the "AMCF Notes".) The AMCF Notes were repaid in full in December 2023.

In April 2021, CCP entered into a loan agreement ("CCP Note") with CFC, which provides CFC with up to $4.0 million to fund commercial loans secured by graded sports cards and sports memorabilia to its borrowers. All loans to be funded using the proceeds from the CCP Note are subject to CCP’s prior written approval. The term of the CCP Note expires on April 1, 2024 and may be extended by mutual agreement. As of December 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023 the outstanding principal balance of the CCP Note was $3.2 million and $0.5 million. See Note 14 to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Liabilities on Borrowed Metals

We borrow precious metals from our suppliers and customers under short-term arrangements using other precious metal from our inventory or precious metals held under financing arrangements as collateral. Amounts under these arrangements require repayment either in the form of precious metals or cash. Liabilities also arise from unallocated metal positions held by customers in our inventory. Typically, these positions are due on demand, in a specified physical form, based on the total ounces of metal held in the position.

Product Financing Arrangements

The Company has agreements with financial institutions and other third parties that allow the Company to transfer its gold and silver inventory to the third-party at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price, which provides alternative sources of liquidity. During the term of the agreement both parties intend for inventory to be returned at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price on the repurchase date. The third parties charge monthly interest as a percentage of the market value of the outstanding obligation; such monthly charges are classified as interest expense. These transactions do not qualify as sales and therefore are accounted for as financing arrangements and reflected in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets as product financing arrangements. The obligation is stated at the amount required to repurchase the outstanding inventory. Both the product financing arrangements and the underlying inventory (which is entirely restricted) are carried at fair value, with changes in fair value included as a component of cost of sales.

Secured Loans Receivable

CFC is a California licensed finance lender that makes and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins, and graded sports cards and sports memorabilia that affords our customers a convenient means of financing their inventory or collections. See Note 5 to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements. AMCF also purchased and held secured loans from CFC to meet its collateral requirements related to the AMCF Notes. See Note 15 to Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements. Most of the Company's secured loans are short-term in nature. The renewal of these secured loans is at the discretion of the Company and, as such, provides us with some flexibility in regard to our capital deployment strategies.

The Company’s board of directors has adopted a regular quarterly cash dividend policy of $0.20 per common share ($0.80 per share on an annual basis). The declaration of regular cash dividends in the future is subject to the determination each quarter by the board of directors. Below is a summary of dividends paid to stockholders in the six months ended December 31, 2023.

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On July 5, 2023, the Company's board of directors declared a regular dividend of $0.20 per share of common stock to stockholders of record at the close of business on July 17, 2023. The dividend was paid to stockholders on July 28, 2023 and totaled $4.7 million.

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On August 17, 2023, the Company's board of directors declared a non-recurring special dividend of $1.00 per share of common stock to share to stockholders of record at the close of business on September 12, 2023. The dividend to stockholders was paid on September 26, 2023 and totaled $23.4 million. On the same date, the Company's board of directors declared a regular dividend of $0.20 per share of common stock to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 10, 2023. The dividend was paid to stockholders on October 24, 2023 and totaled $4.6 million.

See Note 20 to the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements for more information regarding our dividends.

Cash Flows

The majority of the Company’s trading activities involve two-day value trades under which payment is received in advance of delivery or product is received in advance of payment. The combination of sales volume, inventory turnover, and precious metals price volatility can cause material changes in the sources of cash used in or provided by operating activities on a daily basis. The Company manages these variances through its liquidity forecasts and counterparty limits by maintaining a liquidity reserve to meet the Company’s cash needs. The Company uses various short-term financial instruments to manage the cycle of our trading activities from customer purchase order to cash collections and product delivery, which can cause material changes in the amount of cash used in or provided by financing activities on a daily basis.

The following summarizes components of our consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):

For the periods presented, our principal capital requirements have been to fund (i) working capital and (ii) financing activity. Our working capital requirements fluctuated with market conditions, the availability of precious metals, and the volatility of precious metals commodity pricing.

Net Cash Flows From Operating Activities

Operating activities used $101.7 million and used $48.5 million in cash for the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, representing a $53.1 million change compared to the six months ended December 31, 2022. The period over period change was primarily due to net changes in working capital, which includes deferred revenue and other advances, accounts payable and other payables, precious metals held under financing arrangements, liabilities on borrowed metals, and inventories, as well as a decrease in net income adjusted for noncash items.

Net Cash Flows From Investing Activities

Investing activities used $10.7 million and provided $15.1 million in cash for the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, representing a $25.7 million change compared to the six months ended December 31, 2022. This period over period change was primarily due to (i) higher outflows of $28.7 million associated with the net originations of secured loans in the current period and (ii) a $1.2 million increase in capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment, partially offset by (iii) a decrease in purchases of intangible assets and long-term investments of $5.0 million.

Net Cash Flows From Financing Activities

Financing activities provided $101.5 million and provided $68.2 million in cash for the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, representing a $33.3 million change compared to the six months ended December 31, 2022. This period over period change was primarily due to (i) an increase in cash provided of $118.2 million related to our product financing arrangements, (ii) an increase in cash provided from our net borrowings and repayments of $31.0 million under our Trading Credit Facility, (iii) an increase in cash provided of $1.5 million related to the exercise and taxes related to share-based awards, (iv) a $1.0 million decrease in distributions paid to PMPP's noncontrolling interest holder, and (v) an increase of $0.9 million on net borrowings on related party notes. These increases in cash provided were partially offset by (i) the $95.0 million repayment of our AMCF Notes in December 2023, (ii) an increase of $16.9 million cash used to repurchase of our common stock under our share repurchase program, (iii) an increase in cash paid for dividends of $4.6 million, and (iv) an increase in debt issuance costs paid in the current year of $2.8 million primarily related to our Trading Credit Facility.

Capital Resources

We believe that our current cash availability under the Trading Credit Facility, product financing arrangements, financing derived from borrowed metals and the cash we anticipate generating from operating activities will provide us with sufficient liquidity to satisfy our working capital needs, capital expenditures, investment requirements, and commitments through at least the next twelve months.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND COMMITMENTS

Counterparty Risk

We face counterparty risks in our Wholesale Sales and Ancillary Services segment. We manage these risks by setting credit and position risk limits with our trading counterparties, including gross position limits for counterparties engaged in sales and purchase transactions and inventory consignment transactions with us, as well as collateral limits for different types of sale and purchase transactions that counterparties may engage in from time to time.

Commodities Risk and Derivatives

We use a variety of strategies to manage our risk including fluctuations in commodity prices for precious metals. Our inventory consists of, and our trading activities involve, precious metals and precious metal products, for which prices are linked to the corresponding precious metal commodity prices. The Company's precious metals inventory is subject to fluctuations in market value, resulting from changes in the underlying commodity prices. Inventory purchased or borrowed by us is subject to price changes. Inventory borrowed is a natural hedge, since changes in value of the metal held are offset by the obligation to return the metal to the supplier or deliver metals to the customer.

Open sale and purchase commitments in our trading activities are subject to changes in value between the date the purchase or sale price is fixed (the trade date) and the date the metal is received or delivered (the settlement date). We seek to minimize the effect of price changes of the underlying commodity through the use of forward and futures contracts. Our open sale and purchase commitments generally settle within 2 business days, and for those commitments that do not have stated settlement dates, we have the right to settle the positions upon demand.

Our policy is to substantially hedge our inventory position, net of open sale and purchase commitments that are subject to price risk. We regularly enter into precious metals commodity forward and futures contracts with financial institutions to hedge against this risk. We use futures contracts, which typically settle within 30 days, for our shorter-term hedge positions, and forward contracts, which may remain open for up to six months, for our longer-term hedge positions. We have access to all of the precious metals markets, allowing us to place hedges. We also maintain relationships with major market makers in every major precious metals dealing center.

The Company enters into these derivative transactions solely for the purpose of hedging our inventory holding risk, and not for speculative market purposes. Due to the nature of our hedging strategy, we are not using hedge accounting as defined under Derivatives and Hedging Topic 815 of the ASC ("ASC 815"). Unrealized gains or losses resulting from our forward and futures contracts are reported as cost of sales with the related amounts due from or to counterparties reflected as derivative assets or liabilities. The Company adjusts the derivatives to fair value on a daily basis until the transactions are settled. When these contracts are net settled, the unrealized gains and losses are reversed and the realized gains and losses for forward contracts are recorded in revenue and cost of sales and the net realized gains and losses for futures are recorded in cost of sales.

The Company’s net gains and losses on derivative instruments totaled losses of $57.3 million and losses of $15.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and losses of $67.8 million and losses of $45.4 million, for the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. These were substantially offset by the changes in fair market value of the underlying precious metals inventory and open sale and purchase commitments, which is also recorded in cost of sales in the condensed consolidated statements of income.

The purpose of the Company's hedging policy is to substantially match the change in the value of the derivative financial instrument to the change in the value of the underlying hedged item. The following table summarizes the results of our hedging activities, showing the precious metal commodity inventory position, net of open sale and purchase commitments, which is subject to price risk, compared to change in the value of the derivative instruments (in thousands):

We are exposed to the risk of default of the counterparties to our derivative contracts. Significant judgment is applied by us when evaluating the fair value implications. We regularly review the creditworthiness of our major counterparties and monitor our exposure to concentrations. As of December 31, 2023, we believe our risk of counterparty default is mitigated based on our evaluation of the creditworthiness of our major counterparties, the strong financial condition of our counterparties, and the short-term duration of these arrangements.

We had the following outstanding sale and purchase commitments and open forward and futures contracts, which are normal and recurring, in nature (in thousands):

The notional amounts of the commodity forward and futures contracts and the open sales and purchase orders, as shown in the table above, are not reflected at the notional amounts in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company records commodity forward and futures contracts at the fair value, which is the difference between the market price of the underlying metal or contract measured on the reporting date and the trade amount measured on the date the contract was transacted. The fair value of the open derivative contracts is shown as a component of derivative assets or derivative liabilities in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company enters into the derivative forward and future transactions solely for the purpose of hedging its inventory holding risk, and not for speculative market purposes. The Company’s gains and losses on derivative instruments are substantially offset by the changes in fair market value of the underlying precious metals inventory position, including our open sale and purchase commitments. The Company records the derivatives at the trade date, and any corresponding unrealized gains or losses are shown as a component of cost of sales in the condensed consolidated statements of income. We adjust the carrying value of the derivatives to fair value on a daily basis until the transactions are physically settled. See Note 12 to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Commitments and Contingencies

Refer to Note 16 to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements for information relating Company's commitments and contingencies.