Advanced Flower Capital Inc

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes and other information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (the “Form 10-Q”). This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” in this Form 10-Q.

Overview

Advanced Flower Capital Inc. is an institutional lender that was founded in July 2020 by a veteran team of investment professionals. We primarily originate, structure, underwrite, invest in and manage senior secured loans and other types of mortgage loans and debt securities, with a specialization in loans to cannabis industry operators in states that have legalized medical and/or adult-use cannabis. Our investment guidelines primarily relate to deploying capital in attractive lending opportunities to state law-compliant cannabis operators, typically secured by real estate, cash flows and license value.

Our objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns over time through cash distributions and capital appreciation primarily by providing loans to real estate developers and state law compliant cannabis companies. The loans we originate are primarily structured as senior loans typically secured by real estate, equipment, cashflows and the value associated with licenses (where applicable) and/or other assets of the loan parties to the extent permitted by applicable laws and the regulations governing such loan parties. Some of our cannabis-related borrowers have their equity securities listed for public trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”) in Canada and/or over-the-counter (“OTC”) in the United States.

As states continue to legalize cannabis for medical and adult-use, an increasing number of companies operating in the cannabis industry need financing. Due to the current capital constrained cannabis market, which does not typically have access to traditional bank financing, we believe we continue to be well positioned to act as a prudent financing source to cannabis industry operators given our stringent underwriting criteria, size and scale of operations and institutional infrastructure.

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We are a Maryland corporation and externally managed by AFC Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (our “Manager”), pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Management Agreement, dated January 14, 2021, by and between the Company and AFC Management, LLC (as amended from time to time, the “Management Agreement”). We commenced operations on July 31, 2020 and completed our initial public offering (“IPO”) in March 2021.

We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (a “REIT”) under Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2020. We believe that we have qualified as a REIT and that our current and proposed method of operation will enable us to continue to qualify as a REIT. However, no assurances can be given that our beliefs or expectations will be fulfilled, since qualification as a REIT depends on us continuing to satisfy numerous asset, income and distribution tests, which in turn depends, in part, on our operating results and ability to obtain financing. We also intend to operate our business in a manner that will permit us to maintain our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as amended (the “Investment Company Act”).

Our wholly-owned subsidiary, AFCG TRS1, LLC (“TRS1”), operates as a taxable REIT subsidiary (a “TRS”). TRS1 began operating in July 2021. The financial statements of TRS1 are consolidated within our consolidated financial statements.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”), and we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the extended transition period. As a result, we will not be subject to the same implementation timing for new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, which may make comparison of our financials to those of other public companies more difficult.

We could remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years from our initial public offering, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1.235 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which would occur if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three-year period.

Spin-Off

On February 22, 2024, we announced a plan to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies - one focused on providing institutional loans to state law compliant cannabis operators in the U.S., the other an institutional commercial real estate lender focused on the Southern United States. Prior to the Spin-Off, Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. (“SUNS”) held our CRE portfolio as our wholly-owned subsidiary. On July 9, 2024, we completed the separation of our CRE portfolio through the spin-off of SUNS into an independent, publicly traded REIT (the “Spin-Off”) through a pro-rata distribution of all of the outstanding shares of SUNS common stock to our shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 8, 2024 (the “Record Date”). Our shareholders of record as of the Record Date received one share of SUNS common stock for every three shares of our common stock held as of the Record Date. We retained no ownership interest in SUNS following the Spin-Off. In connection with the Spin-Off, the operating results of the SUNS business through the date of the Spin-Off are reported in net income from discontinued operations, net of tax in the consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. The related assets and liabilities are reported as assets and liabilities of discontinued operations on the consolidated balance sheets. Cash flows from the Company’s discontinued operations are presented as such in the consolidated statements of cash flows for all periods presented.

Unless otherwise noted, all amounts, percentages and discussion below reflect only the results of operations and financial condition from our continuing operations.

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Developments During the Third Quarter September 30, 2024:

Updates to Our Loan Portfolio During the Third Quarter September 30, 2024

In July 2024, we received an approximately $10.0 million principal prepayment and a $0.2 million prepayment premium on our investment in Subsidiary of Public Company M. Following the prepayment, the aggregate outstanding principal balance on our investments in Subsidiary of Public Company M is approximately $2.8 million as of September 30, 2024.

In August 2024, we entered into the fourth amendment to the credit agreement with Private Company J, pursuant to which, we, among other things, amended certain financial covenants and increased the total aggregate commitment by an additional $5.5 million, of which we have funded $3.0 million as of September 30, 2024.

In August 2024, we entered into the second amendment to the credit agreement with Private Company N - Real Estate, which increased the total aggregate commitment by an additional approximately $1.8 million under the terms of the existing credit agreement. We have funded approximately $1.2 million of the increased commitment as of September 30, 2024.

In August 2024, we entered into a $11.0 million senior secured credit facility with Private Company Q. The loan was originated at a discount of 4.0% and matures September 1, 2028. The loan bears interest at SOFR plus an 8.75% spread, subject to a SOFR floor of 5.0%. As of September 30, 2024, approximately $5.2 million was drawn and the remainder is available to be drawn within two years of closing. The loan is secured by substantially all assets of Private Company Q. The proceeds of the loan will be used to, among other things, pay for transactional costs and expenses, general working capital and other general corporate purposes and to fund capital expenditures in accordance with the budget.

In August 2024, we entered into the first amendment to the credit agreement with Private Company P, which amended the interest payable for July 2024 and August 2024 to be paid in kind and payable in cash thereafter.

In September 2024, we purchased$4.6 million of outstanding principal ofa third-party syndicate partner’s minority debt as part of the credit agreement with Private Company A for approximately $1.8 million. We now hold approximately$53.8 million of outstanding principal as of September 30, 2024.

In September 2024, we received a voluntary prepayment from Private Company L of approximately $1.5 million, recognizing $45.5 thousand in prepayment premium and $37.9 thousand in exit fees.

Spin-Off

On July 9, 2024, we completed the Spin-Off of SUNS, which held our CRE portfolio, into an independent, publicly traded REIT. See “—Spin-Off” above.

At-the-Market Offering Program

In April 2022, we filed our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the SEC, registering the offer and sale of up to $1.0 billion of securities (the “Shelf Registration Statement”). The Shelf Registration Statement enables us to issue shares of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, rights, as well as units that include one or more of such securities. The Shelf Registration Statement also included a prospectus for the ATM Program to sell up to an aggregate of $75.0 million of shares of our common stock that may be issued and sold from time to time under the Sales Agreement, dated April 5, 2022 (the “Sales Agreement”), with Jefferies LLC and Citizens JMP Securities LLC, as Sales Agents. Under the terms of the Sales Agreement, we have agreed to pay the Sales Agents a commission of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from each sale of common stock under the Sales Agreement.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, we sold an aggregate of 1,214,953 shares of our common stock under the Sales Agreement at a weighted average price of $10.39 per share, generating net proceeds of approximately $12.2 million. As of September 30, 2024, the Company’s remaining authorization under the Sales Agreement was approximately $51.0 million.

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Dividends Declared Per Share

For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we declared the following cash dividends:

In connection with the Spin-Off, we declared a one-time dividend of $0.15 per share of our common stock, which was paid on July 15, 2024 to shareholders of record as of July 8, 2024. The aggregate amount of the one-time dividend payment was approximately$3.1 million.

Recent Developments

In October 2024, we entered into a $41.0 million senior secured credit facility with Private Company R, which was fully funded at closing. The loan was originated at a discount of 2.0% and matures November 1, 2027. The loan bears interest at SOFR plus a 7.5% spread, subject to a SOFR floor of 4.5%. The loan is secured by substantially all assets of the borrowers, including a first-lien mortgage on the owned real property and a senior lien against the borrower’s assets, operations and the value of its cannabis licenses. The loan is also guaranteed by certain direct or indirect shareholders of the borrowers. The proceeds of the loan will be used to, among other things, refinance existing debt and provide working capital.

In October 2024, we received a prepayment of approximately $0.9 million from Private Company L’ssale of certain collateral assets and a $17.8 thousand prepayment premium.

In November 2024, we entered into an agreement to purchase $10.0 million in outstanding principal amount of a senior secured term loan to Subsidiary of Public Company S, a publicly traded operator, at par from a third party lender and we expect to settle the transaction in the near future. The third party lender assigned all of its rights and obligations under such loan to us. The term loan under the Subsidiary of Public Company S Credit Facility accrues interest at a fixed rate per annum of 9.5% and matures in August 2026.

In November 2024, in connection with its credit facility with Private Company P, we entered into a limited waiver and amendment to such facility to waive certain failures by Private Company P to pay monthly cash interest payments when due. In connection with the waiver and amendment, Private Company P will make a cash payment constituting the majority of such missed interest payments of approximately $0.3 million, with the remaining amount due capitalized into the loan balance. Cash interest payments on the facility will restart January 1, 2025.

Key Financial Measures and Indicators

As a commercial real estate finance company, we believe the key financial measures and indicators for our business are Distributable Earnings, book value per share and dividends declared per share.

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Non-GAAP Metrics

Distributable Earnings

In addition to using certain financial metrics prepared in accordance with GAAP to evaluate our performance, we also use Distributable Earnings to evaluate our performance excluding the effects of certain transactions and GAAP adjustments we believe are not necessarily indicative of our current loan activity and operations. Distributable Earnings is a measure that is not prepared in accordance with GAAP. We use these non-GAAP financial measures both to explain our results to shareholders and the investment community and in the internal evaluation and management of our businesses. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and the information they provide are useful to investors since these measures permit investors and shareholders to assess the overall performance of our business using the same tools that our management uses to evaluate our past performance and prospects for future performance. The determination of Distributable Earnings is substantially similar to the determination of Core Earnings under our Management Agreement, provided that Core Earnings is a component of the calculation of any Incentive Compensation earned under the Management Agreement for the applicable time period, and thus Core Earnings is calculated without giving effect to Incentive Compensation expense, while the calculation of Distributable Earnings accounts for any Incentive Compensation earned for such time period.

We define Distributable Earnings as, for a specified period, the net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding (i) stock-based compensation expense, (ii) depreciation and amortization, (iii) any unrealized gains, losses or other non-cash items recorded in net income (loss) for the period, regardless of whether such items are included in other comprehensive income or loss, or in net income (loss); provided that Distributable Earnings does not exclude, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as OID, debt instruments with PIK interest and zero coupon securities), accrued income that we have not yet received in cash, (iv) (decrease) increase in provision for current expected credit losses, (v) TRS (income) loss, net of any dividends received from TRS and (vi) one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP and certain non-cash charges, in each case after discussions between our Manager and our independent directors and after approval by a majority of such independent directors.

We believe providing Distributable Earnings on a supplemental basis to our net income as determined in accordance with GAAP is helpful to shareholders in assessing the overall performance of our business. As a REIT, we are required to distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income, subject to certain adjustments, and to pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that we annually distribute less than 100% of such taxable income. Given these requirements and our belief that dividends are generally one of the principal reasons that shareholders invest in our common stock, we generally intend to attempt to pay dividends to our shareholders in an amount at least equal to such REIT taxable income, if and to the extent authorized by our Board. Distributable Earnings is one of many factors considered by our Board in authorizing dividends and, while not a direct measure of net taxable income, over time, the measure can be considered a useful indicator of our dividends.

Distributable Earnings is a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered as a substitute for GAAP net income. We caution readers that our methodology for calculating Distributable Earnings may differ from the methodologies employed by other REITs to calculate the same or similar supplemental performance measures, and as a result, our reported Distributable Earnings may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other REITs.

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The following table provides a reconciliation of GAAP net income to distributable earnings:

(1) The provision for current expected credit losses above includes approximately zero and $71.9 thousand for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively, and zero for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, which is included in the net income from discontinued operations, net of tax financial statement line on the consolidated statement of operations.

Book Value Per Share

We believe that book value per share is helpful to shareholders in evaluating our growth as we scale our equity capital base and continue to invest in our target investments. The book value per share of our common stock as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 was approximately $9.42 and $15.64, respectively. On July 9, 2024, we completed the Spin-Off of SUNS, which had a book value of approximately $114.8 million, or $5.55 per share, on the Distribution Date. In connection with the Spin-Off, we recognized a reduction to additional paid-in capital of approximately $114.8 million related to the transfer of certain assets and liabilities associated with our CRE business to SUNS.

Factors Impacting our Operating Results

The results of our operations are affected by a number of factors and primarily depend on, among other things, the level of our net interest margin, the market value of our assets and the supply of, and demand for, commercial real estate debt and other financial assets in the marketplace. Our net interest margin, which includes the accretion and amortization of OID, is recognized based on the contractual rate and the outstanding principal balance of the loans we originate. Interest rates will vary according to the type of loan, conditions in the financial markets, creditworthiness of our borrowers, competition and other factors, some of which cannot be predicted with any certainty. Our operating results may also be impacted by credit losses in excess of initial anticipations or unanticipated credit events experienced by our borrowers.