ORCHID ISLAND CAPITAL ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER 2020 RESULTS

VERO BEACH, Fla. (February 25, 2021) – Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) ("Orchid” or the "Company"), a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), today announced results of operations for the three month period ended December 31, 2020.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Highlights

·        Net income of $16.5 million, or $0.23 per common share, which consists of:

·        Net interest income of $23.9 million, or $0.34 per common share

·        Total expenses of $2.8 million, or $0.04 per common share

·        Net realized and unrealized losses of $4.6 million, or $0.07 per share, on RMBS and derivative instruments, including net interest expense on interest rate swaps

·        Fourth quarter and full year total dividends declared and paid of $0.195 and $0.79 per common share, respectively

·        Since its initial public offering, the Company has declared cash dividends equaling $11.785 per common share

·        Book value per share of $5.46 at December 31, 2020

·        4.0% economic gain on common equity for the quarter, or 15.8% annualized, comprised of $0.195 dividend per common share and $0.02 increase in net book value per common share, divided by beginning book value per share

·        Company to discuss results on Friday, February 26, 2021, at 10:00 AM ET

·        Supplemental materials to be discussed on the call can be downloaded from the investor relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.orchidislandcapital.com

Management Commentary

Commenting on the fourth quarter and full year results, Robert E. Cauley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Orchid Island Capital generated another quarter of strong returns for stockholders.  For the fourth quarter, Orchid generated a 4.0% return based on a $0.02 per share increase in book value and $0.195 per share of dividends.  This marks the third consecutive quarter of positive returns since the market turbulence of the first quarter – a product of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy and financial markets.  Orchid’s strategy of focusing exclusively on Agency RMBS assets since inception with no credit exposure of any kind in any of our assets enabled Orchid to avoid the pitfalls so many around us suffered, in many cases leading to severe financial distress that many have yet to fully recover from.  Managing our portfolio was never more challenging than what we experienced last March.  Our asset selection acumen and disciplined investment style were put to the test, as was our liquidity management skills.  During such periods, relationships with our credit counterparties and their confidence in us were critical.  These relationships have been developed over nearly two decades and continue to pay dividends, especially in times of severe market stress like 2020. Since our difficulties last March were very temporary, we were able to quickly recover and capitalize on the many opportunities available in the market place over the balance of the year.  In fact, in spite of the market disruptions of the first quarter, Orchid generated a positive 2.7% return for stockholders for the year based on a $0.63 per share decline in Orchid’s share price since December 31, 2019, offset entirely by $0.79 per share of dividends. 

“During the fourth quarter of 2020 we focused on maximizing returns on the portfolio by reducing the income draining effects of prepayments on our premium RMBS.  We shifted the portfolio into lower coupon securities and in some cases shorter maturity securities as well.  Our prepayment rate in the fourth quarter was 16.7 CPR, a 2.4 CPR increase over the third quarter of 2020.  During the fourth quarter, the spread between mortgage rates available to borrowers and rates on an interpolated par priced mortgage backed security, or the primary/secondary spread, continued to compress and rates available to borrowers were the lowest ever experienced. As a result, we were quite happy with the prepayment performance of the portfolio. We were also able to enhance our returns for the fourth quarter by taking advantage of the TBA dollar roll market.  With the Federal Reserve continuing their asset purchases at a rate of $40 billion of Agency RMBS per month, concentrated in production coupons, we continued to modestly expand our use of the very attractive financing offered by the TBA dollar roll market.  Coupled with continued low financing in the traditional repo markets and our low prepayment rates, we were able to continue to generate attractive net interest margins for our stockholders in support of the dividend.  During the fourth quarter, we were also able to raise approximately $36.1 million of additional capital from our at-the-market program at attractive prices relative to our book value while also accretive to earnings.”

Details of Fourth Quarter 2020 Results of Operations

The Company reported net income of $16.5 million for the three month period ended December 31, 2020, compared with net income of $18.6 million for the three month period ended December 31, 2019. The portfolio remains concentrated in specified, fixed rate pools with favorable prepayment characteristics and, to a lesser extent, lower coupon TBAs. With very high refinancing incentives to borrowers as the primary/secondary interest rate spread continued to compress, the Company sold higher coupon fixed rate securities in favor of lower coupon fixed rate bonds and/or shorter maturity securities, again with lower coupons.  Secondly, the Company increased its Agency RMBS portfolio over the course of the fourth quarter through capital raised through the at-the-market program.  Interest income on the portfolio of specified pools was down slightly from the third quarter of 2020.  The yield on our average MBS declined from 3.18% in the third quarter to 2.85% for the fourth quarter, repurchase agreement borrowing costs declined from 0.25% for the third quarter to 0.23% for the fourth quarter, and our net interest spread declined from 2.93% to 2.62% in the fourth quarter.  The decline in net interest income from the MBS portfolio was offset by gains on long TBA positions of approximately $5.5 million.

Book value increased by $0.02 per share as net income of $0.23 per share exceeded the dividend distribution of $0.195 per share, offset by the slightly dilutive effect of shares sold under the Company’s at-the-market program of approximately $0.01 per share. The proceeds of the shares issued were deployed into our Agency RMBS portfolio, which benefited from tightening asset spreads and attractive returns available in the market. As a result, the new capital was accretive to earnings. The Company recorded net realized and unrealized losses of $0.07 per share on Agency RMBS assets and derivative instruments, including net interest expense on interest rate swaps.  As interest rates increased over the course of the fourth quarter, mark to market gains on our hedging instruments were offset by mark to market losses on our Agency RMBS assets.  Absent mark to market losses related to premium lost from paydowns, the RMBS portfolio would have had a slightly positive mark to market gain as spreads on Agency RMBS tightened during the quarter.  Expenses of $2.80 million in the fourth quarter decreased slightly from $2.85 million in the third quarter.

Details of Full Year 2020 Results of Operations

Orchid generated net income per share of $0.03 during 2020.  The severe market dislocations in the first quarter required the Company to sell assets and unwind hedge positions to maintain adequate liquidity.  The Company recorded $79.1 million of losses on derivative instruments and $25.0 million of realized losses on our Agency RMBS securities for the year, the overwhelming majority of which occurred in the first quarter.  The Company was able to maintain adequate liquidity to survive the turmoil and was well positioned to benefit from the recovery in asset prices that occurred once the Federal Reserve intervened to stabilize the market.  The Company’s book value increased from $4.65 per share on March 31, 2020 to $5.46 per share on December 31, 2020 as spreads on our portfolio of specified Agency RMBS and lower coupon TBA securities tightened.  The Company’s stock price recovered as well, and we were able to raise additional capital at very modest discounts to book value and deploy the proceeds with very attractive investment opportunities and tightening asset spreads, and thus accretive to earnings.  Our average RMBS holdings declined slightly in 2020 from 2019 and with available yields in the market declining as interest rates fell to all-time low levels, our yield on average MBS declined from 4.14% in 2019 to 3.45% for 2020.  However, because our average cost of funding declined from 2.53% in 2019 to 0.78% for 2020, our net interest spread increased from 1.61% in 2019 to 2.67% for 2020.  For the year we recorded $25.8 million of unrealized gains on Agency RMBS assets. The Company has also increased its use of TBA securities as they offer more attractive funding than the repurchase agreement funding we use for specified pools and do not require us to post collateral to our repo counterparties as a result of prepayments every month. The Company has transitioned our hedge positions away from a concentration in interest rate swaps to a more balanced blend of swaps and option based instruments, such as swaptions and/or swaption strategies involving long/short positions.  The active management of these strategies enhances our liquidity management while also providing better protection for adverse rate movements. General and administrative expenses, inclusive of our management fee, increased slightly from $10.39 million in 2019 to $10.54 million in 2020.

Prepayments

For the quarter ended December 31, 2020, Orchid received $139.4 million in scheduled and unscheduled principal repayments and prepayments, which equated to a 3-month constant prepayment rate (“CPR”) of approximately 20.1%. Prepayment rates on the two RMBS sub-portfolios were as follows (in CPR):

Portfolio

The following tables summarize certain characteristics of Orchid’s PT RMBS and structured RMBS as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019:

(1)      Effective duration is the approximate percentage change in price for a 100 bps change in rates. An effective duration of 2.360 indicates that an interest rate increase of 1.0% would be expected to cause a 2.360% decrease in the value of the RMBS in the Company’s investment portfolio at December 31, 2020.  An effective duration of 2.780 indicates that an interest rate increase of 1.0% would be expected to cause a 2.780% decrease in the value of the RMBS in the Company’s investment portfolio at December 31, 2019. These figures include the structured securities in the portfolio, but do not include the effect of the Company’s funding cost hedges.  Effective duration quotes for individual investments are obtained from The Yield Book, Inc.

Financing, Leverage and Liquidity

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had outstanding repurchase obligations of approximately $3,595.6 million with a net weighted average borrowing rate of 0.23%.  These agreements were collateralized by RMBS with a fair value, including accrued interest, of approximately $3,729.5 million and cash pledged to counterparties of approximately $58.8 million. The Company’s leverage ratio at December 31, 2020 was 8.8 to 1. At December 31, 2020, the Company’s liquidity was approximately $227.1 million, consisting of unpledged RMBS and unrestricted cash and cash equivalents.  To enhance our liquidity even further, we may pledge more of our structured RMBS as part of a repurchase agreement funding, but retain the cash in lieu of acquiring additional assets.  In this way we can, at a modest cost, retain higher levels of cash on hand and decrease the likelihood we will have to sell assets in a distressed market in order to raise cash.  Below is a list of our outstanding borrowings under repurchase obligations at December 31, 2020. 

(1)      Equal to the sum of the fair value of securities sold, accrued interest receivable and cash posted as collateral (if any), minus the sum of repurchase agreement liabilities, accrued interest payable and the fair value of securities posted by the counterparties (if any).

Hedging

In connection with its interest rate risk management strategy, the Company economically hedges a portion of the cost of its repurchase agreement funding against a rise in interest rates by entering into derivative financial instrument contracts.  The Company has not elected hedging treatment under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in order to align the accounting treatment of its derivative and other hedging instruments with the treatment of its portfolio assets under the fair value option election. As such, all gains or losses on these instruments are reflected in earnings for all periods presented.  At December 31, 2020, such instruments were comprised of U.S. Treasury note (“T-Note”) and Eurodollar futures contracts, interest rate swap agreements, interest rate swaption agreements and “to-be-announced” (“TBA”) securities transactions. 

The table below presents information related to the Company’s Eurodollar and T-Note futures contracts at December 31, 2020.  

(1)      Open equity represents the cumulative gains (losses) recorded on open futures positions from inception.

(2)      T-Note futures contracts were valued at a price of $126.16 at December 31, 2020. The contract value of the short position was $87.1 million.

The table below presents information related to the Company’s interest rate swap positions at December 31, 2020.

The following table presents information related to our interest rate swaption positions as of December 31, 2020.

The following table summarizes our contracts to purchase and sell TBA securities as of December 31, 2020

(1)      Notional amount represents the par value (or principal balance) of the underlying Agency RMBS.

(2)      Cost basis represents the forward price to be paid (received) for the underlying Agency RMBS.

(3)      Market value represents the current market value of the TBA securities (or of the underlying Agency RMBS) as of period-end.

(4)      Net carrying value represents the difference between the market value and the cost basis of the TBA securities as of period-end and is reported in derivative assets (liabilities) at fair value in our balance sheets.

Dividends

In addition to other requirements that must be satisfied to qualify as a REIT, we must pay annual dividends to our stockholders of at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains. We intend to pay regular monthly dividends to our stockholders and have declared the following dividends since our February 2013 IPO.

(1)      On January 14, 2021, the Company declared a dividend of $0.065 per share to be paid on February 24, 2021.  On February 10, 2021, the Company declared a dividend of $0.065 per share to be paid on March 29, 2021. The dollar amount of the dividend declared in February 2021 is estimated based on the number of shares outstanding at February 25, 2021.The effect of these dividends are included in the table above, but are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements as of December 31, 2020.

Peer Performance

The tables below present total return data for Orchid compared to a selected group of peers based on stock price performance for periods through December 31, 2020 and based on book value performance for periods through September 30, 2020.

Source: SEC filings and press releases of Orchid and Peer Group

(1)      Source of total rate of return for each period is the Bloomberg COMP page and includes reinvested dividends for each period noted.

(2)      The peer average is the unweighted, simple, average of the total rate of return for each of the following companies in each respective measurement period:  AGNC, NLY, ANH, AAIC, ARR, CMO, CHMI and DX.

(3)      Represents the total rate of return for Orchid minus peer average in each respective measurement period.

Source: SEC filings and press releases of Orchid and Peer Group

(1)      Total rate of return for each period is change in book value per share over the period plus dividends per share declared divided by the book value per share at the beginning of the period.

(2)      The peer average is the unweighted, simple, average of the total rate of return for each of the following companies in each respective measurement period:  AGNC, NLY, ANH, AAIC, ARR, CMO, CHMI and DX.

(3)      Represents the total rate of return for Orchid minus peer average in each respective measurement period.

(4)      Peer book values are not available for Orchid’s true inception date (2/13/2013).  Because all peer book values are not available as of Orchid’s true inception date (2/13/2013), the starting point for Orchid and all of the peer companies is 3/31/2013.

Book Value Per Share

The Company's book value per share at December 31, 2020 was $5.46.  The Company computes book value per share by dividing total stockholders' equity by the total number of shares outstanding of the Company's common stock. At December 31, 2020, the Company's stockholders' equity was $415.3 million with 76,073,317 shares of common stock outstanding.

Capital Allocation and Return on Invested Capital

The Company allocates capital to two RMBS sub-portfolios, the pass-through RMBS portfolio, consisting of mortgage pass-through certificates issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae (the “GSEs”) and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) issued by the GSEs (“PT RMBS”), and the structured RMBS portfolio, consisting of interest-only (“IO”), inverse interest-only (“IIO”) securities and principal only securities (“POs”), among other types of structured Agency RMBS. As of September 30, 2020, approximately 92% of the Company’s investable capital (which consists of equity in pledged PT RMBS, available cash and unencumbered assets) was deployed in the PT RMBS portfolio.  At December 31, 2020, the allocation to the PT RMBS portfolio increased 1% to approximately 93%.

The table below details the changes to the respective sub-portfolios during the quarter, as well as the returns generated by each.

The tables below present the allocation of capital between the respective portfolios at December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2020, and the return on invested capital for each sub-portfolio for the three month period ended December 31, 2020.  The return on invested capital in the PT RMBS and structured RMBS portfolios was approximately 5.4% and (0.7)%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2020.  The combined portfolio generated a return on invested capital of approximately 4.9%.

(1)      At December 31, 2020, there were outstanding repurchase agreement balances of $20.6 million secured by IO securities.  We entered into these arrangements to generate additional cash available to meet margin calls on PT RMBS; therefore, we have not considered these balances to be allocated to the structured securities strategy.

(2)      At September 30, 2020, cash was decreased by unsettled purchases of approximately $113.7 million, which have already been reflected in the market value of the portfolio.

(3)      At September 30, 2020, there were outstanding repurchase agreement balances of $22.7 million secured by IO securities.  We entered into these arrangements to generate additional cash available to meet margin calls on PT RMBS; therefore, we have not considered these balances to be allocated to the structured securities strategy.

(1)           Calculated by dividing the Total Return by the Beginning Capital Allocation, expressed as a percentage.

(2)           Calculated using two data points, the Beginning and Ending Capital Allocation balances.

(3)           Calculated by dividing the Total Return by the Average Capital Allocation, expressed as a percentage

Stock Offerings

On August 4, 2020, we entered into an equity distribution agreement (the “August 2020 Equity Distribution Agreement”) with four sales agents pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of $150,000,000 of shares of our common stock in transactions that are deemed to be “at the market” offerings and privately negotiated transactions.  Through December 31, 2020, we issued a total of 9,848,513 shares under the August 2020 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $52.5 million, and net proceeds of approximately $51.6 million, net of commissions and fees. Subsequent to December 31, 2020 through February 25, 2021, we issued a total of 308,048 shares under the August 2020 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $1.6 million.

On January 20, 2021, we entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (the “Underwriter”), relating to the offer and sale of 7,600,000 shares of our common stock. The Underwriter purchased the shares of common stock from us pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement at $5.20 per share. In addition, we granted the Underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,140,000 shares of our common stock on the same terms and conditions, which the Underwriter exercised in full on January 21, 2021. The closing of the offering of 8,740,000 shares of our common stock occurred on January 25, 2021, with net proceeds to us of approximately $45.3 million after deduction of estimated offering expenses.

Stock Repurchase Program

On July 29, 2015, the Board of Directors passed a resolution authorizing the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.  As part of the stock repurchase program, shares may be purchased in open market transactions, including through block purchases, privately negotiated transactions, or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Open market repurchases will be made in accordance with Exchange Act Rule 10b-18, which sets certain restrictions on the method, timing, price and volume of open market stock repurchases. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases is determined by the Company in its discretion and is subject to economic and market conditions, stock price, applicable legal requirements and other factors. On February 8, 2018, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the stock repurchase program for up to an additional 4,522,822 shares of the Company’s common stock. The authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock, and the program may be suspended or discontinued at the Company’s discretion without prior notice.

Since inception of the program through December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased a total of 5,685,511 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately 40.4 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of 7.10 per share. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased a total of 19,891 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $0.1 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of $3.42 per share. However, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the remaining authorization under the repurchase program is for up to 837,311 shares of the Company’s common stock.

Earnings Conference Call Details

An earnings conference call and live audio webcast will be hosted Friday, February 26, 2021, at 10:00 AM ET.  The conference call may be accessed by dialing toll free (833) 794-1168.  International callers dial (236) 714-2726.  The conference passcode is 9406887.  The supplemental materials may be downloaded from the investor relations section of the Company’s website at www.orchidislandcapital.com. A live audio webcast of the conference call can be accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.orchidislandcapital.com and an audio archive of the webcast will be available until March 29, 2021.

About Orchid Island Capital, Inc.

Orchid Island Capital, Inc. is a specialty finance company that invests on a leveraged basis in Agency RMBS. Our investment strategy focuses on, and our portfolio consists of, two categories of Agency RMBS: (i) traditional pass-through Agency and CMOs, such as mortgage pass-through certificates issued by the GSEs and (ii) structured Agency RMBS, such as IOs, IIOs and POs, among other types of structured Agency RMBS. Orchid is managed by Bimini Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements herein relating to matters that are not historical facts, including, but not limited to statements regarding interest rates, liquidity, pledging of our structured RMBS, funding levels and spreads, prepayment speeds, portfolio positioning and repositioning, hedging levels, dividends, growth, the supply and demand for Agency RMBS, the effect of actions of the U.S. government, including the Federal Reserve, market expectations, the stock repurchase program and general economic conditions, are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The reader is cautioned that such forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time and on management's good faith belief with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences are described in Orchid Island Capital, Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Orchid Island Capital, Inc. assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements.

CONTACT:

Orchid Island Capital, Inc.

Robert E. Cauley, 772-231-1400

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

https://ir.orchidislandcapital.com

Summarized Financial Statements

The following is a summarized presentation of the unaudited balance sheets as of December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2019, and the unaudited quarterly results of operations for the twelve and three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.  Amounts presented are subject to change.

(1)      Average RMBS, borrowings and stockholders’ equity balances are calculated using two data points, the beginning and ending balances.

(2)      The leverage ratio is calculated by dividing total ending liabilities by ending stockholders’ equity.  

(3)      Portfolio yields and costs of funds are calculated based on the average balances of the underlying investment portfolio/borrowings balances and are annualized for the quarterly periods presented.

(4)      Represents the interest cost of our borrowings and the effect of derivative agreements attributed to the period related to hedging activities, divided by average borrowings.

(5)      Average interest rate spread is calculated by subtracting average cost of funds from average yield on RMBS.

(6)      Average economic interest rate spread is calculated by subtracting average economic cost of funds from average yield on RMBS.