Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT Reports Fourth Quarter 2021 Results

OLD GREENWICH, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (NYSE: EARN) (the “Company”) today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Highlights

• Net loss of $(2.8) million, or $(0.21) per share.
• Core Earnings¹ of $3.7 million, or $0.28 per share.
• Book value of $11.76 per share as of December 31, 2021, which includes the effects of dividends of $0.30 per share for the quarter.
• Net interest margin² of 1.81%.
• Weighted average constant prepayment rate (“CPR”) for the fixed-rate Agency specified pool portfolio of 20.7%³.
• Dividend yield of 12.3% based on the March 4, 2022 closing stock price of $9.73.
• Debt-to-equity ratio of 6.9:1 as of December 31, 2021.
• Net mortgage assets-to-equity ratio of 7.1:1⁴as of December 31, 2021.
• Cash and cash equivalents of $69.0 million as of December 31, 2021, in addition to other unencumbered assets of $16.7 million.

Fourth Quarter 2021 Results

“Ellington Residential was able to limit book value declines in what was a challenging quarter for Agency RMBS. Rising inflation triggered a pulling forward of expectations for the first interest rate hike, and an increased likelihood for additional rate increases in 2022, and an acceleration of the Federal Reserve’s tapering schedule for balance sheet reduction. These shifts drove a sharp flattening of the yield curve and a spike in interest rate volatility, which caused yield spreads on many Agency RMBS to widen substantially over the course of the quarter,” said Laurence Penn, Chief Executive Officer and President.

“Ellington Residential had a moderate economic loss for the fourth quarter, as net mark-to-market losses on our Agency RMBS exceeded net gains on our interest rate hedges and net carry from the portfolio. As with other periods of volatility, our dynamic interest rate hedging, active trading, and lower net leverage helped limit losses during the quarter.

“So far in 2022, interest rates have continued to increase, especially at the front end of the yield curve, and volatility has risen further, in response to an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve and geopolitical uncertainty. These developments have triggered a sharp selloff in Agency RMBS and yield spread widening across many other fixed income sectors. We have actively traded our portfolio and have taken advantage of wider yield spreads by adding some attractively priced assets. At the same time, we continue to rely on our interest rate hedging and disciplined risk management to protect book value and put us in position to play offense as more opportunities arise.”

Financial Results

The following table summarizes the Company’s portfolio of RMBS as of December 31, 2021 and September 30, 2021:

The Company’s Agency RMBS holdings increased by approximately 8% to $1.289 billion as of December 31, 2021, as compared to $1.197 billion as of September 30, 2021. Over the same period, the Company’s interest-only holdings increased to $13.1 million from $11.8 million, while its non-Agency RMBS holdings were roughly unchanged at $9.1 million. The Company traded actively during the quarter, with Agency RMBS portfolio turnover of 49%, as compared to 23% in the prior quarter.

In conjunction with its larger portfolio at year end, the Company’s debt-to-equity ratio increased to 6.9:1 as of December 31, 2021, as compared to 6.7:1 as of September 30, 2021; and its net mortgage assets-to-equity ratio increased to 7.1:1 as of December 31, 2021, as compared to 6.4:1 as of September 30, 2021.

During the fourth quarter, short-term interest rates rose sharply, actual and implied volatility increased, and the yield curve flattened as the Federal Reserve signaled that interest rate increases could be imminent. The Federal Reserve also began the tapering of its asset purchases in November, and then accelerated the pace of that tapering starting in December. In response to these developments, most Agency RMBS underperformed U.S. Treasury securities and interest rate swaps during the quarter, with higher-coupon specified pools and other shorter-duration RMBS particularly underperforming in light of the flattening of the yield curve.

The Company had a net loss for the quarter, as net realized and unrealized losses on its Agency RMBS exceeded net interest income and net realized and unrealized gains on its interest rate hedges due to higher interest rates.

Pay-ups on the Company’s existing specified pool investments declined modestly during the quarter, while its new purchases during the quarter consisted of pools with lower pay-ups. As a result, the average pay-ups on the Company’s specified pools declined to 1.07% as of December 31, 2021, as compared to 1.44% as of September 30, 2021. Pay-ups are price premiums for specified pools relative to their TBA counterparts.

During the quarter, the Company continued to hedge interest rate risk through the use of interest rate swaps and short positions in TBAs, U.S. Treasury securities, and futures. Similar to recent quarters, the Company ended the fourth quarter with a net short overall TBA position on a notional basis while maintaining a small net long overall TBA position as measured by 10-year equivalents. Ten-year equivalents for a group of positions represent the amount of 10-year U.S. Treasury securities that would be expected to experience a similar change in market value under a standard parallel move in interest rates. Similar to prior quarters, the Company concentrated its long TBAs held for investment in lower coupons, and its TBA short positions in higher coupons.

The Company’s non-Agency RMBS portfolio, including non-Agency interest-only securities, generated modestly positive results during the quarter, driven by net interest income and net unrealized gains. The Company expects to vary its allocation to non-Agency RMBS as market opportunities change over time.

Finally, while the Company’s Agency RMBS portfolio was larger as of December 31, 2021 as compared to September 30, 2021, its average RMBS portfolio size over the course of the fourth quarter was lower than that of the prior quarter. In addition, net interest margin declined, primarily due to higher costs of funds. For these reasons, the Company’s Core Earnings decreased quarter over quarter.

Reconciliation of Core Earnings to Net Income (Loss)

Core Earnings consists of net income (loss), excluding realized and change in net unrealized gains and (losses) on securities and financial derivatives, and excluding, if applicable, any non-recurring items of income or loss. Core Earnings also excludes the effect of the Catch-up Premium Amortization Adjustment on interest income. The Catch-up Premium Amortization Adjustment is a quarterly adjustment to premium amortization triggered by changes in actual and projected prepayments on the Company’s Agency RMBS (accompanied by a corresponding offsetting adjustment to realized and unrealized gains and losses). The adjustment is calculated as of the beginning of each quarter based on the Company’s then-current assumptions about cashflows and prepayments, and can vary significantly from quarter to quarter. Core Earnings includes net realized and change in net unrealized gains (losses) associated with periodic settlements on interest rate swaps.

Core Earnings is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure. The Company believes that Core Earnings provides information useful to investors because it is a metric that the Company uses to assess its performance and to evaluate the effective net yield provided by the portfolio. Moreover, one of the Company’s objectives is to generate income from the net interest margin on the portfolio, and Core Earnings is used to help measure the extent to which this objective is being achieved. In addition, the Company believes that presenting Core Earnings enables its investors to measure, evaluate and compare its operating performance to that of its peer companies. However, because Core Earnings is an incomplete measure of the Company’s financial results and differs from net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP, it should be considered as supplementary to, and not as a substitute for, net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP.

The following table reconciles, for the three-month periods ended December 31, 2021 and September 30, 2021, the Company’s Core Earnings to the line on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations entitled Net Income (Loss), which the Company believes is the most directly comparable GAAP measure:

About Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT

Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT is a mortgage real estate investment trust that specializes in acquiring, investing in and managing residential mortgage- and real estate-related assets, with a primary focus on residential mortgage-backed securities for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a U.S. government Agency or a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise. Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT is externally managed and advised by Ellington Residential Mortgage Management LLC, an affiliate of Ellington Management Group, L.L.C.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, to discuss its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. To participate in the event by telephone, please dial (866) 342-8591 at least 10 minutes prior to the start time and reference the conference ID: EARNQ421. International callers should dial (203) 518-9713 and reference the same conference ID. The conference call will also be webcast live over the Internet and can be accessed via the “For Our Shareholders” section of the Company’s web site at www.earnreit.com. To listen to the live webcast, please visit www.earnreit.com at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register, download, and install necessary audio software. In connection with the release of these financial results, the Company also posted an investor presentation, that will accompany the conference call, on the Company’s website at www.earnreit.com under “For Our Shareholders—Presentations.”

A dial-in replay of the conference call will be available on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at approximately 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time through Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at approximately 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. To access this replay, please dial (800) 839-9374. International callers should dial (402) 220-6087. A replay of the conference call will also be archived on the Company’s web site at www.earnreit.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from the Company’s beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements are not historical in nature and can be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “continue,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “goal,” “objective,” “will,” “may,” “seek,” or similar expressions or their negative forms, or by references to strategy, plans, or intentions. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, the Company’s beliefs regarding the current economic and investment environment, the Company’s ability to implement its investment and hedging strategies, the Company’s future prospects and the protection of the Company’s net interest margin from prepayments, volatility and its impact on the Company, the performance of the Company’s investment and hedging strategies, the Company’s exposure to prepayment risk in the Company’s Agency portfolio, and statements regarding the drivers of the Company’s returns. The Company’s results can fluctuate from month to month and from quarter to quarter depending on a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control and/or are difficult to predict, including, without limitation, changes in interest rates and the market value of the Company’s securities, changes in mortgage default rates and prepayment rates, the Company’s ability to borrow to finance its assets, changes in government regulations affecting the Company’s business, the Company’s ability to maintain its exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and other changes in market conditions and economic trends, including changes resulting from the economic effects related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated responses to the pandemic. Furthermore, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, those described in Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 which can be accessed through the link to the Company’s SEC filings under “For Our Shareholders” on the Company’s website (www.earnreit.com) or at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). Other risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied may be described from time to time in reports we file with the SEC, including reports on Forms 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contacts

Investors:

Investor Relations

Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT

(203) 409-3773

info@earnreit.com

or

Media:

Amanda Shpiner/Sara Widmann

Gasthalter & Co.

for Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT

(212) 257-4170

Ellington@gasthalter.com