Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Jade Rahmani: Okay. And lastly, just on the dividend again. I understand the emphasis in your commentary around long-term earnings potential. But we’re in kind of a volatile environment with a lot of uncertainty, and you all seem to be steep in the day-to-day blocking tackling of asset management and also managing liabilities. So why not take the additional step of reducing the dividend to create additional leeway and also protect book value. When you are paying out more in dividends than you’re earning, that’s downward pressure on book value. So investors clearly project a trough book value. Any comments on those considerations?

Mike McGillis: Jade, those are discussions we regularly have at the Board level. You raised all good points there, and those are always things we consider.

Jade Rahmani: Thanks a lot.

Operator: This concludes our Q&A. I’ll now hand back to Richard Mack for closing remarks.

Richard Mack: Thank you, and thank you all for joining us. We will reiterate, these are tough times in the real estate market. It’s a market where we are facing almost a complete lock up of the market with very little transaction volume. But even amidst this market, we are seeking to be opportunistic as we manage through a cyclical downturn. We are pushing for loan payoffs. We are selling loans, we are modifying loans, we are foreclosing opportunistically, we are deleveraging. And we are getting ready to originate again because we know that this too will pass. So thank you all for joining, and we appreciate your support.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, today’s call has now concluded. We’d like to thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.