B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 9, 2023 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Bryant Riley - Chairman, Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer

Phillip Ahn - Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer

Tom Kelleher - Co-Founder and Co- Chief Executive Officer

Mike Frank - Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Conference Call Participants

Operator

Good afternoon and welcome to B. Riley Financial’s Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is David and I will be your call coordinator. This afternoon, B. Riley issued its second quarter earnings release and financial supplement. Copies can be found on B. Riley’s Investor Relations website at ir.brileyfin.com or on the right side of your screen if you are joining us today via web. Today’s call includes prepared remarks from the company, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the management team.

Joining us today from B. Riley are Bryant Riley, Chairman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO; Tom Kelleher, Co-Founder and Co-CEO; and Phillip Ahn, CFO and COO. After management’s remarks, we will open the line for questions. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today’s call is being recorded and an audio replay will be available later today. Finally, before we conclude today’s call, I will provide the necessary cautions regarding forward-looking statements.

Now, I will turn the call over to Mr. Bryant Riley. Mr. Riley, you may proceed.

Bryant Riley

Thank you for joining our call this afternoon. On a consolidated basis, our platform delivered solid results for the second quarter. We saw a meaningful year-over-year increase in revenues, despite another period with nominal contribution from investment banking. With a more favorable market environment, momentum is carrying into the current quarter with increasing levels of client activity across capital markets, retail liquidation, consulting and appraisal.

In the month of July, we closed more investment banking transactions than during all of the second quarter and we have since added several new and current engagements to our pipeline. Retail liquidation has picked up both in the US and in Europe and demand for our financial advisory and appraisal services continues to be strong.

Capital Markets conditions continue to improve. Wealth management should also be poised to benefit. Based on where we are today, relative to our Q2 results, we are reaffirming our prior guidance. We expect to generate operating EBITDA of at least $105 million in the third quarter. To be clear, this guidance represents a floor based on where we are today. To the extent the current level of activity continues, we believe there will be additional upside from capital markets.