Nuveen Churchill Posts 12.2% Q3 Net Investment Income Decline

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. ended the quarter on Sept. 30, 2026, with net investment income of $18.776 million, a 12.2% decline from a year earlier, while net asset value per share slipped 6 cents from June.

Net investment income per share was $0.38, compared with $0.43 in the third quarter of 2025. Total investment income fell to $43.674 million from $51.106 million over the same period.

The company’s weighted average yield on debt and income-producing investments at cost was 9.65%, down from 9.92% a year earlier. Nuveen Churchill tied the lower yield primarily to falling base interest rates and described spreads on newly originated loans as relatively stable.

Net expenses decreased to $24.898 million from $29.720 million. The company attributed the decline mainly to lower average interest rates and lower average daily borrowings.

Net asset value was $17.13 per share on Sept. 30, compared with $17.19 on June 30, 2026. Net assets increased by $15.991 million from operations, or $0.32 per share. That total included $0.38 per share in net investment income and a $0.06-per-share net realized and unrealized investment loss.

Nine portfolio companies were on nonaccrual at quarter-end, the same count as in June. They represented 1.5% of investments at fair value and 2.6% at cost, compared with 1.5% at fair value and 2.7% at cost in June. The portfolio’s average internal risk rating rose to 4.4 from 4.3 in June; its average rating at origination was 4.0.

Nuveen Churchill is a business development company that focuses mainly on senior secured loans to U.S. middle-market companies owned by private equity firms.

The board declared a fourth-quarter distribution of $0.38 per share, made up of a $0.36 regular payment and a $0.02 supplemental payment. It is payable on or around Jan. 28, 2027, to shareholders of record Dec. 31, 2026.

President and CEO Ken Kencel said the company’s “credit metrics and fundamentals remain strong.”