Earnings Call Transcript - CCLD Q4 2024

Operator, Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the CareCloud Fourth Quarter 2024 Results Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Kristen Rothe, Corporate Counsel for CareCloud. Thank you. You may begin.

Kristen Rothe, Corporate Counsel

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CareCloud's fourth quarter 2024 conference call. On today's call are Mahmud Haq, our Founder and Executive Chairman; Hadi Chaudhry, our Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director; Stephen Snyder, our Co-Chief Executive Officer; and Norman Roth, our Interim Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Controller. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that certain statements made during this conference call are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact made during this conference are forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding our expectations and guidance for future financial and operational performance, expected growth, business outlook and potential organic growth and acquisition. Forward-looking statements may sometimes be identified with words such as will, may, expect, plan, anticipate, approximately, upcoming, believe, estimate, or similar terminology and the negative of these terms. Forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our opinions only as of the date of this presentation, and we undertake no obligation to revise these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Please refer to our press release and our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where you'll find a more comprehensive discussion of our performance and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For anyone who dialed into the call by telephone, you may want to download our fourth quarter 2024 earnings presentation. Please visit our Investor Relations site, ir.carecloud.com. Click on News & Events, then click IR Calendar, click on Fourth Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call, and download the earnings presentation. Finally, on today's call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to today's press release announcing our fourth quarter results and for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP performance measures to our GAAP financial results. With that said, I'll now turn the call over to our Co-CEO, Stephen Snyder.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thank you, Kristen, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today on the fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. Over the past year, our team has remained focused on executing our strategic initiatives, driving operational efficiencies, and delivering strong financial performance. As a result, we have achieved record-breaking profitability and taken meaningful steps to position the company for continued success in 2025 and beyond. Today, I'll walk you through our key accomplishments, our strategic outlook, provide some information regarding our recent Series A preferred stock conversion, and talk about the opportunities ahead as we continue to scale our business and drive long-term value for our shareholders. First, in 2024, we successfully executed on our core priorities, leading to the strongest year of profitability in our company's history. Free cash flow reached record levels, demonstrating our disciplined approach to efficiency and operational excellence. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $24.1 million, a 56% increase year-over-year, and net income surged to an all-time high of $7.9 million in spite of a modest decline in revenue. Additionally, we generated $13.2 million in free cash flow, a year-over-year increase of nearly 250%, reinforcing our ability to drive sustained profitability. Notably, we achieved neutral earnings per share in Q4 2024, a pivotal milestone that signals our progress towards sustained profitability. Looking ahead to 2025, we anticipate positive earnings per share for the first time since we went public in 2014, a milestone that reflects the strength of our business transformation and operational discipline. These results reflect a focused effort on streamlining operations, cost cutting, and leveraging our proprietary AI technology. By reducing reliance on third-party contractors and optimizing our global workforce, we have strengthened our margins while maintaining scalability. The financial discipline we've maintained has put us in an excellent position as we move into 2025. Building on this momentum, it's important to recognize the strategic milestones that have helped reinforce our financial strength and position us for continued growth. One of the most significant strategic moves this quarter was the conversion of our Series A preferred shares into common stock. Prior to this conversion, insiders owned 38% of the common stock, with our Executive Chairman being a net acquirer of our common stock and owning more shares today than he owned when we went public in 2014. In reflecting upon our long-term strategy and goal of creating value for all shareholders, we strongly believe that this was the right decision for our Series A, Series B, and common stock investors. Importantly, this conversion was structured to provide meaningful benefits to Series A preferred shareholders. The shares converted at the redemption price, which represented a premium to the market price and included the payment of all accumulated dividends, which totaled about $11 million. These were paid in common stock at the time of conversion. This structure ensured that preferred shareholders not only received the full value of their investment, but it also better aligns their interests with common shareholders, ensuring all stakeholders participate in CareCloud's future growth. By consolidating our capital structure, we have created a more attractive financial model for investors, while simultaneously providing improved liquidity. The removal of dividend obligations tied to the preferred shares frees up additional resources that can now be reinvested into key growth areas. As we continue to scale, this conversion enables us to maintain a structure that better supports both near-term execution and long-term value creation. As we move forward into 2025, our focus remains on leveraging these strategic enhancements to drive growth and innovation. Looking ahead, we remain laser-focused on strategic growth, efficiency, and expansion. We anticipate revenue growth in the range of $111 million to $114 million in terms of guidance, supported by market demand for our integrated AI-driven solutions. Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $26 million and $28 million, reflecting our continued commitment to maintaining profitability while investing in innovation. Earnings per share is expected to range between $0.10 and $0.13, reinforcing our ability to generate shareholder value. This projection is especially significant as we expect positive EPS for the first time since our IPO in 2014, a testament to our long-term strategy, disciplined financial management, and execution. Innovation continues to be a key growth driver, which Hadi will elaborate on shortly. We are continuously enhancing our AI-driven solutions to improve provider efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and optimize patient outcomes. This focus on automation and analytics will enable us to expand our offerings while maintaining industry-leading results. Finally, a key component of our long-term growth strategy has been and remains acquiring client relationships from traditional medical billing companies at an attractive customer acquisition cost. Over the years, we have successfully closed more than 20 such business acquisitions, a foundational element to building CareCloud into the company it is today. Our experience and expertise in acquiring well-priced businesses and then integrating them with our global team, proprietary technology, and now AI has allowed us to extract significant efficiencies and realize meaningful synergies. This disciplined approach has been instrumental to our growth. It's important to highlight that while acquisitions have historically been a critical driver of our expansion, we have not completed an acquisition in almost four years. However, our most recent acquisition earlier this month, though quite small, marks our re-entry into the acquisition market. With our improved financial position, operational efficiency, and AI-driven capabilities, we are well-equipped to strategically pursue high-value acquisitions that align with our long-term vision. We see this as an important step forward, signaling our readiness to pursue larger, accretive opportunities that align with this vision. To summarize, 2024 was a transformative year for CareCloud. We achieved record-breaking financial performance, executed upon strategic initiatives that strengthen our foundation, and we set the stage for an even stronger 2025. The conversion of our Series A preferred shares into common stock underscores our commitment to optimizing our capital structure and enhancing shareholder value. We believe this move positions us for sustainable growth while creating a more transparent and efficient investment opportunity for all stakeholders. As we enter 2025, CareCloud is stronger than ever. With a foundation of financial discipline, cutting-edge AI innovations, and strategic growth initiatives, we are confident in our ability to drive long-term value for our shareholders and customers alike, and we thank our investors, clients, and our team for their continued trust and support. With that said, I'll turn the call over to Hadi, our Co-CEO.

Hadi Chaudhry, Co-CEO

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to speak with you today about the technological advancements that are shaping CareCloud's future, particularly in AI-driven automation. 2024 was our most profitable year in the company's history, driven by our commitment to operational efficiency and disciplined execution, resulting in record free cash flow even as we navigated a slight revenue decline. Today, I will walk you through how our innovation in AI, automation, and new products, including specialty-based EHR solutions, are driving efficiency, enhancing provider workflows, and positioning CareCloud for sustained innovation and growth in 2025 and beyond. Throughout 2024, we advanced CareCloud cirrusAI, our flagship AI-powered solution that streamlines administrative tasks and clinical documentation, enabling providers to focus on patient care. A key component, cirrusAI Notes, transcribes, structures, and integrates patient-provider conversations directly into the EHR, reducing manual charting while enhancing documentation accuracy. Unlike third-party solutions, cirrusAI Notes is fully embedded within the CareCloud EHR, ensuring a seamless workflow with no need for toggling between systems. This quarter, we expanded cirrusAI Notes to support multiple specialties, including OB-GYN, general practice, emergency medicine, family practice, and pain management, ensuring that a wide range of providers benefit from our AI-powered charting tools. Additionally, we strengthened sales and marketing efforts for cirrusAI Notes, positioning it as a key driver of innovation and growth. The first phase of rollout has already demonstrated commercial viability with early adopters seeing its value. While we are in the early stages of adoption, we remain optimistic that cirrusAI Notes will play a pivotal role in AI-powered efficiency and clinical workflows, reinforcing CareCloud's commitment to advancing healthcare technology. As we noted in our last earnings call, cirrusAI continues to enhance EHR, practice management, and RCM systems through AI-driven automation, significantly improving efficiencies across clinical and financial workflows. Key advancements include: AI-powered summarization, which has helped providers review patient histories faster and more thoroughly, reducing time spent on documentation; plain note summarization, which has streamlined revenue cycle processes, saving users over 70% of time compared to conventional methods; denial management automation, which has reduced manual claim processing by over 75%, improving accuracy and accelerating resubmissions and appeals. These AI-driven efficiencies are now benefiting over 600 providers with select AI solutions available as standalone subscriptions, reinforcing our commitment to scalable AI innovation. This quarter, we introduced an AI-powered call center auditing and monitoring solution, now deployed internally for over 80 agents. It processes call recordings and generates automated scorecards, evaluating key performance metrics such as greetings, patient identity validation, subject matter knowledge, sentiment analysis, and professionalism. The solution also features intuitive dashboards, helping organizations track performance, identify weak areas, and highlight top and bottom performers. By auditing 100% of calls, we enhance compliance, efficiency, and cost savings. We remain on track for a market launch next quarter. A major focus for 2025 is specialty-based EHR solutions, addressing the distinct needs of various medical specialties. While our initial focus includes rheumatology, gastroenterology, podiatry, cardiology, and orthopedics, we are actively working on expanding into additional specialty areas. Many of these specialty EHRs are set to launch and enter the market between now and the end of the second quarter. The specialty EHR market represents a multibillion-dollar opportunity, driven by the need for tailored solutions that enhance clinical efficiency, regulatory compliance, and patient care. By integrating AI-driven automation, our specialty EHR optimized documentation, streamlined workflows, and improved provider decision-making, further strengthening CareCloud's position in this expanding market. As we enter 2025, our focus is on accelerating growth and innovation while driving cost efficiencies through AI and automation. We are expanding our specialty-based EHR solutions and launching new AI-driven products such as our AI-based call center auditing and monitoring solution. During 2024, we laid the foundation for sustained growth. Our broader strategy is centered on AI-driven automation, revenue cycle innovations, and workflow optimizations. As we continue expanding our offerings, we remain committed to empowering healthcare providers with technology they need to succeed in an increasingly digital healthcare landscape. With that, I will turn the call over to our Interim CFO, Norman Roth, for a deeper dive into our financial performance.

Norman Roth, Interim CFO

Thanks, Hadi, and thanks, everyone, for joining our call today. As you have just heard, we had a strong quarter and have accomplished the goals we set for ourselves this year. In particular, we are now generating record levels of free cash flow and resumed paying dividends on our preferred shares, which started this past February ahead of what we previously announced. We will realize more than $10 million in annual cash savings on Series A preferred stock dividends as compared to our dividend obligations as they existed prior to the September 11 proxy. Additionally, we satisfied $11.4 million of accrued but unpaid dividends as a result of the recent conversion. Further, as we previously announced, we have fully repaid our Silicon Valley Bank line of credit at the end of the third quarter 2024 with internally generated profits and cash flows and are now bank debt free. We generated $13.2 million of free cash flow for last year and used $10 million to repay our line of credit. Today, we have all of our $10 million line of credit facility available to us. The key to growing our free cash flow has been reducing expenses and growing our GAAP net income. Fourth quarter 2024 GAAP net income was $3.3 million as compared to a net loss of $43.7 million in the same period last year, of which $42 million was due to the goodwill impairment. This is our third consecutive quarter returning to positive GAAP net income and our largest quarterly net income since Q4 2021. Revenue for the fourth quarter 2024 was $28.2 million compared to $28.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Recurring technology-enabled business solution revenues during the fourth quarter 2024 were $24.8 million, essentially flat with the fourth quarter 2023, while non-recurring professional services revenues from medSR declined approximately $400,000. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter 2024 was $7.1 million or 25% of revenue compared to $4.1 million in the same period last year. This was an increase of 73% year-over-year and was the highest quarterly adjusted EBITDA we have ever reported. On a year-to-date basis, the story is similar. With our emphasis on improving profitability, revenue for the year 2024 was $110.8 million compared to $117.1 million in 2023, but our GAAP operating income was $9.1 million compared to an operating loss of $47.1 million in the same period last year, and our GAAP net income was $7.9 million compared to a GAAP net loss of $48.7 million for 2023. This was the highest GAAP net income for the company since inception. Adjusted net income was $0.5 million or $0.65 per share calculated using the end-of-period common shares outstanding. For the year 2024, adjusted EBITDA was $24.1 million, an increase of 56% or $8.7 million from $15.4 million last year. Our adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2024 was also the highest amount ever achieved by the company. During the year 2024, we generated $20.6 million of cash from operations and $13.2 million of free cash flow. The free cash flow amount of $13.2 million decreased by 244% compared to $3.8 million in the same period last year. As of December 31, 2024, the company had approximately $5.1 million of cash. Net working capital was $5.2 million compared to a working capital deficit in the prior year of $57,000. Now that we have repaid our bank debt, free cash flow during 2025 will allow us to increase our cash balance and build additional cushion in our net working capital. Our financial position has improved tremendously during the year 2024. We are happy to have returned to profitability, fully repaid our bank debt, have resumed our preferred stock dividends, achieved cost savings from the preferred stock conversion, and look forward to reporting strong results for the first quarter of 2025. Our team has really worked well together to achieve this turnaround. With that, I will now turn the call over to Mahmud for his closing remarks.

Mahmud Haq, Founder & Executive Chairman

Thank you, Norm. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to our employees, clients, and shareholders for their trust, dedication, and support. Their collective efforts have been instrumental in driving our success and positioning CareCloud for long-term growth. As we move forward, we remain committed to financial strength, innovation, and sustainable growth, reinforcing our position as a leader in AI-driven healthcare solutions. By leveraging advanced automation and intelligent technology, we are shaping the future of healthcare, ensuring that we continue to create value for our clients, shareholders, and investors. With that, operator, please open the floor for questions.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Kim with Zacks Small-Cap Research. Please proceed with your question.

Michael Kim, Analyst

Hey, everyone. Good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. Just first, appreciate the revenue and EBITDA guidance for this year, but focusing on the top-line, I guess, the midpoint suggests modest revenue growth year-over-year. So just curious as to how you're thinking about sort of the mix of growth drivers looking forward, across engaging new clients, introducing new services and/or tapping into new markets? Thanks.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thanks for the question, Michael. For 2024, we are thrilled to report our highest net income, adjusted EBITDA, and cash flow in our history. As we look at this year, we feel well-positioned to continue advancing in all these areas. Starting with EPS, we expect it to be between $0.10 and $0.13, which is significant as it marks the first anticipated positive EPS for the company since our public debut in 2014. This demonstrates the strength of our business transformation that we've discussed for 2024 and includes the advantages from AI automation and the recent conversion of Series A preferred stock, which has bolstered our capital structure and removed dividend obligations. Moving to adjusted EBITDA, we project this year between $26 million and $28 million, reflecting our disciplined cost management and our investments in innovation. Regarding revenue, we expect it to be in the range of $111 million to $114 million. While Q1 typically sees lower revenue due to deductibles resetting, we anticipate revenue growth for the full year after several years of declines, indicating that those declines are behind us. We are excited about increasing revenue this year. When considering the future opportunities, some growth will come from upsells in RCM and digital health to our existing clients, as well as new opportunities leveraging our specialty-specific EHR products and other RCM solutions. Life sciences will contribute to additional growth, and the medSR team will target RCM with AI solutions in small hospitals. Finally, we will focus on acquiring RCM client bases, which aligns with our historical growth through cost-effective customer acquisitions. Overall, our 2025 guidance reflects a strategic shift back to growth while responsibly managing spending and benefiting from a stronger capital structure.

Michael Kim, Analyst

Got it. That's very helpful. I would like to follow up on your comments regarding M&A. It's encouraging to see that activity beginning to pick up. Can you share your perspective on the current pipeline and how it's developing more generally? Additionally, do you have any insights into the expectations of buyers and sellers in terms of valuations? Thanks.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Sure. Certainly, good question. Again, you'll recall, we announced in early March an acquisition, albeit a very small acquisition, but we are really signaling to the market that we believe that we're back in the acquisition business as it were. We've re-entered the acquisition market. And with this most recent transaction, we're really going to be pursuing the overall strategic vision that we've had really since we went public back in 2014. So, there are many smaller and mid-sized medical billing companies, particularly those that have struggled to scale and to adapt to automation. These companies continue to be looking for partners like CareCloud that have, of course, a more sophisticated technology and operational infrastructure. So, there's a real opportunity for these businesses to partner with or to be acquired by a company like CareCloud and to be able to realize the benefits associated with our technology and our global model. If we think about our existing client base, over 8% of our existing clients joined us initially through acquisitions, and we've completed about 20 to 25 acquisitions so far in our company's history. So, acquisitions have really been a key part of our DNA, have been a cornerstone to our overall growth strategy and have allowed us again to be able to acquire customer bases at a very attractive customer acquisition cost. So, we believe the opportunity is a phenomenal one and we continue to pursue that this year. As the year progresses, we'll continue to take a very disciplined approach. Just we want to make sure that any deals that we pursue are accretive and align with our long-term objectives. But to your question from a valuation expectation perspective, what we've seen in the market is really a gradual return toward the lower multiples that we saw in the pre-COVID era. Some sellers, of course, continue to have inflated expectations as you would imagine, based upon the more recent revenue multiples, but again, we're beginning to see more rational pricing and expectations from a seller's perspective and particularly from companies that really recognize this need to partner with a larger platform like CareCloud in order to stay competitive. So, as a buyer, our focus really remains upon these value-driven acquisitions. So, we're not chasing deals with aggressive multiples, but we're instead target businesses where we know we can offer significant upside to the clients and can also provide AI and technology automation and operational efficiencies that enhance the overall client experience. So, we think that from an acquisitions perspective, this year, especially the second half of the year, will be a key driver of our overall growth this year.

Michael Kim, Analyst

That's great. Very helpful. Thanks for taking my questions.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thank you.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Cohen with Ladenburg Thalmann. Please proceed with your question.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

Good morning. Thank you for taking our questions. So, I wondered if you could talk a little bit about your user base and talk a little bit about expanding the user base coupled with expanding the offerings and the types of customers that you've had and what you're seeing with the current customer base as far as where it's headed.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

For sure, yeah, and thank you for the question, Jeff. So, in terms of the user base, the user base, of course, from a specialty perspective continues to be diversified with about one-third of the overall customers practicing in primary care and then the balance coming from a wide variety of different specialties and subspecialties. Geographically, it's distributed throughout the country. So, we do business, of course, in all 50 states with the heaviest concentrations of clients in New Jersey, New York, California, Florida, and also the West. So, just on a high level, that's a little bit of an overview of our overall customer base. From the perspective of the services that our customers use, the majority of our customers are leveraging our integrated platform. So, the EHR and the RCM and the PM in an integrated model. We, of course, have clients that are leveraging other solutions on a standalone basis, but the majority are using our overall integrated solution. So, for us, the real upside in the opportunities in that existing base relate primarily to being able to sell a variety of different solutions, including digital health, that's RPM and CCM, into this existing base and also being able to take HER-only users and being able to upsell them, so that they're all leveraging our revenue cycle management solutions. And then finally, being able to rollout AI across the entirety of that base. So, I don't know if that addressed your question exactly or not. If not, I'd be happy to zero in on a different area.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

No, that's super helpful. And then, as a follow-up, can we talk about the 2025 guide? So, I'm assuming as it stands now, you're not factoring any M&A. And then, maybe could you talk about how that may look as far as customers, number of customers, and factoring in some of the attrition versus addition?

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Sure. I'll start, and then Norm or Hadi can add in. Looking at acquisitions from a broader perspective, we believe they will play a significant role in our growth throughout the year. However, the revenue figures we've shared do not include any substantial acquisitions for this year. If a major acquisition were to occur, it would likely happen later in the year and contribute minimally to revenue. Instead, we are focused on traditional organic growth combined with some smaller tuck-in acquisitions. Regarding our client base, we experience natural attrition due to factors like consolidation and provider retirements, affecting us and other service providers alike. Therefore, some of our new business is aimed at offsetting this natural attrition, and our net growth will come from securing new opportunities beyond the lost business.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

Perfect. Thanks for taking our questions.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thanks, Jeff.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Allen Klee with Maxim Group. Please proceed with your question.

Allen Klee, Analyst

I have some questions regarding the preferred stocks. Specifically, about the Series A forced conversion. As I understand, you've converted about 3.5 million of the preferred A shares, but there were about 4.5 million outstanding. What happens to the remaining close to 1 million shares? Are they still outstanding and continue to pay an 8.75% dividend, or can they be redeemed? Looking ahead to the Series B, will you be paying a higher rate than the current reduced rate to make up for the missed payments from the previous year? If so, how long will you need to pay at the higher rate to fully catch up? Additionally, could you provide the expected total preferred dividends for the March quarter and for the following quarters? Thank you.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thank you, Allen, for your question. Your inquiry relates to both the Series A and Series B preferred shares. I'd like to take a moment to discuss the conversion process before addressing the specific figures you mentioned, such as 4.5 million, 3.5 million, and the remaining 1 million related to redemption. It was crucial for us to ensure that preferred shareholders, specifically Series A shareholders, were treated fairly and had the chance to participate in the company's long-term growth. This was why our Board proposed a structure last September that included change of control protections, preventing the Series A shares from being acquired without being converted. The conversion was designed not as a typical multiple of the lower market price but rather at the full redemption price of $25, ensuring preferred shareholders received full value. In terms of the details, the conversion was mandatory and received approval from a significant majority of the Series A preferred shareholders back in September 2024. Just to clarify, the Series A preferred shares were valued at the redemption price of $25, representing a premium over the market price at the time, which was around $19. This allowed us to provide full value to Series A shareholders while including all accumulated and unpaid dividends. The total of these amounts was divided by the 20-day VWAP of the common shares, leading to each preferred share converting to approximately 7.3 to 7.4 shares of common stock. In total, 3.5 million preferred shares were converted into around 26 million common shares, leaving nearly 1 million shares yet to be converted, which occurred on March 6. The reasoning behind the conversion was to simplify our capital structure and increase overall shareholder value by converting roughly $100 million in fixed obligations, which includes the converted shares and accumulated dividends, along with a perpetual $10 million obligation. This conversion allows preferred shareholders to benefit from the company's long-term growth on par with common shareholders, while also ceasing our monthly dividend obligations, which previously cost about $10 million a year. This shift enhances our financial model's appeal to investors and allows everyone to participate in long-term value creation. It's also noteworthy that there is strong alignment between insiders, the Board, and management regarding this move. Before the conversion, approximately 40% of common stock was held by insiders, with our Executive Chairman and Founder being a significant holder who has continued to purchase shares since our public offering in 2014. This shows a collective belief in the conversion's role in supporting long-term value for all shareholders. Addressing your specific question, nearly 1 million shares did not convert. In the proxy terms, we offered significant shareholders holding 100,000 shares or more the option to opt-out, as converting those larger shareholders could negatively impact the common stock if they chose to sell. Those 1 million shares remain, and we will continue to pay dividends on them. They can be redeemed, and there is potential for future conversion if another mandatory conversion occurs. Regarding the Series B shares, they will continue to receive an 8.75% rate similar to the remaining Series A shares. We plan to maintain monthly payments as we have historically, resulting in payments being in arrears. At some point, these cumulative payments will need to be settled, either through redemption, which we can conduct at $25.50, dropping to $25.25 over time, always ensuring we cover any accumulated dividends. For now, our focus is on maintaining monthly payments to both Series A and Series B shareholders, and a larger catch-up may be considered later, though that would depend on future redemption scenarios.

Allen Klee, Analyst

Thank you.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Did I address everything, Allen? Sure.

Allen Klee, Analyst

Just, what will be the preferred dividend total payment in the March quarter, and then, what do you expect it to be in the quarters thereafter?

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Okay, fair enough. And on an annualized basis going forward, it'll be about $5.5 million roughly. And I'm sorry, but you asked another question, not the annualized dividend, you asked for what period?

Allen Klee, Analyst

In the first quarter, it's two-thirds of that because it's two months. Then, in the following quarters, it's an annualized figure of a quarter of $5.5 million. Is that how you should think about it?

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Yeah. On a monthly basis, it'll be about $450,000 roughly on a monthly basis, and that's both the As and the Bs. So, if we think about the fact that conversion happened here in the midst of the quarter, that will be, Norm, roughly?

Norman Roth, Interim CFO

So, yeah, so the payment for March would be about $500,000 and that would go forward because remember the As are getting the 11% up until the time we catch up to September 11, then the payment will drop to $450,000 a month after that. But if you remember, in February, we made a larger payment because we had all the As and Bs outstanding at that time.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

And Allen, again, from the perspective of the conversion, relative to all the As, of course, who were converted over, we caught them all up in terms of the dividends right up until March 5th or 6th when we actually converted. So, there won't be any cash payment relative to those particular investors because we've already paid them in kind at the time of the conversion.

Allen Klee, Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thank you.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our time allowed for questions. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Rothe for any final comments.

Norman Roth, Interim CFO

Thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. Have a great day.

Stephen Snyder, Co-CEO

Thank you.

Operator, Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.