Washington Mutual the nation’s largest thrift reported a net loss of after merchandise close on Thursday. The loss was its first since 1997 and came as WaMu took a $1.6 billion after-tax charge to the determine of its home mortgage unit and set aside $1.53 billion for ascribe losses.
that the $2.19 per overlap loss for the quarter was worse than analysts had expected; mean expectations were at $1.43 per share the news service said.
The fourth quarter loss pushed WaMu into the red for the full year with the tip reporting a net loss of $67 million for 2007. The Seattle-based thrift in December including laying off 3,150 employees as it looked to adjust to market challenges it characterized as “unprecedented” at the time.
Mortgage losses continue to mount“It’s clear that the weakness in both the housing and credit markets have led to a fundamental alter within the mortgage industry,” CEO Kerry Killinger said in a conference call with analysts.
Net charge-offs for the fourth accommodate registered $747 million; the furnish for future losses was roughly double the charge-off evaluate bringing be allowance for loan losses to $2.57 billion at year end. WaMu said. Charge-offs in subprime and home equity loans dominated accounting for approximately 70 percent of the total.
Non-performing assets grew to $7.1 billion in the fourth accommodate equalling 2.17 percent of total assets and increasing 52 basis points from the prior accommodate (see below for a look at NPAs by accommodate).
“Although we are not seeing significant changes in early stage delinquencies once a borrower is delinquent it is difficult for them to aid their loan because home prices in many areas of the country are not only deteriorating but homes are also taking longer to sell,” said CFO Tom Casey.
“In addition liquidity for consumers has decreased with far fewer refinancing opportunities especially for nonconforming loans.”
Beyond non-performing assets. Casey also discussed Wamu’s exposure to option ARMs saying that the bank considers only $2.1 billion of its $57 billion option ARM portfolio as “at risk,” identifying high risk loans as those originated between 2005 and 2007 with an original LTV over 80 percent.
WaMu had exceed wish the rest of its option ARM portfolio is low(er) risk: below is a scary ARM reset chart covering option ARM recasting.
Looking aheadKillinger said that WaMu will act to focus on retail originations and that it is expecting a 40 percent drop in overall originations in 2008 to $1.5 trillion. That number is well below by the Mortgage Bankers Association in a recent forecast.
Casey also noted that the thrift expects net charge-offs in the first quarter of 2008 to be up “20-30 percent” versus Q4 and that the loss provision will be in the “be of $1.8 to $2.0 billion.”
Forex Groups - Tips on Trading
Related article:
http://www.housingwire.com/2008/01/17/wamu-posts-187-billion-q4-loss-on-mortgage-woes/
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|