Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Delta Financial slumps after postponing results

The company was scheduled to release results before the stock market opened on Wednesday. However, Delta Financial corp posted a short statement on the homepage of its Web site on Wednesday that said the earnings have been postponed.

Delta didn't give a reason why it delayed the report and didn't say when the results may be released in future. Larry Karpen, a vice president at Delta Financial, declined to comment.
Delta Financial shares slumped $3.20 to close at $4.75 on Wednesday. That leaves the stock down more than 50% so far this year.

Delta Financial specializes in mortgages that don't conform to the standards of government sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae.

The company offers subprime home loans to less creditworthy borrowers. However, it focuses on mainly fixed-rate mortgages and has shunned some of the riskier products that have got some of its rivals into so much trouble this year.

Delta Financial Chief Executive Hugh Miller highlighted those attributes during the company's annual meeting in May.

Rather than attempt to quickly gain market share, "we maintained our guidelines and originated loan products that made sense for us and our borrowers," Miller said. "Although it remains a challenging environment, we firmly believe the remaining competitive landscape -- especially in the wholesale channel -- will allow us to capitalize on both short-and long-term opportunities in the market."

That was reflected in the performance of Delta's shares earlier this year. The stock fell in February and March when the first signs of big trouble in the subprime mortgage market emerged. However, the shares rallied strongly in April and May and held on to those gains through June. At the end of June, the shares were up more than 20% in 2007.

But subprime home loan problems have spread to other parts of the mortgage market recently. American Home Mortgage , the 10th largest mortgage lender in the U.S. which originated very few subprime home loans, filed for bankruptcy this week. Several companies have said that parts of the secondary mortgage market have seized up as investors stop buying some types of loans.
As problems spread beyond subprime, Delta Financial shares slumped. The stock has lost 55% of its value since the end of June.

Five Stars Mortgage still providing Deltona Florida Bad Credit Loans to it's clients despite market turmoil.

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