Servicing

FFW Corp., the parent company of First Federal Savings Bank, Wabash, Ind., has recorded a noncash impairment charge of approximately $1.8 million ($1.38 per share) for the second fiscal quarter of 2005 related to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock, resulting in a net loss of $1.2 million for the quarter.The company said the charge had no effect on its capital because the unrealized losses were already recorded as a mark-to-market adjustment in other comprehensive income. FFW said the decision to take the charge was based on several factors, including "recent public disclosures" at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the "duration and level of market values below book cost" on the stocks, and Fannie's December multibillion-dollar issuance of preferred stock "with a substantially different structure and higher yields than previous offerings." First Federal Savings can be found online at http://www.ffsbwabash.com.

The common stock of American Business Financial Services Inc., Philadelphia, will be delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market on Feb. 2, ABFS has reported.ABFS, which originates, sells, and services home mortgage loans via subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Jan. 21. The company said it received the delisting notice on Jan. 24, and that the trading symbol of its stock will be ABFIQ until the delisting.

Class B-4F of Ocwen Residential MBS Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-R1 group F, has been downgraded from CCC to CC by Fitch Ratings.The rating agency also affirmed and removed from Rating Watch Negative the rating on class B-4A of Ocwen Residential MBS Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-r1 group a. In addition, Fitch upgraded four classes from two Ocwen deals and affirmed the ratings on 11 classes in three Ocwen transactions. The downgrade was attributed to collateral losses that resulted in a decline in credit enhancement. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The Prestwick Group, Alexandria, Va., is brokering the sale of servicing rights on a $204 million portfolio of Ginnie Mae loans.The portfolio has a weighted average note rate of 5.367% and a weighted average service fee of 0.4247%. The average loan balance is $112,694, and the weighted average seasoning is 15 months. The delinquency ratio, including foreclosures, is 9.85%. Bids are due Feb. 8.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed and removed from Rating Watch Negative its A-minus financial strength ratings for the title insurance underwriting subsidiaries of Fidelity National Financial Inc. and its BBB-minus long-term issuer rating of FNF.In addition, Fitch assigned a BB-minus rating to the senior secured credit facility entered into by FNF's subsidiary Fidelity National Information Services. Fitch had downgraded FNF and placed its ratings on Rating Watch Negative after the announcement of a recapitalization plan for the subsidiary that would leverage the parent company's consolidated balance sheet to a debt-to-capital ratio of approximately 50%, Fitch said. The rating agency said it removed those ratings from the watchlist after analyzing the title operations separately from information services and determining that FNF-only leverage and coverage would be "supportive of the current ratings."

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has reported net income of $28.2 million ($2.32 per share) for 2004, compared with $25.0 million ($2.08 per share) for 2003.For the fourth quarter, Farmer Mac's net income totaled $9.8 million ($0.82 per share), compared with $4.9 million ($0.40 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2003. Henry D. Edelman, Farmer Mac's president and chief executive officer, said 90-day delinquencies in the company's portfolio remained at low levels as of Dec. 31, totaling $25.3 million, or 0.55% of the portfolio.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank, has reported record pro forma net earnings of $211.3 million ($3.40 per share) for 2004, compared with $171.3 million ($3.01 per share) in 2003.Mortgage loan production totaled a record $37.9 billion, up 30% from the volume recorded the year before, IndyMac said. (The company said the pro forma earnings, related to SEC Staff Accountability Bulletin No. 105 and adjustments related to IndyMac's acquisition of Financial Freedom Holdings, were reported to provide comparability to historical performance figures.) For the fourth quarter, the company reported pro forma net earnings of $58.4 million ($0.91 per share), compared with $43.3 million ($0.75 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2003. Mortgage loan production totaled a record $11.2 billion, up 79% from that of a year earlier. "While industry volumes declined 26% in 2004 from 2003 levels, we grew our mortgage volumes 30%, and as a result, we achieved 74% growth in market share for the full year, to 1.34%," said Michael W. Perry, IndyMac's chief executive officer. The company can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

Classes C-1 and C-2 of Putnam Structured Products CDO 2001-1 Ltd. have been downgraded from BBB to BB-plus by Fitch Ratings.The rating agency also affirmed the ratings on five other classes in the transaction. Fitch said Putnam 2001-1 is a collateralized debt obligation, managed by Putnam Advisory Co., that closed Nov. 30, 2001. The portfolio backing the CDO consists of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, real estate investment trusts, consumer and commercial asset-backed securities, and other CDOs. The downgrades stem from increased pressure on excess spread caused by the current interest rate environment, Fitch said. "Consequently, the terms of the interest rate swap, which were negotiated at closing, have created an excessive cash outflow on the transaction," the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association -- which has yet to take a position on the whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should slash their servicing fees -- will host a meeting on the issue Feb. 3 in Washington.At least 30 mortgage officials, including representatives from the two government-sponsored enterprises, are expected to attend the meeting, said Steve O'Conner, the MBA's vice president of government affairs. Neither Fannie nor Freddie have cut their minimum servicing fee, currently set at 25 basis points, but both are considering it. Mr. O'Conner noted that GSE officials will attend only part of the meeting, which will be a forum for both small and large mortgage bankers. "We want to get a number of perspectives on the issue, from firms both large and small," he said. (See the Jan. 24 issue of NMN and the forthcoming Jan. 31 issue for more details on the story.)

Unizan Financial Corp., Canton, Ohio, has announced that it will record an after-tax impairment charge of $2.2 million ($0.10 per share) for the fourth quarter related to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock in its available-for-sale securities portfolio.The company said the decline in the value of the perpetual preferred securities was previously recorded as an unrealized mark-to-market loss on securities available for sale and was reflected in a reduction to equity through other comprehensive income. "Accordingly, the reclassification of the unrealized after-tax loss to an other-than-temporary impairment noncash charge will not affect total shareholders' equity," the company said. Unizan Financial, the holding company for Unizan Bank NA, can be found online at http://www.unizan.com.