Accredited Downgraded to 'Sell'

Brokerage firm Stifel Nicolaus has downgraded subprime lender Accredited Home Lenders, San Diego, from "hold" to "sell."The downgrade came a few days after the publicly traded Accredited said it will delay its annual 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, adding that income for 2006 will likely be $100 million less than in 2005, when it earned $155 million. Accredited, a nondepository, said the delay in filing its annual 10-K is caused by its purchase of Aames Financial, another subprime lender. The integration of Aames into Accredited has slowed the company's reporting, it told the SEC. According to the Quarterly Data Report, Accredited is the nation's 13th-largest subprime funder. In trading Monday, Accredited's share price was down 20%.