Accredited Stock Clobbered After Warning

Citing higher-than-expected delinquencies and stiff pricing competition, Accredited Home Lenders Inc. forecast lower annual earnings on Thursday, sending its shares down 12% at one point.In a statement, the subprime lender also said its loan production has fallen short of expectations. Specifically, the company said its profits will not even reach the lower end of its previous guidance of $4.50 a share. Accredited chief executive James Konrath said "the ferocity of pricing competition" is due partly to lenders who are trying to maintain volume because they are takeover targets and want to look good. The San Diego-based Accredited recently disclosed that it bought back $38.6 million in mortgages in the second quarter, a 145% increase from the level of a year earlier. It will release third-quarter earnings in early November. Accredited can be found online at http://www.accredhome.com.