Criimi Mae Reports Higher 2Q Earnings

Criimi Mae, Rockville, Md., has reported a net income of $18.1 million ($1.15 per share) for the second quarter, a significant improvement from the net loss of $3.6 million ($0.24 per share) a year earlier.The real estate investment trust's performance highlights for the period include a 23% increase in net interest margin compared with that of a year earlier and a decrease in its specially serviced loan balance from $855 million at the end of the first quarter to $693 million. In addition, Criimi Mae has reduced recourse debt and obtained a $500 million warehouse facility from Deutsche Bank that it will use to fund its commercial mortgage originations. "Our focus during the balance of the year is staffing the originations business and putting in place the right systems to differentiate Criimi Mae," said Mark Jarrell, Criimi Mae's president and chief operating officer. In a related teleconference, Mr. Jarrell said the commercial mortgage REIT's new focus, in what he called a "paradigm shift," will be to move away from the "short-term arbitrage model that characterizes most of the currently operating commercial mortgage platforms" to one that prides itself on "stabilized credit analysis, end-to-end customer service, and repeat transactions."