Delta Reports 1Q Loss

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., has reported a loss of $9.3 million ($0.55 per share) for the first quarter, compared with net income of $6.7 million ($0.36 per share) a year earlier.The company said the loss was due to a shift from gain-on-sale to portfolio accounting in the treatment of its securitizations. The shift resulted in an adjustment of $18.4 million. If Delta still used gain-on-sale accounting, it would have had earnings of $9.1 million ($0.51 per share). Hugh Miller, Delta's president and chief executive officer, said the shift in accounting treatment delays the timing of Delta's recognition of income from securitizations. "It does not change the fundamental economics of our business," he said. "We expect this change will enable us to deliver a more consistent earnings stream in the future." Loan production volume for the first quarter was $504 million, up 56% from that of the previous year. In what was shaping up as a down day in the stock market, investors had boosted Delta's stock price by $0.49 to $8.00 per share by late morning on April 28.