Fieldstone Reports Earnings Adjustment

Fieldstone Investment Corp., Columbia, Md., has reported a one-time adjustment that increases by $14 million its earnings for the fourth quarter and for all of 2003.The adjustment resulted from the recognition of a $14 million deferred tax asset in 2003, with a corresponding reduction of the company's federal and state income taxes, Fieldstone said. Fieldstone is taxed as a real estate investment trust, while its origination subsidiary, Fieldstone Mortgage Co., is a taxable REIT subsidiary. Fieldstone's filing of the TRS election in the fourth quarter required it to record a deferred tax asset on its books for "the temporary differences between the GAAP and tax basis of assets and liabilities within its financial statements," the company said.