Cardinal Financial Corp. said
The company received $1.5 billion of new apps in 1Q13, up from $1.4 billion in 4Q12 and $1.1 billion in 1Q12. Furthermore, refis only made up 47% of 1Q13 apps, versus 67% in 4Q12 and 60% in 1Q12. The company now employs 173 loan officers, compared with 160 at the end of last year and 116 in 1Q12.
Net gains from the mortgage banking business totaled $6.3 million, down from $8.8 million in 4Q12 and $6.9 million in 1Q12. Cardinal said the decrease is due to changes in unrealized gains associated in the fair market value of locked commitments and closed loans held for sale.
Cardinal earned $7.2 million in the quarter, down from $7.7 million one year prior.
Bernard H. Clineburg, chairman and CEO of Cardinal, said the company uses a “broader, longer-term approach” in evaluating the progress of its mortgage business, even though accounting rules can make results from this line volatile.
“Regardless of revenue timing, the profitability of each loan originated and sold is unchanged. Therefore, we discount the impact of changes to unrealized gains on quarterly income, and we focus on production trends, sales margins and the variable versus fixed components of the expense structure. By evaluating these metrics, we continue in our belief that we have the premier mortgage banking operation in the metropolitan Washington market.
“We have grown this segment considerably over the past year, and production volumes have been maintained as we continued to add seasoned, proven performers that have survived several business cycles. We firmly believe, even if refinance transactions slow down in 2013 as many expect, George Mason Mortgage will remain a highly profitable component of our business, and it will continue to make a significant contribution to our company’s overall performance,” he said.
