HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., sold a portfolio of mortgages as part of a balance sheet restructuring.
The $3.7 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it sold about $160 million of one-to-four-family loans to an unnamed buyer. The sale generated a roughly $1.3 million gain.
The fixed- and adjustable-rate loans had a weighted average rate of 3.50%.
HomeTrust said it plans to sell another $90 million in mortgages in the first quarter.
“The sale of these lower rate one-to-four family loans and our recent strong deposit growth will help to lower the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio to below 100% while shifting our loan mix to a higher percentage of commercial loans and equipment financing,” Dana Stonestreet, HomeTrust’s chairman, president and CEO, said in the release.
“The gain generated from the sale of these loans will help to offset the short-term decrease in net interest income until new loans are originated at higher yields,” Stonestreet added. “This loan sale, coupled with our strong loan origination pipeline, should improve our long-term interest rate margin and profitability.”
