Irwin Expects Mortgage-Linked Loss

Irwin Financial Corp., Columbus, Ind., has announced that it expects to report a "small loss" for the first quarter due chiefly to losses in its mortgage business.Irwin said the mortgage losses resulted largely from the interest rate environment and the cap on the valuation of mortgage servicing rights imposed under generally accepted accounting principles. The company said it expects earnings per share to return to original projections for the rest of the year, but that profitability in the next three quarters is not expected to offset the first-quarter loss enough to produce full-year earnings greater than those of 2004. "We have noted for years that the mark-to-market and lower-of-cost-or-market cap on the carrying value of mortgage servicing rights required under GAAP would likely create this outcome at some point," said Irwin chairman Will Miller.