Mortgage Income Down at PNC

The residential mortgage banking segment at PNC Financial Services Group, Pittsburgh, recorded earnings of $25 million for the fourth quarter and $435 million for the full year 2009. Income for the third quarter was $91 million; the quarter-to-quarter decline is due to lower loan sales revenue, reduced net hedging revenue on its mortgage servicing rights, lower servicing fees and lower net interest income. Loan volume in the fourth quarter was $2.3 billion, down from $3.6 billion in the third quarter. The mortgage servicing portfolio was $145 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009, compared with $158 billion at the end of the third quarter. PNC said during the fourth quarter, it sold $7.9 billion of mortgage servicing rights; in addition, run-off slightly outpaced new loan origination volume. Overall PNC earned $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $2.4 billion for the full year. The company reemphasized the residential mortgage origination business following its acquisition of National City Corp. at the end of 2008.