Nat City Takes Gain From First Franklin Sale

National City Corp., Cleveland, has reported that it took a $622 million after-tax gain ($1.00 per share) in the fourth quarter because of the sale of First Franklin's mortgage origination and servicing platforms.On the other hand, because of credit losses on the First Franklin runoff portfolio, realized losses on the sales of former First Franklin portfolio loans, and the fair-value writedowns on such loans held for sale, National City recorded an after-tax charge of $172 million ($0.28 per share) for the quarter. "The fourth quarter benefited from the large gain on the sale of First Franklin, partially offset by losses incurred on the sale and writedown of certain loans associated with this unit," said National City chairman and chief executive David A. Daberko. "Approximately $7.3 billion of such loans remain on our balance sheet in runoff mode." The sale of First Franklin to Merrill Lynch for $1.3 billion was completed on Dec. 30, 2006. National City reported net income of $842 million ($1.36 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with $398 million ($0.64 per share) a year earlier. Full-year income for 2006 totaled $2.3 billion ($3.72 per share), vs. $2.0 billion ($3.09 per share) in 2005. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.nationalcity.com.