NetBank Reports Mortgage-Related Loss

NetBank Inc., an Atlanta-based online bank, has reported a mortgage-related net loss of $180,000 ($0.00 per share) for 2005, compared with net income of $4.2 million ($0.09 per share) in 2004, although the company did record a profitable fourth quarter.Net income for the fourth quarter totaled $895,000 ($0.02 per share), compared with a net loss of $17.7 million ($0.38 per share) a year earlier, NetBank reported. The production of conforming mortgages totaled $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter, a decline of 14.7% from that of the third quarter, and the production of nonconforming mortgages totaled $807 million, a decline of 8.6%, the company reported. "As we had reported throughout the year, our mortgage operations were under pressure due to a highly competitive pricing environment," said Douglas K. Freeman, NetBank's chairman and chief executive officer. "This pressure, although not surprising, was simply more irrational than anticipated, particularly within the nonconforming business where our revenue margins dropped an average of 64 basis points during the year. Our mortgage operations went from a positive pretax contribution of $21.1 million a year ago to a pretax loss of $17.7 million this year." The company can be found online at http://www.netbank.com.