New Century Will Delay 10-K Filing

Subprime giant New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., says it expects to tell the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will delay the filing of its annual 10-K report for the year ending Dec. 31.A few weeks ago, the publicly traded nondepository said it would report a loss for the fourth quarter and restate earnings for the previous three quarters. According to the Quarterly Data Report, New Century ranked second among all subprime originators in the fourth quarter, funding $12.2 billion in loans, an 8% decline from the level of the fourth quarter of 2005. HSBC Finance, Prospect Heights, Ill., ranked first, with $12.2 million.