PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust earned $19.1 million in the first quarter, a slight decline from the prior period, but the firm more than doubled its correspondent lending volume to $1.8 billion while racking up $2.4 billion in rate locks.
There was no mention of its warehouse lending efforts in 1Q, and in a presentation to investors released Thursday morning the REIT appears to be downplaying its role as an investor in distressed mortgages. It repeated early statements about growing its correspondent purchases to $1 billion a month by yearend.
During the period it earned $13.3 million from mortgages acquired for sale.
The brainchild of former Countrywide Financial president Stanford Kurland, PennyMac’s share price recently reached a new 52-week high, but was trading down at deadline to $19.67. (Kurland left CFC before its troubles began.)
The company, a REIT for tax purposes, was formed a few years back to buy distressed mortgages but has morphed into a correspondent lender and servicer. The company has been telling investors that it is hungry to buy servicing rights, including receivables tied to HARP loans.
At the end of March PennyMac held $1.22 billion of mortgages, compared to $1.24 billion at Dec. 31. It attributed its falling asset base to “robust liquidation activity” and an “absence of nonperforming whole loan” pool purchases.
The company is based in Moorpark, Calif., which is near the old Countrywide headquarters in Calabasas.
