Corporate finance

The Providence, R.I., company reported a 27% gain in profits thanks partly to a boost in fee income from its purchase of Franklin American Mortgage in August.

The Portland, Ore, company also benefited from lower expenses and an improved efficiency ratio.

MGIC Investment Corp.'s quarterly earnings were again driven by better-than-expected loss development, and those favorable results should be seen in the other private mortgage insurers' results as well, an industry analyst said.

A notable drop in home equity lending at Bank of America during the third quarter contributed to an overall decline in new single-family loans produced by the company.

Mortgage-related earnings at five banks were lower due to the effect of higher interest rates on loan volume this year, even though late-season homebuyers improved consecutive-quarter origination numbers at three companies.

D.R. Horton is selling more homes, but its cancellation rates also are higher in the company's primary fiscal year results, a sign that rising mortgage rates may be affecting the market.

First Foundation sold loans to Freddie Mac to free up space for higher-yielding credits. It then bought the securities that were formed to replace other, lower-yielding assets through an often overlooked program.

With spring homebuying in bloom, the second quarter brought profits to independent mortgage bankers after going negative for the second time ever, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A deceleration in mortgage balances ends CIBC's three-year streak of outpacing Canada's other large lenders on mortgage growth. Royal Bank of Canada said this week that mortgage balances were 5.9% higher than a year earlier.

Computershare Loan Services has agreed to acquire a loan fulfillment and secondary marketing unit owned by LenderLive Holdings in order to broaden its services along the full mortgage lifecycle.

Ditech will eliminate 450 positions when it closes its Rapid City, S.D., call center late next year, as the company seeks to regain profitability after emerging from bankruptcy.

Ditech Holding Corp. posted a net loss of $40.5 million in its first full operating quarter since emerging from bankruptcy protection in February.

Redwood Trust's net income was down 30% from the prior quarter as mortgage banking activities earnings fell by 60%.

PHH Corp. remained above the adjusted net worth and cash requirements for the company's proposed acquisition by Ocwen to take place, even though it lost $35 million in the second quarter.

National MI deliberately dropped some of its customers in the second quarter, resulting in flat new insurance growth compared with the first quarter and a lower increase versus one year prior.

Fannie Mae’s treatment of a reperforming loan package helped drive up earnings by almost 41% to $4.5 billion, delivering a stronger dividend to Treasury ahead of a leadership change.

Xome acquired Assurant's Mortgage Solutions unit one day after its parent company Nationstar was bought by the shell company of the former Washington Mutual.

Arch MI U.S. returned to having the No. 1 market share among private mortgage insurers as it increased its new insurance written 15% over the previous year.

Freddie Mac produced modest second-quarter results, reflecting a stabilizing business that CEO Donald Layton compared to a utility company.

Black Knight reported net earnings of $40 million for the second quarter as adjusted revenue from its servicing and origination software businesses grew by 7% over the previous year.