"Have we seen the last of First NLC? It's anybody's guess, but recent posters on Last NLC (note: thanks for the shout-out) seem to be convinced, if not actually happy about it.
"Layoffs and branch closures have been going on some time now, the most recent of which came to our attention when it was reported here that another 100 employees were let go and the Anaheim, CA office was also being consolidated to their East Coast headquarters. Calls to the offices still listed on CityTownInfo.com revealed only 2 locations still receiving calls: Anaheim, CA's answering system is still on, and the headquarters in Boca Raton, FL. The company's web site now shows just one location - Boca Raton. For those tracking the numbers, that represents 24 offices nationwide, and now, approximately 725 of 1,350 employees gone in the consolidation.
"Concerns over the company's continued viability stem largely from losses reported in their parent company's 3rd quarter financial statements. On 10-25-07, Reuters reported that FBR Group (Friedman Billings Ramsey Group, Inc.) realized write-offs of $90 million associated with the sale of securitized loans, and an additional loss of $67 million from the sale of mortgage-backed securities. A company press release of the same date revealed the following additional losses:
- "an economic loss of $17.2 million(2) associated with restructuring and operating costs at First NLC Financial Services (FNLC), of which $15 million was incurred prior to the agreement announced in July to sell FNLC to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners (Sun Capital), and
- "a $27 million valuation loss relating to the portfolio of conforming and non-conforming loans originated by FNLC and for which FBR Group took ownership under the Sun Capital sale agreement, reducing the value of those loans to $203 million.
"FBR Group announced its plans to sell an 80% share in First NLC to a Sun Capital Partners affiliate on 7-26-07, as part of a recapitalization plan to enable the struggling sub-prime lender to continue operations and satisfy a negotiated settlement of this employee class action lawsuit which received preliminary court approval in late September. The transfer to Sun Capital is expected to be completed by 2007 year end."
Pretty soon, they'll be running this company out of the family's garage.
Here are some additional notes from The Truth About Mortgage:
- According to sources, First NLC Financial Services plans to close 24 branches nationwide, shuttering their operations on the west coast and cutting more than 100 jobs in the process.
- It is believed that only six retail branches will remain open, along with an operations center at its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida.
- I’ve been told that most of the 100-odd employees at its loan center in Anaheim, California have been laid off as a result of the migration to the east coast.
- In August, First NLC laid off 645 employees, or nearly half of its 1,350 member work force as the mortgage crisis continued to deteriorate.
- First NLC is one of the top non-prime residential mortgage lenders in the nation, originating over $7.4 billion in mortgage loans in 2006.
FBR bought the subprime lending unit in 2005 for $101 million and arranged a sale this summer to an affiliate of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners.
5 comments:
I'm surprised First NLC has gone under the radar for so long at the Implode site....It should have been on there months ago, as anyone who has worked there knows.
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc (FBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) suspended its quarterly dividend even as it boosted its share buyback program, and said it sees total fourth-quarter losses of about $38 million related to certain mortgage loans.
The company said it plans to buy back 100 million shares, up from the 50 million it had planned earlier, as its board believed that the stock price did not accurately reflect FBR's underlying value.
FBR said its board explored a variety of potential strategic alternatives and concluded that the most prudent use of its financial resources was to buy back additional shares at this time.
However, the company may consider and pursue other strategic alternatives in the future, it said in a statement.
The company, which spun off its investment banking unit in June, said it also expects to write-off goodwill of about $108 million in the fourth quarter.
For the fourth quarter, FBR said it would recognize a loss of $18 million on the sale of $153 million of mortgage loans originated by First NLC Financial Services LLC.
The company said it also sees additional losses of about $20 million from the sale or write down of the remaining $48 million of the non-securitized non-prime mortgage loans.
Shares of the company closed at $2.96 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Nachiket Kelkar; Shikhar Balwani in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan, Deepak Kannan)
I'm glad those bastards are going down. I wish I could suit the bastards. They paid me a lousy $995 on a $406k loan amount with 4 points. I hope they all go down. Wish I could figure out a way to suit there asses.
Hope they all go Down!!!!!!
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