PHH Corp. is stopping the organic growth of its retail mortgage origination business with the notable exception of its joint venture with Realogy Corp, PHH Home Loans.
Chief Executive Officer Glen Messina made the announcement during the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday. The company had another
"Progress is too slow and the effort too costly," Messina said.
However, PHH Mortgage still will make acquisitions to grow its traditional retail branch business, he added.
Most recently,
Later in the call, Messina said if the lower total origination projections made by the secondary market and the Mortgage Bankers Association come to fruition, "there will be continued pressure on retail originators to consolidate and we would expect to see increased opportunity for M&A activity."
It has set aside $150 million in capital to support its retail acquisition efforts.
Messina also said the company will continue to add loan officers at PHH Home Loans, stating, "We do have a concerted effort to expand our loan officer presence and we will be doing a full launch and consistent with the home purchase market season starting in April."
PHH's mortgage origination segment lost $47 million for the year and $21 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $141 million for all of 2014 and $26 million for the fourth quarter that year.
