Guild Mortgage takes earnings hit from servicing portfolio

Guild Mortgage reported financial setbacks in the third quarter, driven by the impact of fluctuating interest rates on its servicing portfolio, but its origination segment held strong.

The company reported a significant loss of $145.8 million in value adjustments to its mortgage servicing rights, compared to a gain of $2.1 million in the prior quarter, due to rates dropping in August.

Its servicing segment posted a net loss of $74.6 million in the third quarter, while company wide it reported a $66.9 million net loss, a drop from its net income of $37.6 million in the second quarter.

Commenting on its loss on MSR's Amber Kramer, chief financial officer at Guild, said it's "really based on rate change" and that this has happened before in previous quarters.

"Obviously with the market volatility and the rates changing in October, you are seeing a shift of the other way," Kramer said during Guild's third earnings call.  

Despite fluctuations in its servicing portfolio, Guild reported strong results in its origination segment.

For the July-September period, Guild's origination volume grew to $6.9 billion, up from $6.5 billion the prior period, representing a slight increase of 6%. The majority of that volume (88%) was purchase business, the company said.

The nonbank's GOS slightly increased by 2% to 333 basis points on funded originations, up from 326 basis points in the second quarter.

Per the company's CEO Terry Schmidt, the nonbank is poised for better days ahead due to its "successful integration of our [Academy Mortgage] acquisition and robust organic recruiting," she said during the company's third quarter earnings call.

Schmidt also said that while Guild is focused on organic growth, the company is more than open to future acquisitions.

"I do think that if this rate increase prolongs [market volatility] there will be some more M&A activity and there are still a lot of pockets around the country where we don't have enough presence," she said. "So there's still a lot of opportunity out there."

Guild executives underpinned its focus going forward is serving "home buyers of the future" and highlighted the recent hiring of Nora Guerra, a former Freddie Mac executive, who will build out "programs, policies and initiatives directed toward attainable home ownership."

"We've also piloted an outreach program focusing on underserved communities in and around St Louis, with great results. Alongside Nora's initiative, we intend to begin rolling out this program in select markets across the country to serve more home buyers of the future," said David Neylan, president and chief operating officer at Guild, during the company's earnings call Wednesday.