Loandepot extends maturity for $497 million debt

Loandepot says nearly all holders of $497.7 million in senior notes due next year will exchange them for new debt maturing in late 2027.

A subsidiary of the lender and servicer, which is undertaking a significant restructuring, said $123 million in old notes, or 24.7% of the total, was tendered by Monday. Another 68% of old note holders intend to exchange their 6.5% senior notes for the new 8.25% senior notes by the Friday deadline, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday.

The company is offering $1,100 in cash and principal amount of new notes for every $1,000 principal amount in old notes, the disclosure said. It also won't accept any exchange that would result in less than a $2,000 principal amount of new notes. 

A company spokesperson declined to comment beyond the SEC release, but a representative referenced executive comments in recent earnings reports hinting at the exchange. The current senior notes were due in the fourth quarter of 2025. 

"We believe that by addressing these notes in the near term, we will derisk the outlook for the company for the benefit of all stakeholders," said David Hayes, chief financial officer for Loandepot, in a first quarter earnings call last month. 

The new notes are secured by sums including mortgage servicing rights with a fair value of up to $60 million; $100.6 million of 2028 senior notes held by Artemis Management, another Loandepot subsidiary; and credit risk retention securities to be repurchased from an unnamed counterparty. 

Mr. Cooper, Pennymac and Rithm Capital this year have also issued long-term unsecured debt as mortgage players position themselves amid a prolonged slump in the nation's housing market. Loandepot earnings have been on a losing streak, although it has trimmed recent quarterly losses with shrinking expenses under its Vision 2025 plan. 

Under the wide-ranging cost savings plan, the company cut $693 million in expenses last year. It also announced during the fourth quarter an additional $120 million slash for 2024, 93% of which was completed by April. The moves have also brought the company's headcount down to 4,188 workers, from a high of around 11,000 employees two years ago. 

The pullbacks stack against mortgage origination figures still well into the billions, and a gain-on-sale margin that's approaching 300 basis points. Loandepot counts a servicing portfolio of $142.3 billion, and warehouse and other lines of credit totalling $2.07 billion at the end of the first quarter.

A day after the senior note announcement, Loandepot's stock rose to $2.24 per share at market close Wednesday, before settling around $2.08 per share by Thursday afternoon.