In Brief: 1st Alliance Stock Drops 30% on Earnings News

First Alliance Corp. said late Wednesday that it will report second-quarter earnings below analysts' estimates.

The annoucment sent the company's stock tumbling more than 30% on Thursday.

The subprime lender, recently hit by an American Association of Retired Persons lawsuit alleging predatory lending practices, said earnings were hurt by sluggish retail loan production.

The company's planned securitization of loans in the United Kingdom has been deferred until later in the year because of lowered production.

Also, the company is experiencing an "unexpected increase in prepayments" that may force it to writedown outstanding residuals, said chief executive Brian Chisick in a statement.

Analysts' consensus for the company's second-quarter earnings was $0.53, according to Nelson Information Inc. The company's stock closed Thursday at 9.81, down 26.98% from Wednesday's close.

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