In Brief: Imperial Credit Warns of Up to $75M Loss

Finance company Imperial Credit Industries Inc. said it would report a third-quarter loss of up to $75 million.

In an announcement after the market closed Tuesday, the company, which is 23% owned by Imperial Bancorp, said it would take charges related to losses from existing businesses and from discontinued subprime automobile finance and residential mortgage operations.

Imperial Credit is a publicly traded company spun off from Imperial Bancorp in 1992. On Friday its $4.7 billion-asset bank holding company said it would postpone the spinoff of another subsidiary because of a slide in the value of shares of Imperial Credit.

The finance company estimated its loss would be $65 million to $75 million in the quarter, or $1.60 to $1.85 per share, and said it would probably record a loss for the year. The company announced in July that it was discontinuing its auto finance business because of high losses and disappointing returns.

The news sent Imperial Credit's shares up 87.5 cents Wednesday, to $7.50. The company's stock has plummeted from a 52-week high of $29.25.

Imperial Bancorp said late Wednesday that third-quarter profits would fall 29 cents to 32 cents per share short of expectations and profits would be cut by $8.6 million to $10.1 million.

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