Big Loss for Mortgage Insurer PMI

PMI Group Inc. reported a first-quarter loss oft $127 million, as its U.S. mortgage insurance business had a net loss of $137 million for the period because of continued high losses along with loss-adjustment expenses and lower premiums earned.

For the first quarter of 2010 the Walnut Creek, Calif., company posted a loss of $157 million while the U.S. business posted a $122 million loss.

In April, after the quarter ended, PMI Europe repatriated $14.5 million to PMI's U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiary. The company said it also has a request for additional capital repatriation outstanding with regulators at PMI Europe and PMI Canada. The U.S. subsidiary finished the first quarter with a risk-to-capital ratio of 24.4:1.

The company said it expects to be out of compliance with the 25:1 risk-to-capital ratio required by 16 states, including Arizona, where PMI's U.S. subsidiary is based.

Arizona regulators told the company it would not need a waiver to continue to write business there. But they said they would continue to evaluate the minimum policyholder position along with all other measures of PMI's business operations and financial position in assessing its liquidity and financial resources.

The number of primary loans in default decreased to 119,748 as of March 31, from 127,478 as of Dec. 31, while new notices of default received in the first quarter totaled 24,754 compared with 28,664 in the fourth quarter of 2010. New insurance written was approximately $1.5 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 53% from the first quarter of 2010.

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