MFA Mortgage Investments Inc., a New York real estate investment trust, swung to a third-quarter profit of $48 million, or 24 cents a share, from a loss of $12.5 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier.
Stewart Zimmerman, MFA's chief executive officer, said in a press release Monday that it benefited from lower borrower costs and a dramatic spike in the London interbank offered rate after Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing in September. He said the Libor rates would continue to affect its borrowing costs in the current quarter.
As of Sept. 30 roughly 93% of MFA's assets were securities with mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the REIT said.
