The refinance boom of the third quarter both helped and hurt results at PHH Corp. of Mount Laurel, N.J.
The company posted a net loss of $148 million because of a $361 million writedown of mortgage servicing rights. During PHH's conference call Wednesday, its president and chief executive, Jerry Selitto, said that in the conflict between economic realities and generally accepted accounting principles, he concentrates on managing the company to core earnings and not unrealized losses mandated by GAAP.
PHH had core earnings of $64 million, helped by $95 million in mortgage production profit. PHH closed $12.7 billion in new loans, two-thirds from the retail channel, up 31% over the second quarter and split nearly evenly between purchases and refis.
