IMGCAP(1)]
Asta Funding Inc., an asset-management company that buys unpaid credit card loans and tries to collect them, reported net income of $2.4 million for the third quarter ended June 30, down 84.3% from $15.3 million during the same period a year ago . The Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based company during the quarter spent $7.6 million for $289.2 million in charged-off consumer receivables. During the same period last year, Asta purchased $496.8 million of face value charged-off consumer receivables at a cost of $15.6 million. "We continue to seek strategic and disciplined opportunities in our portfolio purchases while we focus on reducing our debt in this difficult economic environment," CEO Gary Stern said in a statement. Officials said the company's income has "contracted" while it continues to collect on a $6.9 billion credit card portfolio it purchased in March 2007 for more than $300 million.
