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Encore Capital Group Inc., a San Diego-based bad-debt buyer, Thursday reported net income of $9 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a 200% increase from $3 million in the same period a year ago. The company paid $77.7 million during the quarter to purchase bad-debt portfolios with a face value of $2.2 billion, according to the company's 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In the year-ago period, Encore Capital paid $66.1 million to purchase portfolios with a face value of $1.8 billion. Gross collections for the third quarter totaled $125.7 million, a 28.5% increase from $97.8 million a year ago. Excluding portfolio sales, collections during the quarter totaled $120.4 million, a 27.3% increase from $94.6 million. Encore Capital is the third-largest debt buyer in the U.S. with more than $240 million in revenue from purchased debt in 2008, according to research conducted by Collections & Credit Risk, a CardLine sister publication.
