In its first earnings report since completing its initial public offering, Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. said its originations, earnings and employee count grew. Originations are already on track to set a new record this year. The residential servicing portfolio, meanwhile, slipped but is poised for massive growth with two upcoming acquisitions.
First-quarter residential originations totaled $1.2 billion, according to the first quarterly earnings report from the Lewisville, Texas-based company since debuting on the New York Stock Exchange on March 8.
Business inched up from $1.1 billion in the fourth-quarter 2011 and nearly doubled the $0.7 billion originated during the first quarter of that same year.
An accompanying investor presentation indicated that annual originations have grown from just $1.5 billion in 2009 to $3.4 billion last year and are on track to reach $4.8 billion this year.
The application pipeline finished last month at $1.937 billion.
The mortgage servicing portfolio was 635,000 mortgages for $103 billion as of March 31, falling from 645,000 loans for $106.6 billion as of Dec. 31, 2011, based on a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in February. After the planned June 30 acquisition of Aurora Bank’s servicing portfolio, the total is expected to rise to $166 billion.
If Nationstar is successful in acquiring Residential Capital LLC servicing portfolio through the auction process as announced Monday, it will become “the largest non-bank residential mortgage loan servicer, with a total servicing and sub-servicing book of approximately $550 billion,” according to the earnings report.
In the first-quarter 2011, the lender serviced just $67 billion in home loans.
On its subprime originations from 2004 through 2007, Nationstar indicated that its 60-day delinquency rate was less than 25 percent as of April 25 — lower than any of its peers. In comparison, delinquency on Countrywide Home Loans originations from the same vintages was nearly 55 percent.
Nationstar earned $53 million in net income before taxes during the first quarter, up from $15 million three months earlier and $7 million a year earlier.
Headcount was around 2,600, increasing from 1,607 as of last year.
Around 150 employees were hired to support business from KB Home, which on March 12 named Nationstar as its preferred mortgage lender.
