The Wall Street Journal-20080111-Huntington Bancshares Inc-- Mortgage Company Expects Losses of --36-239 Million
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Huntington Bancshares Inc., a Midwest regional bank, projected a fourth-quarter loss of $239 million, blaming a brew of mortgage losses, write-downs and other charges. Charges and write-downs are expected to reduce earnings by $1 a share to a loss of 65 cents. The largest of the charges is related the company's decision to restructure its lending relationship with subprime-mortgage lender Franklin Credit Management Corp., cutting Franklin's debt by about $300 million. Franklin is a New Jersey mortgage firm specializing in riskier home loans. Huntington said the quarter was also marred by losses on loans held for sale, equity investments and hedges against mortgage-servicing rights. It also sustained impairment on investment securities and took a loss from its share of a Visa antitrust settlement. Huntington, based in Columbus, Ohio, expects to report $1.7 billion of nonperforming assets, including $1.2 billion for Franklin. Huntington stock fell 4.4% to $12.65 as of 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.
