Mortgage servicer Nationstar reported 161% revenue growth over the previous year in fiscal 2012 as it added 550,000 new customers and increased its servicing portfolio’s unpaid principal balance by 94%.
The Lewisville-based servicer experienced exponential profit growth in 2012 on servicing fees and origination revenue, which alone climbed 294% from fiscal year 2011.
Nationstar (NSM) posted a profit of $205.3 million, or $2.04 a share, for fiscal 2012, up 882% from $20.9 million, or 30 cents a share, in 2011.
The company’s profit and revenue rose alongside its servicing portfolio, which grew 94% after acquiring major firms like Aurora and mortgage servicing rights from Bank of America (BAC).
All of the expansion in servicing pushed Nationstar’s servicing fee income up to $145.4 million in the fourth quarter, a 2% increase from the previous quarter. For the full year, total servicing fee income hit $462 million, up 94% from 2011.
By year end, Nationstar had 1.1 million customers and a servicing portfolio with an unpaid principal balance of $208 billion, which has since risen to $300 billion in the past three months.
The servicer continued to grow in the past four months, closing on a $13 billion Ginnie Mae portfolio.
Still, boarding new MSRs came with an increase in 60-plus day delinquencies in the fourth quarter. The firm noted that its 60-plus day delinquencies increased to 15.3% of unpaid principal balance in 4Q, up 15.1% from the third quarter.
The company attributes this uptick in late pays to the boarding of new assets, including some portfolios with higher delinquency levels.
