PHH Corp. (PHH) President and CEO Jerome Selitto resigned Wednesday, and the mortgage originator promoted Glen Messina, a former General Electric Co. (GE) executive, to replace him.
Messina joined PHH as chief operating officer in July. He served as GE’s chief financial officer and CEO of its mortgage services business. Selitto had been with the company since October 2009.
The executive shake-up comes shortly after FBR Capital Markets lowered its stock estimate for PHH, and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the company’s senior debt to BB- from BB+.
S&P raised doubts that the Mount Laurel, N.J., company can repay debt due March 2013. Though FBR Capital said insolvency is not a risk for the company. FBR Capital gave PHH an outperform rating, but lowered its stock price target to $20 from $24.
PHH’s stock is down about 25% in the last month and 45% over the past six months.
The company reported a loss of $148 million, or $2.62 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, wider than a loss of $8 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Third-quarter revenue fell to $384 million from $572 million. The losses are due, in part, to a negative fair value adjustment of PHH’s mortgage servicing rights.
Write to Andrew Scoggin.
Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.
