Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS) is more optimistic about the pace of prepayment speeds within its portfolio, prompting the company to increase dividend payments to 14 cents a share for the second quarter of 2013.
HLSS — a company formed to acquire the mortgage servicing assets of Ocwen Financial Corp. (OCN) — posted a first-quarter profit of $24.8 million, or 44 cents a share this week.
The company is facing a market with low mortgage interest rates and modest housing improvement, but the trend of lower prepayment speeds within the servicing portfolio continues, HLSS concluded in its earnings report.
“Our outlook on prepayment speeds for this portfolio has become increasingly positive fueled in part by Ocwen’s continued success in resolving delinquent loans,” said William Erbey, chairman of Ocwen Financial. “This was certainly a factor in the board’s decision to increase our dividend to 14 cents per share for the second quarter of 2013.”
By mid-March, the firm completed its acquisition of mortgage servicing assets tied to non-agency mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $15.9 billion from Ocwen Financial Corp., resulting in an unpaid principal balance of $92.5 billion in late March.
