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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_____________________

 

FORM 10-Q

 

 [ X ] Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2001

or

[ ] Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the transition period from ___________________ to __________________

 

Commission File Number 0-19847

 

FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

California
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
95-2960716
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

 

 3230 Fallow Field Drive
Diamond Bar, California 91765
(Address, including zip code, of principal executive offices)

(909) 595-1996
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

YES X NO____

As of September 30, 2001, 5,201,002 shares of the registrant's common stock were outstanding.

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FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION

FORM 10-Q

INDEX

Part I - Financial Information

Page

Item 1. Financial Statements:

 

Balance Sheets
September 30, 2001 (Unaudited) and March 31, 2001


3

Unaudited Statements of Income
Three Months and Six Months Ended September 30, 2001 and 2000


4

Unaudited Statements of Cash Flows
Six Months Ended September 30, 2001 and 2000


5

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

6-8

Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

9-14

Part II - Other Information

 

Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

15

Signatures

16

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PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION

BALANCE SHEETS

 

September 30, 2001

 

March 31, 2001

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

ASSETS

 

 

 

Cash

$ 17,765,000

 

$ 16,202,000

Mortgage loans and mortgage-backed
securities held for sale


68,416,000

 


87,995,000

Other receivables and servicing advances

5,735,000

 

5,340,000

Capitalized servicing rights, net

12,800,000

 

9,928,000

Property and equipment, net

874,000

 

847,000

Prepaid expenses and other assets

227,000

 

615,000

Prepaid income taxes

44,000

 

-

TOTAL ASSETS

$ 105,861,000

 

$ 120,927,000

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIABILITIES:

 

 

 

Notes payable, banks

$ 62,975,000

 

$ 83,255,000

Sight drafts payable

5,724,000

 

3,784,000

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

2,072,000

 

1,460,000

Deferred income taxes

3,817,000

 

3,103,000

 Total Liabilities

  74,588,000

 

  91,602,000

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

     

Preferred stock, no par value:

     

Authorized shares - 1,000,000
Issued and outstanding shares - None

     

Common stock, no par value:

-

 

-

Authorized shares - 10,000,000
Issued and outstanding shares - 5,201,002 at September 30, 2001 and 5,208,502 at March 31, 2001




2,407,000

 




2,430,000

Retained earnings

28,866,000

 

26,895,000

Total Stockholders' Equity

31,273,000

 

29,325,000

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

$105,861,000

 

$120,927,000

       

See accompanying notes

     

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FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION

UNAUDITED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

 

Three Months Ended
September 30,

 

Six Months Ended
September 30,

 

2001

 

2000

 

2001

 

2000

REVENUES:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loan origination income

$1,790,000

 

$528,000

 

$3,430,000

 

$1,011,000

Loan servicing income

1,711,000

 

1,814,000

 

3,512,000

 

3,658,000

Gain on sale of mortgage loans

4,941,000

 

1,901,000

 

9,553,000

 

2,522,000

Interest income

1,146,000

 

1,238,000

 

2,698,000

 

2,501,000

Other income

4,000

 

5,000

 

10,000

 

8,000

Total revenues

9,592,000

 

5,486,000

 

19,203,000

 

9,700,000

EXPENSES:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compensation and benefits

3,711,000

 

1,820,000

 

7,031,000

 

3,450,000

General and administrative expenses

1,812,000

 

950,000

 

3,874,000

 

1,892,000

Amortization of capitalized servicing rights


2,186,000

 


1,133,000

 


3,649,000

 


2,389,000

Interest expense

554,000

 

427,000

 

1,420,000

 

1,126,000

Total expenses

8,263,000

 

4,330,000

 

15,974,000

 

8,857,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income before income taxes and cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle



1,329,000

 



1,156,000

 



3,229,000

 



843,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax expense

552,000

 

466,000

 

1,336,000

 

352,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle

777,000

 

690,000

 

1,893,000

 

491,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle, net of tax


-

 


-

 


78,000

 


-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NET INCOME

$777,000

 

$690,000

 

$1,971,000

 

$491,000

BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle

$0.15

 

$0.13

 

$0.36

 

$0.09

Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle


-

 


-

 


.02

 


-

Net income

$0.15

 

$0.13

 

$0.38

 

$0.09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION

UNAUDITED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

Six Months Ended
September 30

 

2001

 

2000

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

Net income

$1,971,000

 

$491,000

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:

 

 

 

Provision for deferred income taxes

714,000

 

659,000

Benefit (provision) for losses on foreclosure

7,000

 

(124,000)

Amortization and write offs of capitalized servicing rights

3,649,000

 

2,389,000

Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment

116,000

 

112,000

Change in excess service fee

-

 

9,000

Gain (loss) on sale of assets

(3,000)

 

2,000

Originations and purchases of mortgage loans held for sale

(479,353,000)

 

(103,318,000)

Sales and principal repayments of mortgage loans held for sale


498,932,000

 


110,430,000

Change in other receivables

(402,000)

 

1,984,000

Change in prepaid expenses and other assets

388,000

 

(288,000)

Change in accounts payable and accrued liabilities

612,000

 

162,000

Change in prepaid income taxes

(44,000)

-

Net cash provided by operating activities

26,587,000

 

12,508,000

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:

 

 

 

Purchase of mortgage servicing rights

-

 

(23,000)

Originated mortgage servicing rights

(6,521,000)

 

(1,149,000)

Purchase of furniture, equipment and leasehold improvements

(142,000)

 

(187,000)

Proceeds from sale of assets

2,000

 

1,000

Net cash used in investing activities

(6,661,000)

 

(1,358,000)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

 

 

 

Change in notes payable, banks

(20,280,000)

 

(8,013,000)

Change in sight drafts payable

1,940,000

 

183,000

Change in note payable, other

-

 

1,646,000

Repurchase of common stock

(23,000)

 

(123,000)

Net cash used in financing activities

(18,363,000)

 

(6,307,000)

INCREASE IN CASH

1,563,000

 

4,843,000

CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD

16,202,000

 

11,264,000

CASH, END OF PERIOD

$17,765,000

 

$16,107,000

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:

 

 

 

Cash paid during the period for:

 

 

 

Interest

$1,317,000

 

$1,071,000

Income taxes

253,000

 

-

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

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FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION

NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

September 30, 2001

1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods have been included. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. In addition, this document should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and footnotes included in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year ended March 31, 2001.

The preparation of the financial statements of the Company requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the financial statements. Therefore, actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

2. CAPITALIZED SERVICING RIGHTS

Activities in capitalized servicing rights are summarized as follows:

 

Six Months ended September 30

 

2001

2000

Beginning balance

$9,928,000

$11,555,000

Additions

6,521,000

1,172,000

Amortizations and write offs

(3,649,000)

(2,398,000)

Ending balance

$12,800,000

$10,329,000

 

 

 

3. NOTES PAYABLE

At September 30, 2001, the Company had a syndicated warehousing line of credit agreement with three nonaffiliated banks, which provided for borrowings up to $110,000,000 with annual interest payable monthly at 1.05% or LIBOR plus 1.05%, depending on the level of borrowings and the compensating balances maintained. At September 30, 2001, borrowings under the credit agreement of $62,975,000 were collateralized by mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities held for sale.

The warehousing line of credit agreement is subject to renewal on August 28, 2002, and contains certain requirements, including but not limited to, the maintenance of minimum net worth, debt to net worth ratio, current ratio, net income and servicing portfolio, and payment of dividends by the Company. The Company was in compliance with all debt covenants at September 30, 2001. The Company believes its warehousing agreement will be renewed prior to its expiration.

In addition to the warehousing line of credit agreement, the Company makes use of the short-term reverse repurchase agreements provided by investment banking firms in connection with its inventory of mortgage-backed securities. These facilities tend to carry lower interest rates and also allow the Company to better utilize its warehousing line. There was no balance outstanding under these facilities at September 30, 2001.

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4. EARNINGS PER SHARE

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

Six Months Ended September 30,

 

2001

2000

 

2001

2000

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

Net income

$777,000

$690,000

 

$1,971,000

$491,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

Shares used in computing basic earnings per share

5,201,480

5,217,819

 

5,203,404

5,234,387

Effect of stock options treated as equivalents under the treasury stock method



5,995



-



 



7,730



-

Denominator for diluted earnings per share


5,207,475


5,217,819


 


5,211,134


5,234,387

Basic earnings per share

$.15

$.13

 

$.38

$.09

Diluted earnings per share

$.15

$.13

 

$.38

$.09

 

5. RECENTLY ISSUED FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities," as amended, generally requires the Company to recognize all freestanding and embedded derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities on the balance sheet at fair value. Derivatives that are not hedges must be adjusted to fair value through earnings. Statement No. 133 allows for hedge accounting treatment for derivatives used to hedge various risks and sets the specific documentation requirements and qualifying criteria to be used to determine when hedge accounting can be applied. Depending on the nature of the hedging relationship, hedge accounting treatment provides for changes in the fair value of derivatives to be either offset against the change in fair value of assets, liabilities, or firm commitments through earnings or recognized in other comprehensive income until the hedged item is recognized in earnings.

On April 1, 2001, the Company adopted the provisions of Statement No. 133 resulting in the recognition of a non-cash gain of $135,000 ($78,000, net after tax) in the Statements of Income on April 1, 2001 to account for the cumulative effect of the accounting change relating to derivative, including best effort forward commitments to sell loans and loan origination commitments (interest rate locks). During the quarter ended September 30, 2001, the Company recorded a loss of $394,000 on derivative instruments which is included in the gain on sale of mortgage loans.

In September 2000, the FASB issued Statement No. 140, "Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities," that replaces, in its entirety, FASB Statement No. 125. Statement No. 140 revises the standards for accounting for securitizations and other transfers of financial assets and collateral and requires certain disclosures. Statement No. 140 is effective for transfers occurring after March 31, 2001, and the expanded disclosure requirements regarding securitizations and collateral were effective for fiscal years ended after December 15, 2000. The Company adopted Statement No. 140 on April 1, 2001, and the adoption had no material impact on net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2001.

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6. CONTINGENCIES

The Company is currently a defendant in certain litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. It is management's opinion that the outcome of these actions will not have a material effect on the financial position or results of operations of the Company.

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MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this Form 10-Q are forward-looking statements, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook, projected revenues, income, return and other financial measures. These forward-looking statements are subject to risk and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including the following factors: (i) the direction of interest rates; (ii) the demand for mortgage credits; (iii) the ability to obtain sufficient financial sources for liquidity and working capital; (iv) changes in laws or regulations governing mortgage banking operations; and (v) level of competition within the mortgage banking industry. In addition, the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "will" and similar words identify forward-looking statements in this Form 10-Q.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS:

Three months ended September 30, 2001 compared to three months ended September 30, 2000.

 

GENERAL

First Mortgage reported net income of $777,000 or $0.15 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to net income of $690,000 or $0.13 per share for the comparable 2000 quarter. The higher net income was primarily attributable to the easing of mortgage interest rates during the course of the period, which enabled the Company to increase loan production and realize higher gains on sale of mortgages.

 

REVENUES

For the quarter ended September 30, 2001, the volume of new mortgage loans closed increased by 290.5% to $206.2 million from $52.8 million in the prior year quarter, and loan origination revenue increased by approximately 239% to $1.79 million from $528,000 in the September 2000 quarter. The increase is a reflection of lower long-term interest rates as compared to the prior year quarter, which significantly increased refinancing loans in the market place, and to a lesser degree, loans for the purchase of housing.

As of September 30, 2001, the Company serviced $1.525 billion in loans compared to $1.487 billion at September 30, 2000, an increase of 2.5%. Total loan servicing income, including late charges and other miscellaneous fees fell slightly to $1.711 million in the September 2001 quarter, from $1.814 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease was due primarily to low delinquencies in our loan servicing portfolio, reducing late charges and related fees.

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The following table sets forth certain information pertaining to the servicing portfolio of the Company for the period indicated.

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

2001

 

2000

 

(Dollars in thousands except average loan balance)

Beginning loan service portfolio

$1,554,608

 

$1,491,521

Add: Loans originated

206,198

 

52,808

Purchased Loans

-

 

5,811

 

 

 

 

Less: Prepayment and amortization

237,496

 

67,362

 

 

 

 

Ending loan servicing portfolio

1,523,310

 

1,482,778

Sub-Servicing

1,267

 

4,436

Total servicing portfolio

$1,524,577

 

$1,487,214

Average loan balance (end of period)

$95,268

 

$91,279

Number of Loans

16,003

 

16,293

Due to a rapid decrease in long-term mortgage interest rates shortly after the end of the quarter, the Company was able to sell its mortgage inventory at a substantially higher premium by taking advantage of the favorable interest environment. The net increase in gains on mortgage sales was 160% compared to prior year quarter.

Interest income, which reflects the interest received on mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities held for sale, decreased slightly to $1.15 million for the three months ended September 30, 2001 from $1.24 million for the comparable prior year quarter. This decrease was due primarily to the smaller mortgage-backed securities inventory carried in the warehouse line by the Company compared to the September 2000 quarter.

EXPENSES

The major components of the Company's total expenses are (i) compensations and benefits, (ii) general and administrative expenses, (iii) amortization of capitalized servicing rights, and (iv) interest expense. Total expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2001 increased by $3.93 million to $8.26 million from $4.33 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2000. Compensations and benefits were $3.71 million for the September 2001 quarter, an increase of 103.9% over the year-ago quarter. The increase in compensation and benefits were the result of the expansion of the retail origination branches and the near quadrupling of the new loan production. General and administrative expense increased by $862,000, or 90.7% over the prior period. The higher general and administrative expenses were a direct result of the expansion of production operations in the quarter.

Amortization of capitalized servicing rights increased by $1.05 million compared to the year earlier quarter, due mainly to the higher volume of prepayments from refinances over the comparable prior period.

Interest expense increased 29.7% to $554,000 for quarter ended September 2001 from $427,000 for the same period in 2000. The increase was due to the higher volume of loans carried in the warehouse line towards the end of the quarter, as compared to the same period a year ago.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS:

Six months ended September 30, 2001 compared to six months ended September 30, 2000.

GENERAL

In the six months ended September 30, 2001, the Company reported net income of $1.971 million or $0.38 per share, compared to net income of $491,000 or $0.09 per share for the same period in 2000. The increase in net income was largely due to the easing of interest rates during this period, which led to much higher new loan volume and gains on selling of mortgages.

 

REVENUES

For the six months ended September 30, 2001 the volume of new mortgage loan originations increased 364% to $479.35 million from $103.32 million in the comparable period last year, and loan origination revenue increased 239.3% to $3.43 million from $1.01 million for the six months ended September 30, 2000. The higher loan origination revenue was largely due to the increase of new loans originated by the Company.

Loan servicing income, representing the loan servicing fees, late charges and other fees earned by the Company for administering the loans in its servicing portfolio, fell slightly to $3.51 million for the six months ended September 30, 2001 from $3.66 million for the same period in 2000. The decrease in servicing income is primarily due to low delinquencies in the servicing portfolio, reducing late charges and related fees.

The following table sets forth certain information pertaining to the servicing portfolio of the Company for the period indicated:

 

Six Months Ended September 30,

 

2001

 

2000

 

(Dollars in thousands except average loan balance)

Beginning loan service portfolio

$1,514,807

 

$1,497,616

Add: Loans originated

479,353

 

103,318

Purchased Loans

-

 

5,811

 

 

 

 

Less: Prepayment and amortization

470,850

 

123,967

 

 

 

 

Ending loan servicing portfolio

1,523,310

 

1,482,778

Sub-Servicing

1,267

 

4,436

Total servicing portfolio

$1,524,577

 

$1,487,214

Average loan balance (end of period)

$95,268

 

$91,279

Number of Loans

16,003

 

16,293

The sale of mortgages for the six months ended September 30, 2001 resulted in a gain of $9.55 million compared to a gain of $2.52 million for the 2000 period. The increase is primarily attributable to falling interest rates during this period.

Interest income, which reflects the interest earned on mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities held for sale, was $2.70 million for the six months ended September 30, 2001 as compared to $2.50 million over the comparable 2000 period. The increase was as a result of the higher volume of mortgage-backed securities carried in the warehouse line compared to the current period.

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EXPENSES

The major components of the Company's total expenses are (i) compensation and benefits, (ii) general and administrative expenses, (iii) amortization of capitalized servicing rights, and (iv) interest expenses. Total expenses for the six months ended September 30, 2001 increased by $7.117 million or 80.4% from the six months ended September 30, 2000. Compensation and benefits increased 103.8% to $7.03 million compared to $3.45 million in the first six months of fiscal year 2000. General and administrative expenses increased to $3.87 million from $1.89 million in the comparable period in 2000. The increases in these expenses were largely a result of the higher loan originations and associated compensation and general and administrative expenses in the first half of fiscal year 2002.

The amortization of capitalized servicing rights increased to $3.65 million compared to $2.39 million in the year earlier period. This was due to the large increase in portfolio loans being refinanced due to lower interest rates.

Interest expense increased to $1.42 million as compared to $1.13 million in the year-earlier six months, due primarily to the larger volume of loans carried in the warehouse line during the period.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

The Company's principal liquidity requirement is the funding of its new mortgage loans and loan origination expenses. To meet these funding needs, the Company relies on warehouse lines of credit with banks, its own capital, and also cash flows from operations.

At September 30, 2001, maximum permitted borrowings under the syndicated warehouse line of credit agreement with three nonaffiliated banks totaled $110 million and the amount outstanding was $62.98 million. Borrowings under these facilities are secured by mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. The agreements contain various covenants, including minimum net worth, current ratio, net income, servicing portfolio balances, debt to net worth ratio, and paying of dividends. The Company was in compliance with all debt covenants at September 30, 2001. The Company believes that the syndicated warehouse agreement will be renewed when the current term expires.

In addition to the syndicated warehouse line of credit, the Company makes use of the short-term reverse repurchase agreements provided by investment banking firms in connection with its inventory of mortgage-backed securities. These facilities tend to carry lower interest rates and also allow the Company more flexibility in utilizing its warehousing line. There was no balance outstanding on September 30, 2001.

In the first six months in fiscal year 2002, the Company repurchased in open market transactions and retired 7,500 shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $23,000.

The Company had stockholders' equity of $31.27 million at September 30, 2001. Management believes that its current financing arrangements are adequate to meet its projected operational needs.

DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK

The Company manages many risks in its normal course of business, however, the management considers interest rate risk to be the most significant market risk which could materially impact its financial position and results of operations. The movements in interest rates affect the value of capitalized mortgage servicing rights, the mortgage inventory held for sale, volume of loan production and total net interest income earned.

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The Company has been managing this risk by striving to balance its loan origination and loan servicing segments, which generally are counter cyclical in nature. In an environment of raising interest rates, loan production will slow down, but the drop in origination income is mitigated by decrease in the loan prepayment rate in its servicing portfolio and hence write-offs, amortization and impairment charges against income will fall. Conversely, the opposite scenario is true during a period of declining interest rates. The overall objective is to offset changes in the values of the following items arising from fluctuations in interest rates, such as the production pipeline, mortgage loan inventory, mortgage-backed securities held for sale and capitalized mortgage servicing rights. The Company does not speculate on the direction or movement of the interest rates.

Based on the information available and on the estimates quantified by various interest rate calculations, and also based on the interest environment as of September 30, 2001, the Company believes that a 50 basis point change in long-term interest rates over a twelve month period, up or down and all else being constant, would increase or decrease the Company's gross income by approximately $3.5 million dollars. These estimates are limited by the fact that they are performed at a particular point in time and do not incorporate many other factors and, consequently, should not be relied on as a forecast of actual results.

PROSPECTIVE TRENDS

For most of the first six months of fiscal 2002, interest rates of the standard 30-year fixed rate mortgages fluctuated between 6.875% and 7.25%, creating a strong refinance wave throughout the mortgage industry, and boosting our new loan originations dramatically. Going into the third quarter, mortgage interest rates have continued to fall, now to approximately 6.50%, growing the earlier strong refinance wave into a virtually tidal wave of new refinance mortgage originations. Should mortgage interest rates remain at these levels, or lower, we anticipate continued record originations and strong operating results throughout the remainder of our fiscal year.

As discussed above however, refinance waves can also have a downside in that the prepayment rate on existing loans in our loan servicing portfolio may also increase proportionately. Our strategy to mitigate this risk is to proactively solicit our existing borrowers for new refinance loans before someone else does, and to aggressively solicit refinance loans from borrowers with loans held by other lenders. To this end, we have two offices exclusively dedicated to these Direct Marketing solicitations. Thus far we've been able to stay ahead of the early prepayments, and in fact have grown the servicing portfolio by 2.5% over the past year.

We have continued to expand our retail origination division, most recently opening new offices in Reno, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. This division has grown to fifteen offices, and is dedicated primarily to loans for the purchase of housing, although there is also spillover business from the refinance wave. Having a strong retail operation doing purchase loan business with Realtors and others enables us to continue originating new loans when refinance loan volume contracts.

For the first six months of this fiscal year, our retail channel produced 25% of new origination volume, the Direct Marketing channel produced 25%, and the wholesale channel produced the remaining 50%. We believe that this diversification is the appropriate balance for today's mortgage market.

Even our modest website (www.FirstMortgage.Com) is producing a steady stream of new loan applicants. Our strategy for these inquiries is to immediately turn them over to our nearest retail office, wherein a full-time mortgage professional works with these applicants to satisfy their mortgage needs. This has been a pleasant surprise, as we did not try to build a major consumer website business model. If such a model is to be successful however, we believe that there must also be a local branch office presence such as ours to work with these applicants.

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Finally, the war on terrorism puts us into new and uncharted waters for our business. There are simply too many variables and "what-ifs" to wed ourselves to one strategy or another. With mortgage banking, as always, the level of long term mortgage interest rates is the single most important ingredient to our business. Although our business is in boom times right now, the outlook for interest rates going forward is not clear. We believe our best strategy is to stay nimble and concentrate our focus on whichever direction the market and trends take us.

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PART II. OTHER INFORMATION.

 

Item 6. Exhibits and Reports of Form 8-K.

(a) No exhibits are filed with this report.

(b) The Company did not file any reports on Form 8-K during the quarter ended September 30, 2001.

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

 FIRST MORTGAGE CORPORATION


Date: November 12, 2001

By S/Clement Ziroli
Clement Ziroli
Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

Date: November 12, 2001

By S/Pac W. Dong
Pac W. Dong
Executive Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer