UPDATE 1-Impac Mortgage has no intention of bankruptcy - CEO
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NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. IMH.N, one of the largest "Alt-A" lenders, has no intention of declaring bankruptcy amid turmoil in U.S. mortgage markets, Chief Executive Joseph Tomkinson said on Wednesday.
"Despite the severe disruptions to the mortgage industry and our business, we continue to believe that our seasoned team and portfolio of unencumbered assets" put the company in a good position to survive, Tomkinson said on a conference call.
"We have no intention of declaring bankruptcy," he said.
Impac on Tuesday posted a $152.5 million loss in the second quarter compared with earnings of $26.4 million in the same period in 2006. Deteriorating market conditions and rising delinquencies led the Irvine, California-based lender to boost its provisions for loan losses by $163 million.
Dozens of mortgage lenders have closed doors or declared bankruptcy in recent months as delinquencies on loans made under loose underwriting guidelines soar. Investors now realizing losses on securities backed by mortgages -- mostly in the subprime sector -- are pulling back from any assets not guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and government-owned Ginnie Mae.
Impac earlier this week stopped making loans known as Alt-A, its primary product that is typically between prime and subprime in terms of quality. It has fired about 20 percent of staff across the country and is prepared to make "further adjustments" as needed based on market, Tomkinson said.
Tomkinson said the company could not guarantee that it would satisfy margin calls from its lenders, though it has met such demands as of Wednesday.
((Reporting by Al Yoon; editing by Gary Crosse; Reuters Messaging: albert.yoon.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: albert.yoon@reuters.com; +1-646-223-6347)) Keywords: IMPAC MORTGAGES
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