Wachovia Corp announced a whopping second quarter loss of $8.9bn this morning, with plans to shake up its mortgage unit, slash its dividend payout to shareholders and cut thousands of jobs.
Chief executive Bob Steel, hired less than two weeks ago to bring the struggling bank back to its former glory, had hinted that he envisioned a smaller, leaner Wachovia. Today, in his first earnings announcement, he kept his word, announcing numerous other plans to preserve capital.
Wachovia announced this morning that it plans to cease making mortgages through third-party brokers. At the end of the first quarter, about 30% of the bank’s mortgage loans were made through third-party brokers. As recently as last month, the bank said it remained committed to using those brokers, especially in areas where it doesn’t have brokers.
But in a memo to employees yesterday, Tim Wilson, the head of loan origination for Wachovia Mortgage, wrote: «Going forward, we will primarily focus on customers who have relationships with the bank, and who are located in geographies where Wachovia branches are located.»
The change in strategy is part of a https://guaranteedinstallmentloans.com/ larger plan to rein in mortgage losses, which have been on the rise since Wachovia’s $24bn purchase of Golden West Financial, a troubled California mortgage lender, in 2006. Continuar leyendo «Wachovia announces $8.9bn loss and plans to cut 10,750 jobs»