Auto lender Consumer Portfolio Serves Inc. of Irvine has sold $310 million in subprime auto loans to Wall Street in its first securitazation since November.
“We are pleased to have completed this transaction done in a very difficult capital markets environment,” said Charles E. Bradley Jr., chief executive.
Consumer Portfolio funds loans from auto dealers, then packages them into bonds sold to Wall Street investors.
The bonds were attractive for their top “triple A” credit ratings given by New York-based Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s Corp., according to Bradley.
The bonds are expected to pay out 6.23% in interest.
Fear of Wall Street’s tempered appetite for subprime loans in the face of the mortgage crisis had lowered the company’s outlook for the year.
This year, Consumer Portfolio had forecast doing at least two deals valued at $700 million to $800 million.
Last year it did about $1 billion in bond sales.
The company’s shares have lost half their value in the past year, and were off slightly Friday on a down day for stocks. It has a market value of about $55 million.
