Compiled by Alisha Gomez
TOP STORIES
Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp. struck a financing deal with Citigroup that could result in the New York-based financial company buying ACC units Argent Mortgage Co. and AMC Mortgage Services. Citigroup has a conditional deal to acquire ACC’s wholesale mortgage and mortgage servicing businesses, subject to requirements and business milestones, the company said. Argent funds mortgages brought to it by brokers. AMC Mortgage services mortgages. ACC’s best-known brand, subprime lender Ameriquest Mortgage Co., which has been subject of numerous acquisition rumors in recent months, is not part of the tentative deal.
H & R; Block Inc. expects to sell Irvine-based subprime mortgage lender Option One Mortgage Corp. by the end of March for $1.3 billion, according to the Kansas City-based tax preparer. But analysts are skeptical about Option One’s value amid a freefall in the subprime mortgage business, according to a report. H & R; Block said last week it hasn’t received any formal bids yet but called its price realistic. Executives said operations at Option One are improving with a tightening of loan requirements last year.
Irvine-based mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. said it was cutting 300 jobs, including 124 positions in Orange County. The layoffs are about 4% of the company’s total workforce and are a result of the “turbulent environment” facing the subprime mortgage industry, a spokeswoman said. The news comes a few weeks after the company warned of a loss for the recently ended quarter, projected a big drop in loans this year and said some 2006 results will be restated to fix accounting errors.
Long Beach-based Memorial Health Services agreed to sell Anaheim Memorial Medical Center to Prime Healthcare Services Inc. of Riverside, a controversial buyer, for an estimated $50 million. The deal for the 224-bed hospital includes provisions for continued care for government insured and uninsured patients, as well as around-the-clock emergency care. State regulators signed off on Prime’s buy of Paradise Valley in National City last week after doctor protests.
Memory products maker Kingston Technology Co. reported record sales of $3.4 billion for 2006, a 13% jump from 2005. The company’s budding business selling flash memory for consumer devices helped spur the gain, according to Kingston. The company’s main business is memory boards for computers.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said its fourth-quarter loss was cut nearly in half, thanks to cutting costs and new products. The Aliso Viejo drug maker posted a net loss of $22.1 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of $44.8 million in 2005’s fourth quarter. Excluding charges, Valeant earned $17 million. Fourth-quarter sales rose 11% to $257.4 million. Analysts expected Valeant to earn $17 million on revenue of $231.8 million. An increase in sales of Valeant’s other products offset a decline in royalties from the company’s longtime hepatitis C treatment, ribavirin.
Visiogen Inc., an Irvine-based eye device maker, said it raised $24 million from new and current investors. The funding was the device maker’s first since late 2003, when it raised $16.5 million. CMEA Ventures of San Francisco was the lead investor. Visiogen said it will use the money to support development of its Synchrony, an intraocular lens used in cataract surgery.
Profits and revenues for First American Corp. continued to slide in the fourth quarter, a result of the slowing national housing market and a big decline in its title insurance business, the Santa Ana-based company said. The company’s profits dropped 11% to $104 million in the fourth quarter, versus a year ago. Revenue was down 2% to $2.2 billion, compared to a year ago. First American’s largest business, title insurance, saw a 44% decline in quarterly profit, before income taxes and minority interest, compared to last year. The unit’s profitability was hit by an increase in regulatory and litigation expenses, and an unrelated $155 million charge taken earlier in the year.
EMC Mortgage Corp., a Lewisville, Texas-based company that buys and services residential mortgages, said it would open a site on Alton Parkway in Irvine this May. EMC, owned by Bear Stearns Cos., and plans to employ about 250 people here in the next 12 to 18 months. The company employs 1,900 in total, most of them in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Irvine office will serve as a second local site for the company.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed:
The price of an Orange County detached home in January slightly fell from December and now is 1.5% below the median price seen a year ago, the California Association of Realtors said. The median price for an existing, detached home sold here in January was $688,610, down 0.6%,or $4,370,from December. January’s median price is 5.9% off the county’s record high of $729,370, set in April. The pace of local home sales last month saw another decrease, dropping 23.2% from December. Sales are down 14% from a year ago. The realtor association excludes condominiums from its figures.
