An increase in new home lending at Bank of America Corp. wasn’t enough to offset the cost of a recent massive settlement with the government.
In its third-quarter earnings report, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company said it originated more than 43,500 loans for $14.949 billion during the three months ended Sept. 30.
Business picked up from the previous three-month period, when volume totaled $13.702 billion.
But home loan production came up well short of the $24.432 billion closed in the third-quarter 2013.
In the nine months ended Sept. 30, residential loan originations amounted to $39.486 billion.
Third-quarter 2014 production included $11.725 billion in first mortgages and $3.224 billion in home-equity loans.
It looks like originations during the current quarter are likely to slow from the third quarter based on the origination pipeline, which declined 12 percent from the second quarter.
BofA serviced $722.0 billion as of the end of last month, including $491 billion serviced for investors.
The servicing portfolio was cut from $760.0 billion three months earlier and $889.4 billion a year earlier.
On BofA’s balance sheet were $312.236 billion in residential assets, less than the $326.635 billion on the books as of June 30. One year prior, the investment portfolio was $350.149 billion.
The most-recent number included $224.728 billion in residential mortgages and $87.508 billion in HELs.
BofA additionally owned $47.023 billion in commercial real estate loans. This asset category grew from $46.815 billion at the end of the prior period and $44.940 billion in the year-earlier period.
After receiving $2.377 billion in new repurchase claims, total outstanding claims finished September at $24.169 billion.
The consumer real estate services segment had a $6.468 billion loss prior to income taxes, widening from a $4.485 billion prior-quarter loss. During the same three-month period last year, the unit lost $1.518 billion.
Reflected in the loss was BofA’s $16.65 billion settlement with the government announced in August.
Income before income taxes at the bank-holding company level was $0.8 billion, sinking from $2.8 billion three months earlier and $4.8 billion a year earlier.
Within its legacy asset servicing division, headcount was lowered to 18,500 employees from 22,300 at the end of June and 32,200 as of Sept. 30, 2013.
“Total staffing declined 13 percent from 2Q14, due primarily to continued reductions in LAS, as well as actions taken in sales and fulfillment as refinance demand slowed,” the report said.
Company-wide staffing was trimmed to 229,538 from 233,201 at the end of the second quarter. Headcount was cut from 247,943 as of the same point last year.
BofA finished the third quarter with 4,947 banking centers, down from 5,023 at the end of the previous quarter.
