Mortgage Lender Halves Dividend After Reporting Loss

, ache by mounting delinquencies and a collapse in demand to purchase its place loans, posted a quarterly loss yesterday that was more than than five modern times what it had projected.

The company, one of the biggest independent United States mortgage lenders, halved its dividend, as expected, and said another cut would be possible if it kept losing money.

"It's going to be a tough year, twelvemonth and a half," the head executive, Michael W. Perry, said in a conference call.

IndyMac shares closed down 28 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $12.49, after the company said it had enough liquidness to sit out the lodging slump.

The third-quarter nett loss for the company, based in Pasadena, Calif., totaled $202.7 million, or $2.77 a share, in direct contrast to a year-earlier profit of $86.2 million, or $1.19 a share.

Excluding items, the loss was $2.74 a share, according to Estimates, six modern times the analysts' norm prognosis for a loss of 46 cents. On Sept. Seven IndyMac had prognosis a loss of up to 50 cents a share.

IndyMac, the parent of IndyMac Bank, one of the nation's biggest nest egg and loans, joined and 's Residential Capital among big independent loaners to describe large quarterly losses.

The nest egg and loan used to specialise in Alt-A place loans, which often travel to people who cannot fully document income or assets.

As investors stopped buying these loans, IndyMac transformed itself to stress smaller, safer loans that the government-sponsored enterprises and would buy. Countrywide did the same, and GMAC have also sharply cut its volume of lower-quality loans.

IndyMac reduced its quarterly stock dividend to 25 cents a share from 50 cents. Mr. Perry, the head executive, said another big cut would be "prudent" if IndyMac was not profitable in the 4th quarter.