Loandepot saw a slight improvement in its earnings for the first quarter of 2025, but remained in the red after taking a $20 million loss from 2024 MSR bulk sales, it reported Tuesday.
The Irvine, California-based firm had a net loss of $40.7 million in the first quarter, a rebound from a net loss of $67.5 million in the previous period.
Despite being in the red, Loandepot's margins saw an uptick to 327 basis points, up from
Speaking on the company's earnings call, CEO Hsieh thanked former CEO Frank Martell for his leadership over the past three years.
"Frank [Martell] is a man of honor and a servant leader. His care for team Loandepot and the customers we serve is evident," said Hsieh.
"As we go forward, the team and I will focus on capitalizing upon the things that already make Loandepot great," Loandepot's founder said. "Our multi-channel sales model, proprietary mello tech stack, wide product array, powerful brand muscle and our servicing business are foundational places in which loanDepot can win."
Martell is set to transition to a board advisory role come June, after which Hsieh will assume an interim CEO role.
The top-20 ranked residential lender and servicer reported origination volume of $5.2 billion for the January-March period, down from $7.2 billion for the October-December period. But an increase from prior year's volume of $4.6 billion. Loandepot is predicting origination volume to range between $5 billion to $7.5 billion in the second quarter.
Financial results come during a transitional period for the company, as founder Anthony Hsieh has returned
Expenses at the firm edged downwards to $319.7million in the first quarter compared to $341.6 million in the previous quarter, earnings show. Year-over-year, expenses increased by $12 million or 4% on account of increased marketing expenses and personnel expenses, the company said.
David Hayes, Loandepot's chief financial officer, said this quarter's results are a reflection of Martell's guidance, reflecting "the benefits of our investment in growth generating initiatives, despite the adverse impact of lower servicing revenue stemming from our 2024 MSR bulk sales."
"Our home equity-linked products supported strong margin and volume increases, growing revenue by 23%," Hayes said in a statement. " On the cost side, aligned with our enduring discipline in expense management, our non-volume expenses decreased 3% year-over-year."
