Ocwen?s NCI Purchase Pays Off

Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) reported today first quarter net income of $5.9 million or $0.09 per diluted share for the first quarter, compared with $12.4 million or $0.18 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2007.

West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen is a business process outsourcing provider to the financial services industry, specializing in loan servicing, mortgage fulfillment and receivables management services. 

Ocwen said its Financial Services segment saw a revenue increase primarily attributable to its acquisition of collection agency Nationwide Credit Inc. in June 2007. Ocwen reported it is “continuing to realize synergies from the merger and through an increase in the number of contingency collectors.”

Revenues for Financial Services reached $19.5 million, up from $1.8 million a year ago, and income from continuing operations before taxes totaled $12.8 million, up from $3.8 million. The increases were largely generated by Ocwen’s $55 million purchase of NCI, one of the largest debt collection agencies in the country (“Collection Agency to be Acquired by Ocwen for $55 million,” June 7, 2007). In April, Piper Jaffray analyst Robert Napoli issued a positive research note on the company, noting that its collection services segment could be poised for big growth ("Debt Collection to Spur Growth at Ocwen: Analyst," April 15).

During the quarter, Ocwen realigned its business segments. Previous segments which included Residential Servicing, Ocwen Recovery Group, and Residential Origination Services were realigned into two lines of service, Ocwen Asset Management and Ocwen Solutions, which are made up of six reportable segments. Ocwen Asset Management includes residential servicing, equity investments in asset management vehicles and investments in subprime loans and residual securities. Ocwen Solutions, a business process outsourcing operation, includes residential fee-based loan processing, technology platforms, unsecured collections business, including NCI and an equity interest in BMS Holdings.