Ocwen Financial Announces Operating Results for Third Quarter 2018

• Reported a net loss of $41 million, or $0.31 per share
  
  
• Ended the quarter with $255 million of cash
  
  
• Completed acquisition of PHH Corporation for $358 million in cash
  
  
• Glen A. Messina became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocwen and a member of its Board of Directors
  
  
• Helped over 9,100 struggling families remain in their homes through loan modifications

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) (Ocwen or the Company), a leading financial services holding company, today announced operating results for the third quarter of 2018. Ocwen reported a GAAP net loss of $(41.1) million, or $(0.31) per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2018 compared to a net loss of $(6.1) million for the three months ended September 30, 2017. Ocwen generated revenue of $238.3 million and Cash Flows from Operating Activities of $93.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, and ended the quarter with $254.8 million of cash.

Glen A. Messina, President and CEO of Ocwen, said, “We believe our acquisition of PHH on October 4, 2018 provides us with the opportunity to transform to a stronger, more efficient company, better able to serve our customers and clients, and positions us for a return to growth and profitability. In the near term, our goal is returning to profitability in the shortest timeframe possible, taking into consideration the robust, prudent integration process we are undertaking. We believe our return to profitability will largely depend on realization of acquisition synergies and our ability to replenish portfolio runoff, among other factors.”

Mr. Messina continued, “Based on the Company’s current situation and our assessment of the current industry environment, we have established a set of initiatives to enable our return to profitability and improve our competitive position. In the near term, we will be focused on executing the integration, re-engineering our cost structure, returning to growth and fulfilling our regulatory commitments. Throughout this process, Ocwen will continue its long-standing commitment to enabling and preserving homeownership for underserved and at-risk customers, and this core value will continue to be a guiding principle as we move the Company forward.”

Third Quarter 2018 Results

Pre-tax loss for the third quarter of 2018 was $(40.3) million, a $(13.7) million increase from the third quarter of 2017.

The Servicing segment recorded $(13.9) million of pre-tax loss for the third quarter of 2018. The business was negatively impacted by lower revenue from a smaller portfolio and higher professional fees. We also recorded gains related to our investments in seasoned residential loans acquired through executing RMBS call rights in the second quarter of 2018, which were not repeated in the third quarter.

The Lending segment recorded $(2.1) million of pre-tax loss for the third quarter of 2018. Our reverse mortgage lending business recorded $(0.9) million of pre-tax loss and our forward lending recapture business incurred a $(1.2) million pre-tax loss. Both businesses have been negatively impacted by higher interest rates. In addition, the reverse mortgage lending industry continues to adjust to the impact of HUD program changes introduced in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The Corporate segment recorded a $(24.3) million pre-tax loss for the third quarter of 2018, which includes $(12.5) million of corporate interest expense and $(9.1) million of CFPB and state regulatory related legal fees and escrow related testing expenses.

Additional Third Quarter 2018 Business Highlights

• The combined Ocwen and PHH servicing portfolio totaled 1.7 million loans representing unpaid principal balance of $287 billion as of September 30, 2018.
• Completed 9,179 modifications in the quarter to help struggling families stay in their homes, 15% of which included debt forgiveness totaling $44 million.
• Delinquencies decreased from 8.3% at June 30, 2018 to 7.8% at September 30, 2018, primarily driven by loss mitigation efforts.
• The constant pre-payment rate (CPR) decreased from 14.3% in the second quarter of 2018 to 13.7% in the third quarter of 2018. In the third quarter of 2018, prime CPR was 16.2%, and non-prime CPR was 12.4%.
• In the third quarter of 2018, Ocwen originated forward and reverse mortgage loans with unpaid principal balances of $172.3 million and $147.5 million, respectively.
• Our reverse mortgage portfolio ended the quarter with an estimated $98.4 million in undiscounted future gains from forecasted future draws on existing loans. Neither the anticipated future gains nor the future funding liability are included in the Company’s financial statements.

Webcast and Conference Call

Ocwen will host a webcast and conference call on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, at 8:30 a.m., Eastern Time, to discuss its financial results for the third quarter of 2018. The conference call will be webcast live over the internet from the Company’s website at www.Ocwen.com, click on the “Shareholders” section. A replay of the conference call will be available via the website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for approximately 30 days.

About Ocwen Financial Corporation

Ocwen Financial Corporation is a financial services holding company which, through its subsidiaries, services and originates loans. We are headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices throughout the United States and in the U.S. Virgin Islands and operations in India and the Philippines. We have been serving our customers since 1988. We may post information that is important to investors on our website (www.Ocwen.com).

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by a reference to a future period or by the use of forward-looking terminology. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “foresee”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “estimate”, “goal”, “strategy”, “plan” “target” and “project” or conditional verbs such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “could” or “would” or the negative of these terms, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.  Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Our business has been undergoing substantial change which has magnified such uncertainties. Readers should bear these factors in mind when considering such statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements.  Forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. In the past, actual results have differed from those suggested by forward looking statements and this may happen again.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: our ability to successfully integrate PHH’s business, and to realize the strategic objectives, synergies and other benefits of the acquisition at the time anticipated or at all, including our ability to integrate, maintain and enhance PHH’s servicing, subservicing and other business relationships, including its relationship with New Residential Investment Corp. (NRZ), uncertainty related to claims, litigation, cease and desist orders and investigations brought by government agencies and private parties regarding our servicing, foreclosure, modification, origination and other practices, including uncertainty related to past, present or future investigations, litigation, cease and desist orders and settlements with state regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), State Attorneys General, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice or the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and actions brought under the False Claims Act by private parties on behalf of the United States of America regarding incentive and other payments made by governmental entities; adverse effects on our business as a result of regulatory investigations, litigation, cease and desist orders or settlements; reactions to the announcement of such investigations, litigation, cease and desist orders or settlements by key counterparties or others, including lenders, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae); our ability to comply with the terms of our settlements with regulatory agencies and the costs of doing so, increased regulatory scrutiny and media attention; any adverse developments in existing legal proceedings or the initiation of new legal proceedings; our ability to effectively manage our regulatory and contractual compliance obligations; our ability to comply with our servicing and subservicing agreements, including our ability to comply with our agreements with, and the requirements of, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae and maintain our seller/servicer and other statuses with them; our ability to contain and reduce our operating costs, the adequacy of our financial resources, including our sources of liquidity and ability to sell, fund and recover advances, repay borrowings and comply with our debt agreements, including the financial and other covenants contained in them; our ability to timely transfer mortgage servicing rights under our agreements with NRZ; our ability to maintain our long-term relationship with NRZ; our ability to realize anticipated future gains from future draws on existing loans in our reverse mortgage portfolio; our servicer and credit ratings as well as other actions from various rating agencies, including the impact of prior or future downgrades of our servicer and credit ratings; our ability to execute an effective chief executive officer leadership transition; as well as other risks detailed in Ocwen’s and, prior to the merger closing, PHH’s reports and filings with the SEC, including each of their respective annual reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and any current and quarterly reports since such date. Anyone wishing to understand Ocwen’s business should review its and PHH’s SEC filings. Ocwen’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we disclaim any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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1. Performing loans include those loans that are less than 90 days past due and those loans for which borrowers are making scheduled payments under loan modification, forbearance or bankruptcy plans. We consider all other loans to be non-performing.
   
   
2. Constant Prepayment Rate for the prior three months. CPR measures prepayments as a percentage of the current outstanding loan balance expressed as a compound annual rate.
   
   
3. Average CPR for the three months ended September 30, 2018 includes 16.2% for prime loans and 12.4% for non-prime loans.