Thornburg Delays Earnings Report

Shares of Thornburg Mortgage (TMA) dropped in late trading Monday after the lender said it needs more time to file its first-quarter earnings report.

The company also has received a noncompliance letter from the New York Stock Exchange, and will employ a reverse split to meet listing requiements.

The Santa Fe-based lender, known for specializing in mortgages over $400,000 and until recently one of the largest that provided loans on expensive homes, said it is not in compliance with the NYSE's listing criteria because the average closing price of the its common stock has been less than $1 for 30 consecutive trading days.

"The company intends to cure this deficiency by implementing a reverse stock split, and has notified the NYSE of its intent," Thornburg said in a statement. Shareholder approval of the reverse stock split is not required, the company said, and specific information regarding the timing and details of the split will be released at a later date.

Thornburg also said it was delaying the release of its first-quarter earnings report once again, and that it expects to issue an earnings release by June 12. Two weeks ago, Thornburg said it would delay its report until June 2, saying it needed additional time to prepare and finalize the valuation analysis of the company's March 31 sale of $1.35 billion in debt, a move that saved it from bankruptcy.

Shares of Thornburg, which surged 7.6% during Monday's session on expectations of the release of its first-quarter earnings statement, dropped nearly 11% in the after-hours session to 76 cents.

Other mortgage originators, including Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Washington Mutual (WM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM), were little changed in late trading.

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