ORANGE COUNTY EARNINGS

Long Beach Financial Corp.: The Orange holding company for Long Beach Mortgage Co. posted first-quarter net income of $5.4 million, or 21 cents a share, a 17% increase from the $4.6 million recorded for the first quarter of 1997.

Long Beach Financial, which makes residential mortgage loans to borrowers with excessive debt or blemishes on their credit records, said loan production in the quarter rose 51% to $491 million.