Consumer Portfolio Stock Falls 20.5% on Fears Over Capital

Consumer Portfolio Services Inc.’s stock slumped Tuesday to a 52-week low as investors questioned whether the Irvine auto-financing company can raise capital fast enough to sustain its rapid growth rate.

“The company is growing at a fast clip, and needs to keep raising capital,” said analyst Robert Napoli at ABN AMRO Inc. The company, which had second-quarter earnings of 36 cents a share, up from 28 cents a share in the year-ago period, last week priced $236 million of subprime auto loan asset-backed securities.

Consumer Portfolio’s shares closed at $8, down $2.06, or 20.5%. Earlier in the session, the stock was trading at $6.75, its lowest level in at least a year.

More than 965,000 shares changed hands on the Nasdaq market, compared with an average daily volume of 74,300 shares over the last three months.