WFS Financial Delays Securities Sale; Shares Drop
<i> Bloomberg News</i>
WFS Financial Inc. shares fell 5% after the auto lender said it will postpone a sale of securities backed by auto loans until the fourth quarter because of declines in the asset-backed bond market.
Shares of Irvine-based WFS fell 31 cents, to $5.50. The company said it had expected to bundle about $700 million of loans into securities and sell them to investors. Because of the delay, the company won’t record a gain on the sale of loans in the third quarter, as originally expected.
WFS stock has lost more than half of its value this year.
Shares of the holding company, Irvine-based Westcorp Inc., were off 31 cents, to $10.50. The stock is down nearly 38% for the year.
