Ailing Impac Sees Its Stock Plunge 42%

Shares of Impac Mortgage Holdings, a Santa Ana Heights real estate investment trust, tumbled nearly 42% Friday, making the stock the fourth-biggest percentage loser in U.S. markets.

The slump came after the company announced late Thursday that it expects to report a $23-million loss in the third quarter, that it postponed payment of its dividend for the same period and canceled its fourth-quarter payout.

The shares fell $2.56 to $3.56 on trading of 1.1 million shares, nine times the average daily volume over the last three months. The stock had been trading around $15 a share in late August.

Impac Mortgage cited “turmoil in the securitization markets and the tightening of pricing on whole loan sales” as reasons for the losses, which it said would be from $17.2 million, or 70 cents a share, to $22.9 million, or 93 cents a share. World financial crises have raised investors’ sensitivity to potential loan losses.

Impac Mortgage said its expected net losses will largely result from $26.8 million to $32.5 million in noncash charges against earnings to account for the reduced value of loans and securities it holds.

The company delayed until Jan. 6 the payment of its 49-cent-a-share third-quarter dividend. The company said it will pay investors interest at a 4% annual rate during the period of the delay.

Impac Mortgage said a decline in the share price of Impac Commercial Holdings Inc., in which Impac Mortgage owns 9.8%, contributes to its expected loss. Impac Commercial shares fell 19 cents to $3.19 on Friday.