Ladder Capital Sees 3.09 Percent Conduit-Lending Margin in 1Q
ByLadder Capital Corp. generated $19.6 million from the sale of $634.4 million of mortgages through the CMBS market, for a 3.09 percent profit margin.
That was a marked improvement from the fourth quarter, when its margin was an estimated 2.4 percent.
The New York company, which adopted REIT status earlier this year, isn’t a one-trick pony. The company also is a balance-sheet lender and investor in net-leased properties and shifts its focus from one sector to the other depending on market conditions and the returns it can achieve.
And, “as profit margins narrow, as they often times do, we get rather selective in lending for our securitization program,” explained Brian Harris, the REIT’s chief executive, who spoke on a conference call with analysts yesterday. “When we see competitors working very aggressively at very thin margins to lend money, rather than join them and cut margins and try to maintain market share, we tend to get out in front of that into the transitional loan business.”…
Ladder Capital Sees 3.09 Percent Conduit-Lending Margin in 1Q
