MFA Financial reports Q4 EPS 39c, consensus 40c

Reports Q4 revenue $50.802M , consensus $58.06M . Reports GAAP book value at December 31 was $13.39 per common share. Economic book value, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $13.93 per common share.Total economic return was (1.2)% for the fourth quarter. MFA closed the quarter with unrestricted cash of $338.9 M .”Our total economic return was (1.2)% in the fourth quarter to cap another volatile year for fixed-income investors,” stated Craig Knutson, MFA’s Chief Executive Officer. “Although sharply higher Treasury yields negatively impacted our book value during the quarter, we took advantage of market conditions to acquire $1.2 billion of loans and securities at attractive levels. This included $470 million of Non-QM residential loans at an average coupon of 7.8% and average LTV of 67%. Lima One originated $236 million of new business purpose loans. In addition, we purchased $463 million of Agency MBS at spreads that remain historically wide, bringing that portfolio to $1.4 billion at year-end.” Reflecting on the year, Mr. Knutson added: “Although our total economic return was a relatively modest 5.2%, 2024 was an important year as we positioned the company for the future. We announced key leadership changes at both MFA and Lima One, issued $190 million of senior unsecured notes to replace our maturing convertible notes, completed eight loan securitizations, significantly expanded our Agency MBS position and initiated programmatic sales of newly-originated SFR loans to third-party investors. We made over $3.5 billion of investments throughout the year at compelling yields without meaningfully increasing our exposure to recourse or mark-to-market borrowing. We believe the normalization of the yield curve should benefit us and other mortgage investors in 2025 and beyond.”