Stonegate Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:SGM), a leading publicly traded mortgage company focused on originating, financing and servicing U.S. residential mortgage loans, today provided preliminary operating metrics for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013, which illustrate performance in key areas of the company's business.

Select preliminary operating metrics for the fourth quarter of 2013 are as follows:

  • Mortgage loan origination volume increased 1.7% to $2.4 billion during the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to $2.3 billion in the third quarter of 2013, and increased 70.2% over the fourth quarter of 2012.
  • Purchase transactions represented 72% of origination volume in the fourth quarter.
  • In the fourth quarter of 2013, gross locks were $3.0 billion compared to $2.97 billion in the third quarter of 2013, and increased 45% over the fourth quarter of 2012.
  • Stonegate Mortgage's servicing portfolio, as measured by unpaid principal balance ("UPB"), ended the fourth quarter of 2013 at $11.9 billion, an increase of 23% from third quarter of 2013 ending UPB of $9.7 billion and up 188% over the fourth quarter of 2012 ending UPB of $4.1 billion.
  • For the fourth quarter 2013, Stonegate Mortgage's wholly owned operating subsidiary, NattyMac LLC ("NattyMac") funded $72.7 million in loans for its correspondents. The average outstanding balance, including Stonegate's inventory, in the fourth quarter of 2013 was $555 million as compared to $574 million in the third quarter of 2013.
  • Stonegate Mortgage added approximately 600 new third party originators in the fourth quarter, with approximately 400 of those resulting from the purchase of NationStar Mortgage's wholesale origination assets.
  • Crossline Capital, a wholly owned operating subsidiary acquired by Stonegate Mortgage on December 19, 2013, funded $119 million of residential mortgages for the full fourth quarter of 2013. Additionally, Crossline Capital signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Medallion Mortgage Company, a southern California mortgage originator that funded $73.3 million in mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2013. There can be no assurances that the acquisition of Medallion Mortgage Company will be completed on the terms proposed, if at all.

"Despite the industry headwinds, we continue to execute on our strategic plan, resulting in growth in our businesses," said Jim Cutillo, Chief Executive Officer of Stonegate Mortgage. "We successfully completed two acquisitions in the quarter which position us to grow both our retail and wholesale/mini-correspondent business in 2014. We expanded our warehouse lending business and increased wallet share with those correspondents who are utilizing NattyMac. We also continued to build out our non-agency conduit and invested in technology which positions us to capitalize on the emerging market, by creating capital and operational efficiency. We also continue to evaluate additional retail tuck-in acquisitions in our growing pipeline."

About Stonegate Mortgage Corporation

Founded in 2005, Stonegate Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: SGM) is a leading, publicly traded, mortgage company that originates, finances and services agency and non-agency residential mortgages through its network of retail offices and approved third party originators. Stonegate Mortgage also provides financing through its fully integrated warehouse lending platform, NattyMac. Stonegate Mortgage's operational excellence, financial strength, dedication to customer service and commitment to technology have positioned the firm as a leading provider in the emerging housing finance market.

For more information on Stonegate Mortgage Corporation, please visit www.stonegatemtg.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Various statements contained in this press release, including those that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific initiatives, including our ability to grow our business and complete retail tuck-in acquisitions, and our future performance, revenues, income and capital spending. Our forward- looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "potential," "plan," "goal" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release; we disclaim any obligation to update these statements unless required by law, and we caution you not to rely on them unduly. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and assumptions about future events. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors, including those discussed in the "Risk Factors" section within our final prospectus dated October 9, 2013, may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Media Contact:
Sloane & Company (on behalf of Stonegate Mortgage Corporation)
Whit Clay, 212-446-1864
wclay@sloanepr.com
or
Investor Contact:
Stonegate Mortgage Corporation
Michael McFadden, 317-663-5904
michael.mcfadden@stonegatemtg.com