LEND - Accredited Home Rises On Liquidity Moves
8:50 AM ET - Dow Jones News
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. (LEND) rose 14% to $9.65 after the company said it closed a loan with Farallon Capital Management and disclosed other moves to raise its available financing capacity. Accredited Home said it had $350 million cash on hand after closing a $230 million financing transaction with Farallon and other moves. After the sale of $2.7 billion of loans and the Farallon deal, Accredited Home said it had originated $1.8 billion in loans this past quarter and repaid most of its warehouse facilities.
In a statement late Monday, the company also said it obtained a new $500 million warehouse facility from a "large commercial bank," renewed an existing facility with an investment banking firm for $600 million and is in talks with another investment bank regarding the possible renewal of an existing $650 million warehouse facility.
Accredited Home has been hit along with its peers as liquidity shortages have forced more than two dozen mortgage lenders to shutter operations over the past two months. The contraction is making it harder for consumers to get loans and has caused investors to pummel the stocks of companies with exposure to the sector. Accredited itself has cut back on some riskier loans, including those allowing borrowers to finance up to 100% of the value of their homes.
Separately, Grant Thornton LLP said it quit as auditor to Fremont General Corp. (FMT) and Accredited Home. Both companies said they have begun the process of seeking a new auditor.
Shares of Fremont General were trading 5.2% lower at $6.18 in pre-open electronic trading.
Cell Genesys Rises On Positive Phase II Data
Cell Genesys Inc. (CEGE) rose 17% to $5.03 after the company said survival rates for patients in two Phase II studies of its GVAX immunotherapy treatment for prostate cancer compared favorably with survival rates among those receiving the standard treatment.
The median survival length was 35 months for 22 patients with the specific type of prostate cancer who received the company's GVAX immunotherapy at doses similar to an ongoing Phase III trial, according to the final results of the second Phase II clinical trial.
Shares of Dendreon Corp. (DNDN), whose similar prostate cancer immunotherapy was recently favorably reviewed by an FDA panel, were trading 2% higher at $14.59.
Napster Rises As Company Ups Revenue Outlook
Napster Inc. (NAPS) rose 7.2% to $4.45 after the company raised its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue estimate to more than $28 million and said it ended the last quarter with more than 830,000 paid subscribers.
On Feb. 8, the online music retailer expected fourth-quarter revenue to exceed $26 million. A year earlier, Napster generated revenue of $26.8 million.
The Los Angeles company said Tuesday it added 40,000 net paid subscribers during the latest quarter ended March 31.
Stock Futures Rise As Oil Prices Fall
U.S. stock futures rose Tuesday, as some easing of tensions in the Middle East prompted a slide in oil prices to below $65 a barrel.
S&P 500 futures rose 6.70 points to 1440, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 46 points to 12495, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 10 points to 1800.
U.S. stocks edged higher on Monday, helped by a flurry of takeover activity, including the $29 billion acquisition of First Data Corp. (FDC) by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The Dow Jones industrials rose nearly 28 points, the Nasdaq Composite edged up six-tenths of a point and the S&P 500 added 3.7 points.
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04-03-07 0833ET
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