PMI Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. mortgage insurer, estimated a third-quarter loss of $1.05 a share, as borrowers' ability to repay their home loans ``significantly worsened'' in September. The company fell as much as 7.3 percent in New York trading.
The cost to bail out lenders is expected to increase fivefold from the same period a year earlier to about $350 million, the Walnut Creek, California-based insurer said in a statement today. PMI also withdrew its earnings forecasts for the year.
Rival MGIC Investment Corp., the largest mortgage insurer, yesterday posted its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1991. The Milwaukee-based company said it won't be profitable in 2008 as foreclosures increase from a record and the housing market worsens in parts of California and Florida.
And the hits just keep coming, don't they?
