The firm has announced consolidated net income of $4.7 million or $0.59 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2002. The number represents a drastic increase from third quarter 2002, when American Residential reported a net loss of $3.5 million or $0.45 per diluted share. For the entire year ended December 31, 2002 the company had consolidated net income of $1.6 million or $0.20 per diluted share, a figure that reflects start-up costs associated with the formation of American Residential's new mortgage banking subsidiary, American Mortgage Network.

The past year represents a "crucial turning point" for American Residential, according to John M. Robbins, the company's CEO. "Over the past 12 months, we have fundamentally changed the revenue base of the company and improved our long-term earnings prospects," Robbins adds.

Founded in 1997 as a mortgage real estate investment trust, American Residential is currently in the process of terminating its REIT status, after the company's stockholders voted to do so in August of 2002. Company officials expect American Residential's consolidated, after-tax net income to be between $3.6 million and $4.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2003. The firm's after-tax net income for all of 2003 is expected to be between $8.7 million or $11.1 million. "Our 2003 guidance reflects the expectation of a mortgage market contraction over the next 12 months and the assumption that we will experience some compression in our margins," Robbins says.