HomeTrust reverses course on plan to sell $90M in mortgages

HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., is nixing plans to sell a big mortgage portfolio.

The $3.5 billion-asset company said in December that it intended to sell nearly $90 million in fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages as part of a strategic shift to focus more on commercial loans and equipment finance.

But in a regulatory filing Wednesday, HomeTrust said it will hold onto the loans “due to recent economic conditions and the current interest rate environment.”

The Federal Reserve earlier this month slashed interest rates by 50 basis points.

HomeTrust said the loans have a 3.7% weighted average rate.

The company noted that it sold a $155 million portfolio of mortgages in the fourth quarter, which generated an after-tax gain of $958,000.