PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust reported on Thursday higher second-quarter profit and revenue, citing additional investments in distressed debt and growth in its lending business. The Moorpark real estate investment trust posted net income of $54.5 million (86 cents a share) in the quarter ended June 30, compared with $29.6 million (79 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased 101 percent to $130 million. The REIT primarily invests in distressed residential mortgages and other mortgage-related assets but also does correspondent lending, originating and packaging loans for sales to banks. Revenue from its lending business rose 42 percent to $58.5 million. Chief Executive Stanford Kurland attributed the increased profit to a combination of new investments in distressed whole loans, the acquisition of a bulk portfolio of jumbo loans and the growth in lending. “The ability to pursue diverse and changing opportunities across the mortgage landscape differentiates (the company) from other mortgage REITs, and we continue to pursue new opportunities for growth as we head into the second half of 2013,” he said in a prepared statement. The company also declared a cash dividend of 57 cents a share to be paid Aug. 30 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 19. Shares rose 52 cents, or more than 2 percent, to close at $22.79 on the New York Stock Exchange.
