H&R Block expects mortgage loan losses

H&R Block Inc. said Thursday it's setting aside $102.1 million to cover anticipated losses on loans by its Option One Mortgage Corp. unit.

About half the money -- $46.1 million -- is to cover defaults and repurchase requests from loan buyers in the previous quarter, while the rest of the provision of losses is related to loans sold before that. The after-tax amount of the loss is expected to total $61.3 million, or 19 cents per share. 

H&R Block stock was down $1.98 in midday trading Friday, about 9 percent below Thursday's closing price of $22.79.

Some shareholders want H&R Block to sell its mortgage and investment services unit, Bloomberg reports, with pretax profit from mortgage lending falling 35 percent to $322 million in fiscal 2006.

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