Inman

PNC selling $2 billion in home loans

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. will sell or securitize $2 billion in residential mortgage loans and replace them with other residential loans with higher yields.

In an SEC filing Thursday, the Pittsburgh-based bank said the move would result in a $50 million pretax loss in the third quarter, but boost net income by $25 million a year.

On Sept. 8, PNC announced it would sell $6 billion in securities at a $200 million loss to reduce interest-rate risks. Half of the proceeds from that sale were to be used to purchase new securities, and the remainder to reduce wholesale funding. The rebalancing was expected to boost revenue by $50 million annually from improved yields and a net reduction in total assets.

PNC also said a deal in which its BlackRock Inc. money management unit acquires Merrill Lynch’s investment management business is expected to close today. The $9.5 billion transaction will halve PNC’s stake in BlackRock to 34 percent, but the larger company will contribute more to PNC’s bottom line, Reuters reported.

Because BlackRock won’t release its third-quarter results until Oct. 30, PNC will release its results the following day, the company said.