Marlin Business Srvcs Hit Hard
Posted Tue Nov 25, 10:13 am ET
Posted By: Neena Mishra
Marlin Business Services Corp. (MRLN) is a provider of equipment financing to small businesses, through its principal operating subsidiary, Marlin Leasing Corporation. MRLN was founded in 1997 and went public in November 2003. The company finances over 70 categories of commercial and industrial equipment; though the bulk of its portfolio is office equipment, including copiers, telephone systems, computers and software.
Marlin's 3Q08 results were a net loss of $0.08 per share, substantially below the consensus as well as our estimates. Credit quality deteriorated further during the quarter, with net charge-offs rising to 3.85% and the new originations declined 23.3% year-over-year.
We suspect the weakening economy will continue to impact the new originations, and the delinquencies will continue to rise at least through 1H09. MRLN recently filed to convert to a state chartered commercial bank, which will lower the cost of funding, however we do not expect any significant impact on the earnings in the current year.
Based on our concerns, we are maintaining our Sell recommendation on the shares of MRLN with a six-month target price of $1.25 per share.
Original Post