First Mortgage plans expansion, restructures operations; promotes Bruce G. Norman to president; industry veteran Abby Hedengran joins as exec VP - chief production officer; Pac Dong promoted to exec VP - finance

Business Wire, Dec 14, 1995

DIAMOND BAR, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 1995--First Mortgage Corp. (NASDAQ:FMOR) Thursday unveiled an expansion plan and new operating structure.

As part of the new organizational structure, Bruce G. Norman, 54, has been promoted to serve as president, a position formerly held by Clement Ziroli, 54, who remains as chairman and chief executive officer.

Under the direction of Norman, who remains as chief operating officer, the company has been reorganized into two operating groups: production, headed by Abby Hedengran, 47, who recently joined the company in the newly created position of executive vice president - production and chief production officer; and finance, headed by Pac Dong, 46, who has been promoted to the new position of executive vice president - finance and remains as chief financial officer.

Home Buying Opportunities

"Bruce and I are orchestrating a sound and aggressive growth plan based on the talent, organizational structure, and financial strength to capitalize upon the affordable housing opportunities in our markets," Ziroli said. "We are planning multi-state branch expansion, opening 10 new offices in the next two years, in California, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico."

"Homes are more affordable than at any time in recent California history," Norman continued. "We believe housing prices are reaching lows in the current cycle of our markets, with rents at a parity with mortgage payments. If interest rates remain low, we expect to achieve new originations of $100 million per month in 1996, perhaps as early as this summer. A stable rate environment should also enable us to reach at least $700 to $800 million in originations, with earnings per share of about $.90 to $1.00 for our fiscal year ending in March 1997, and at least $1 billion in annual originations the following fiscal year. By the year 2000 we plan to build our loan servicing portfolio to $8 billion to $10 billion."

For the six months ended Sept. 30, 1995, First Mortgage reported continuing financial gains, with new loan originations of $170 million, total revenues rising approximately 44% to $10,944,000 and net income of $1,986,000, or $0.34 per share, compared with year-ago losses of $676,000, or $0.11 per share. The company's loan servicing portfolio grew to $1.569 billion as of Sept. 30, 1995.

Expansion in Retail, Wholesale and Direct Loan Production

"We are fortunate to have Abby Hedengran, an industry veteran with proven expertise in building all areas of production, leading our loan production operations," said Norman. "Abby has a strong track record managing high volume, multiple-branch operations and has formulated and executed successful business plans for the retail, wholesale and builder lending markets."

Norman noted that expansion plans call for the company to open new branches in locations that include East Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange County in Southern California, as well as in California's San Joaquin Valley and other western states.

"In addition to developing our retail operation, Abby will be building wholesale originations and developing builder tract business as an increasingly important component of our origination strategy. We also expect substantial growth in direct consumer marketing, as telemarketing solicitation is expanded onto the Internet and other direct customer resources are developed," Norman concluded.

Management Expertise

From 1984 to 1995 Hedengran served as senior vice president and western regional manager at Santa Rosa, Calif.-based North American Mortgage, where he was instrumental in building the region's annual loan production to $4.2 billion in 1995. In addition, his expansion efforts increased the western region to a total of 16 offices with 425 employees, gaining the number one position among all lenders in the market. From 1976 to 1984, Hedengran served as vice president for Colonial Mortgage Co. At Colonial Mortgage, he established the top producing branch on the west coast and was subsequently promoted to the western regional office with 18 branch locations.

Hedengran was born and raised in Sweden, where he received his degree in business administration from WASA College in 1967. He also continued a graduate program in marketing and finance in London in 1970 before migrating to the United States in 1971.

Norman has been the chief operating officer of the company since 1978 and as such oversees all corporate functions. Norman joined First Mortgage after leaving Shearson/American Express Mortgage in 1974 where he served as the Orange County, Calif. branch manager from 1971 to 1973. Prior to Shearson, he worked at National First Mortgage Corp. from 1966 to 1971 as a vice president and retail branch manager, first in Phoenix, and then Anaheim, Calif. Norman began his mortgage banking career in 1964 as a retail loan officer for Advance Mortgage Corporation in Orange County.

Dong has served as the company's chief financial officer since 1976. He has served as a director of the company since 1992. He graduated with a B.S. degree in accounting in 1974 from California State University Los Angeles, where he also received a masters degree in finance in 1976. He passed the CPA examination in 1977.