H&R Block Says 2006 To Be Slower As Mortgage Business Slowing

H&R Block is expecting slower earnings for 2006 as it’s mortgage division has slowed down significantly. The company said its tax business was doing much better than expected, but that a slow down in its mortgage writing has hurt the companies earning.

The company said it now expected its earnings per share to come in slightly below the $1.65 low end of a previous forecast. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.70 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
The move comes as mortgage lending across the industry slows down and as H&R Block fights charges from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that it fraudulently marketed retirement savings plans that caused losses for hundreds of thousands of mostly low-income clients.
Chief Executive Mark Ernst said in a statement the company cut its forecast for fiscal 2006, which ends in April, citing in part weaker results from the company’s mortgage services, which is one of its four main business units.via  Yahoo! News.