Gleacher & Co. shares tumble after it end review

Gleacher shares tumble after it ends review of operations, says it will sell ClearPoint

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Gleacher & Co. tumbled 14 percent Friday, after the investment bank said it's taken itself off the market and announced a deal to sell off its mortgage banking unit.

The New York-based company said that after considering a wide range of options during its strategic review of its operations, including a possible partnership with one or more of its investors or a combination with another company, it decided that the available opportunities weren't in the best interests of its shareholders.

Gleacher said it reached a deal with Homeward Residential Inc., a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corp., for Homeward to buy substantially all of the assets of its ClearPoint business. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.

Gleacher also said Friday that it posted a fourth-quarter loss of $11.3 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a profit of $2.1 million, or 2 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, the company said it posted an adjusted loss from continuing operations of 9 cents per share for the recent quarter. Analysts, on average, expected a loss of 1 cent per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue dropped 17 percent to $50.9 million, while analysts expected $53.8 million.

Gleacher shares fell 14 cents, or 15 percent, to 80 cents in afternoon trading.