Aames Financial Corp

Aames Financial Corp. said its board appointed financial services veteran A. Jay Meyerson as chief executive of the subprime home-equity lender. "The appointment of Jay is the last phase of a management transition plan that ensured a seamless and orderly succession," said Mani Sadeghi, an Aames director who has been acting as interim chief executive since May. Meyerson, 52, most recently served as a managing director at KPMG national financial services' consulting practice.

Cutting costs in reaction to a tough mortgage market, Los Angeles-based sub-prime lender Aames Investment Corp. said Monday that it would close offices in Deerfield, Fla., and Parsippany, N.J., and eliminate 100 jobs in its wholesale lending division, which makes loans through mortgage brokers. Aames, a specialist in higher-cost loans to borrowers with imperfect credit, also is changing its corporate structure so the parent company is no longer a real estate investment trust.

In deal that may foreshadow a wave of consolidation among home lenders, the parent of Aames Home Loans said Thursday that it was being acquired by Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. for $340 million in stock and cash. Aames Investment Corp., a 50-year-old Los Angeles fixture, and Accredited, a San Diego firm founded in 1990, specialize in loans to risky borrowers, charging higher interest and fees to compensate.

Los Angeles-based Aames Financial Corp.'s shares plunged 20% after the lender indicated it may reduce its bulk purchases of sub-prime mortgage loans from third-party originators, hurting earnings in the near term. Aames makes mortgage loans to people with bad credit. The company makes loans itself and also buys loans in bulk from other lenders. If Aames cuts back, "They'll be making fewer loans, but fewer of the less-profitable loans," said Michael Abrahams of Sutro & Co.

Aames Financial Corp. said it promoted Chief Operating Officer Cary Thompson to chief executive and named Vice Chairman Neil Kornswiet president to replace Chairman Gary Judis in those posts. Judis, 58, has been chairman, chief executive and president of the Los Angeles-based mortgage lender and financial services company since 1982. Aames said the moves allow Judis to focus his attention on the broader strategic issues confronting the company.

Shares of Aames Financial Corp. rose $1.63 to $23.25 on the New York Stock Exchange after a published report said that two savings and loans were planning separate efforts to acquire the Los Angeles-based sub-prime lender. American Banker, a financial trade publication, said that California Federal Savings Bank of San Francisco and Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc.

Home equity lender Aames Financial Corp.'s stock fell about 6% Tuesday after the company posted a wider-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss and failed to announce a widely expected merger agreement. Shares of the Los Angeles-based company slid $1.25 to close at $19.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, after trading as low as $18.81. Aames reported after the close of trading Monday that it lost $14 million, or 48 cents a share, in its fourth quarter.

Aames Financial Corp. said Wednesday that fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 6% as it used more conservative accounting for recording revenue. The Los Angeles-based mortgage lender said it had net profit of $13.1 million, or 45 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $14 million, or 56 cents a share, excluding a $28-million charge, for the same period a year ago. That exceeded the average estimate by analysts of 40 cents a share. The decline in earnings reflected an 11.