Home Capital Group Inc. reported that it has now achieved 29 consecutive quarter-over-quarter increases in net earnings.

Net earnings for the three-month period ended September 30 rose 31.8% to $5.3 million from $4 million for the same period a year earlier. Basic earnings per share were 32¢, an increase of 23.1% over 26¢ for the third quarter of 2001, and on a fully-diluted basis 31¢, a 29.2% increase over 24¢ for the same period last year. Return on equity was 24.1% in the third quarter as compared to 25.1% recorded last year.

Total assets at the end of the quarter were $1.32 billion, an increase of 19.0% over total assets on September 30, 2001 and a 4.3% climb over the end of the second quarter of 2002. During the third quarter, Home Trust issued $33.8 million in MBS pooled residential mortgages, bringing its total sourced and managed MBS assets to $119 million.

Home Capital’s strong risk management policies and its adherence to well-regarded underwriting techniques continued to serve it well. Net impaired loans as at September 30 represented 0.46% of total loans outstanding, compared to 0.52% on Sept. 30, 2001 and 0.46% as of June 30. Home Trust’s general allowances increased from $5.2 million at the end of September 30, 2001 to $7 million at the end of the current quarter. This represents 97.5 basis points of risk-weighted assets at that date, compared to 89.5 basis points on September 30, 2001 and 95.4 basis points at June 30. The company’s objective is to reach 100 basis points of risk-weighted assets by year-end 2002.